Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Gospel According to John (McCain)

Dear Sage, I was supposed to make a blog entry against those who are lambasting the National Geographic's decision to broadcast its episode on the "judas gospel." But I decided to be a little charitable. It must be the season.

Through the years, I've learned that the best way to defend your faith is through ACTION- not words of Fear and Hate. Those people who are speaking against National Geographic and Harry Potter in that kind of framework are doing a big disservice to the Lord's Gospel.

There will always be someone whose interpretation of the bible and the events of 2000 years ago will be different from what your pastor or priest is teaching you. But if you want to defend your faith against them, the best course of action you can take is the way of humility and friendship. The best example I can give is the Vietcong mentioned by John McCain in his speech in Virginia Beach back in 2000...

"Many years ago, a scared American prisoner of war in Vietnam was tied in torture robes by his tormenters and left alone in an empty room to suffer through the night. Later in the evening, a guard he had never spoken to entered the room and silently loosened the ropes to relieve his suffering. Just before morning, that same guard came back and re-tightened the ropes before his less humanitarian comrades returned.

He never said a word to the grateful prisoner, but some months later on a Christmas morning as the prisoner stood alone in the prison courtyard, the same Good Samaritan walked up to him and stood next to him for a few moments. Then with his sandal, the guard drew a cross in the dirt. Both prisoner and guard stood wordlessly there for a minute or two venerating the cross until the guard rubbed it out and walked away.

This is my faith, the faith that unites and never divides, the faith that bridges unbridgeable gaps in humanity. That is my religious faith ... It is the faith that we are all equal and endowed by our creator with unalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is the faith I would die to defend..."

To be continued...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh man! I missed that Nat Geo episode on the 'Judas Gospel' last Sunday. Fortunately, Nat Geo will show it again tonight...

On a side note: Did you know that those parchments have been kept in a Citibank safety deposit vault for 16 years before it was discovered? The owner, an Egyptian antique dealer had a hard time selling them and didn't have an inkling of the 'bomb' he had in his possesion.

TK said...

I don't think it really is a bomb. I see it as an entertaining work of fiction like the "Da Vinci Code." Keep a bag of popcorn beside you when you see it tonight.

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