Kristof: Koran entering a period of critical scholarship

Nicholas Kristof, writing an Op-ed in the New York Times, notes that the Koran is now undergoing a period of critical scholarship challenging the consistency and accuracy of the text akin to biblical scholarship of the 1800s:

For some literal-minded Christians, it was traumatic to discover that the ending of the Gospel of Mark, describing encounters with the resurrected Jesus, is stylistically different from the rest of Mark and is widely regarded by scholars as a later addition.

Likewise, Biblical scholars distressed the faithful by focusing on inconsistencies among the gospels. The Gospel of Matthew says that Judas hanged himself, while Acts describes him falling down in a field and dying; the Gospel of John disagrees with other gospels about whether the crucifixion occurred on Passover or the day before. For those who considered every word of the Bible literally God’s word, this kind of scholarship felt sacrilegious.

Now those same discomfiting analytical tools are being applied to the Koran.

Read the whole article here.

Mother uses Bible to defend daughter's fashion choices

A Texan woman says her daughter, a 7-year-old second-grader, has the right to wear her shirt untucked because of a Bible verse, 1 Timothy 2:9, which dictates that "women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing."

"I don't want her behind showing," the mother said. "I don't want her body being exposed."

The school board agreed, 6-1, and overturned the principal and district administers' order that all shirts must be tucked in.

The article in the Dallas Morning News notes that board members discussed their interpretations of Scripture before voting.

"I'm a Christian," said trustee Valerie Jones. "There could be a Christian who believes it might be more modest for their child's shirt to be tucked in than not to be tucked in. ... There is room for interpretation even amongst Christians."

Backmasking Obama

Looking for new ways to link President Obama with the Anti-Christ? Enjoy hearing phrases played backward to reveal satanic messages? Wondering how Obama fits into Nostradamus's predictions? Browsing for new ways to apply the Bible to current events?

The Internet has heard you. Now those on the look out for Beelzebub's handmaiden can gather together on one YouTube channel where we can all keep an eye out for the strange things you do with your Bibles.

More on backmasking here. And a textbook example here:

Obama hides Jesus

"Jesus Missing from Obama's Georgetown Speech"
This is the headline on Fox Nation, NBC Washington and the Drudge Report as of 4:19 p.m. ET.

Cybercast News Service (CNS) broke the story that the White House allegedly requested that Georgetown "hide Jesus" and "all signs and symbols" during President Obama's speech.

Media Matters reports that "several commenters on The Fox Nation--as of this posting--have used this opportunity to question Obama's faith, calling the president 'ANTI-CHRIST' and a 'Muslim.'"

Heed Paul, forego denim

Our Nation, says George Will, "would be much more [lovely] if supposed grown-ups would heed St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, and St. Barack's inaugural sermon to the Americans, by putting away childish things, starting with denim."

Secular Values, not guns, create criminals: Morality in Media

Morality in Media President, Bob Peters, reacts to the wave of gun-related murders this past week (reproduced in full):

"Having lived in New York City for more than 30 years, I am all too aware of the harm that firearms in the hands of criminals can cause. Having grown up in a small town in Illinois, where citizens owned guns without misusing them, I am also aware that guns aren't the underlying problem. I am not an opponent of gun regulation; I am an opponent of making guns the scapegoat for mass murder.

"The underlying problem is that increasingly we live in a 'post-Christian' society, where Judeo-Christian faith and values have less and less influence. Among other things, Judaism and Christianity taught that murder was wrong and that included murder motivated by anger, hatred and revenge. Both religions also taught that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves and to forgive others.

"For many citizens, what has replaced Judeo-Christian faith and values is the secular value system that is reflected in films, rap/music lyrics, and videogames and on TV and now the Internet, where the taking of human life for just about any reason is commonplace and is often portrayed in an appealing manner and in realistic detail. Murder motivated by hatred and revenge is also justified.

"This secular value system is also reflected in the 'sexual revolution,' which is the driving force behind the push for 'gay marriage;' and the Iowa Supreme Court decision is another indication that despite all the damage this revolution has caused to children, adults, family life and society (think abortion, divorce, pornography, rape, sexual abuse of children, sexually transmitted diseases, trafficking in women and children, unwed teen mothers and more), it continues to advance relentlessly.

"It most certainly is not my intention to blame the epidemic of mass murders on the gay rights movement! It is my intention to point out that the success of the sexual revolution is inversely proportional to the decline in morality; and it is the decline of morality (and the faith that so often under girds it) that is the underlying cause of our modern day epidemic of mass murders.

"I would add that if conservative media's irresponsible talk of revolution can 'poison weak minds,' the liberal entertainment media's irresponsible portrayal of mayhem can also poison weak minds."

An Ark of true biblical proportions

The world's first Ark replica that is made to precise biblical specifications is near-completion in Hong Kong, thanks to three brothers and their billions.

The Wall Street Journal explains:

The instructions in the King James version of the Bible call for a gopher wood and pitch vessel that is 300 cubits long, 50 wide and 30 high, with a window, a door and three stories. (By the reckoning of modern scholars, [who?] that comes out to about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.)

Mr. Lu, the project's director, says the park isn't promoting religion. "We're promoting meaning."