Quick Trip Around the World

Pakistani Women Celebrating Their Freedom

Pakistan: Death to Dancers. The next time you attend a wedding reception and join the other guests as they "Ooh" and "Aah" when the bride and groom take to the dance floor, just be thankful you don't live in Pakistan. In that country, our on-again-off-again ally in the war on terror, an Islamic court recently sentenced six people (four men and two women) to death for the crime of dancing at a wedding. I trust this will be an eye-opener for those of you who think the imposition of sharia law is really no big thing. It seems the four men managed to escape and are now in hiding, while the fate of the two women is unknown. According to the court, "Dancing is against Islam." I suppose they've never heard of their mystic Sufi co-religionists, the Whirling Dervishes.

Holy Family Church

India: Fear Among Catholics in Kashmir. Holy Family Church in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir was set afire a few weeks ago by unknown perpetrators. Jammu and Kashmir is the only Indian state with a Muslim majority population and the local authorities seem uninterested in finding and arresting those responsible. Indeed, one local man, a Hindu convert to Catholicism, stated that this attitude on the part of the authorities shows how Christians have been abandoned by the state. "Catholics feel less secure," he added, and "in Kashmir, they have been reduced to zero." 

Vivian Salameh

Jordan: Creeping Islamization. Jordan, a majority Muslim nation which in the past has been very tolerant and respectful of its Christian population, is changing...and it's not for the better. For example, a Christian woman was just fired by her employer, the Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank, for not complying with its new rules requiring women to cover their heads while at work. Vivian Salameh has worked for the bank for 25 years, and has, therefore, filed a complaint against the bank. The director of the Catholic Media Center in Jordan, Fr. Rif'at Bader, is particularly concerned about Ms. Salameh's case. In his words, "Gulf States are using Islamic banking to introduce Sharia precepts in the population. No one was ever been discriminated for being Christian. The government should not allow such practices in our country. Our constitution protects freedom of worship."

United Kingdom: Pro-life Literature Is Offensive. Margaret Forrester received a pink slip from the UK's National Health Service because she engaged in "gross professional misconduct." It seems the mental health worker committed the horrible "sin" of giving a colleague (not a client) a booklet that discussed the problems, both physical and psychological, that some women experience after undergoing an abortion. Her supervisors at the NHS were particularly upset because, horror of horrors, the booklet was "religious in tone." She is challenging her dismissal in court.

USA: President Obama Losing the Religious Vote. The president, who did fairly well among Catholics and evangelicals in the 2008 elections, is apparently losing much ground among these constituencies. It seems the president's campaign staff and the DNC have taken the moderate religious vote for granted and are focusing their efforts elsewhere. Click here to read an excellent article on the subject: Obama Losing Religious Vote.


And yet, despite all the strangeness in our world, God remains in charge. Thank Him for that.

Ancient Codices, Real or Fake?

You might recall a post back in late March in which I mentioned an archaeological find that purported to be of early, perhaps first-century, Jewish and Christian origin. (See: Major Archaeological Find.) The find consists of 70 small books, each with five to fifteen leaves made of lead and copper, containing what appears to be ancient Hebrew writing, possibly some coded text, as well as Jewish and Christian images.

One of the lead codices

If the codices are authentic, they represent a significant find. Their provenance, however, seems a bit shaky. I don't think most archaeologists like "accidental" finds, and would prefer such artifacts to be uncovered during well-planned, scientifically conducted digs. And there was nothing scientific about this find. One version claims the codices were discovered in a cave by a Jordanian Bedouin, finally ending up in the possession of his great-grandson, an Israeli Bedouin, who says they have been in his family for a century or more. Another story suggests the codices were found in Jordan only five years ago when they surfaced after a flash flood. They then made their way to the antiquities black market and were sold to an Israeli dealer. Like most things in the Middle East, it's all very strange. Whatever the truth, these revelations have led the Jordanian government to claim ownership since the codices were supposedly found originally in Jordanian territory.

The more important issue, however, is the authenticity of the codices. If they turn out to be fakes, ownership becomes unimportant; but it they are authentic, resolving the ownership issue could take quite a while. I suppose if these items had been discovered 200 years ago there would have been little doubt as to their authenticity. But in recent years things have changed drastically in the archaeology "business". As both the legitimate and the underground markets for ancient artifacts has expanded, the value of such items has skyrocketed, leading to the development of a whole new industry: the manufacture of fake antiquities. Some of these fakes are apparently quite good and have regularly fooled the experts and even ended up in museums. In this particular case, the Israeli Antiquities Authority doubts the authenticity of the codices, claiming that they display a "mixture of incompatible periods and styles without any connection or logic. Such forged motifs can be found in their thousands in the antiquities markets of Jordan and elsewhere in the Middle East." The IAA is not alone in believing the codices are fake.

Others, however, disagree and a number of archaeologists, researchers and academics believe the items are authentic. Ziad Saad. head of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities appears to be waiting before passing judgment. He recently told The Jordan Times, “There has been a debate all over the net - some think they are fakes, some think they are very genuine - but we have yet to have a definitive conclusion based on a scientific approach.” In the meantime, the "debate" as he calls it can get pretty nasty, as archaeologists, metallurgists, historians, biblical scholars and other academics all make their claims, in most instances, without having examined the items. I suppose, given time, the experts will eventually arrive at a consensus. Until then, I must confess, I enjoy watching the archaeological soap opera as it plays out.

Of course, some elements of the soap opera are a bit odd. One YouTube video claims -- without any discussion or supporting evidence whatsoever -- that the find verifies the prophesies of Joseph Smith found in the Book of Mormon. And then, of course, Art Bell on his weird, conspiracy-theory radio show, Coast to Coast AM, has predictably given the find some airtime. Yes, it's all very strange.

If you are truly interested in this story and would enjoy reading a lively overview of how it has been distorted by a mainstream media that loves to sensationalize (and also by bloggers...oops!), then check out Thomas Verenna's review of the entire story: Artifacts and the Media.

I find archaeology interesting simply because it opens a different sort of window to the past. It is also remarkable that so many recent finds strongly support the historical accuracy of Sacred Scripture. But my faith is a wonderful gift from God and certainly doesn't need archaeological support.

Major Achaeological Find

You might have heard that five years ago there was a significant archaeological find in a cave in a remote area of Jordan. Like the 1947 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, this most recent find just might lead to some major insights into first-century Judaism and early Christianity.

The find consists of 70 very small "books", each about the size of a credit card and made of metal. Scientists estimate that they date to the time of Christ. The evidence seem to indicate that they are Christian in origin. They were found in an area to which first-century Christian refugees fled after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the book-like format was commonly used by Christians of that era. Examination of some of the metal plates also seems to show images relating to the Messiah, as well as the Crucifixion and Resurrection. At the moment these ancient metal plates are in the possession of an individual, a Bedouin in Israel, who apparently smuggled them illegally across the Jordanian border. The Jordanian authorities want them back so they can be safeguarded and studied. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Here's a video of a related news story:

To read more on this story, click here: Major Archaeological Find in Jordan