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| March 2, 2007 Alaskan in Exile by Neil Zawicki, insurgent49  Things are turning a little strange in the world. Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron says he’s found Jesus – literally. Well, actually he’s on board with a group of archaeologists that say they’ve literally found Jesus. Cameron just wants to be included, or at least be near the action. That’s right. They’ve found Jesus. And his mother. And his wife and his son over there in the Jesus family tomb outside Jerusalem. Experts say they have DNA evidence to link the four sets of remains. That’s what they’re saying. And the archaeological community is pretty much unanimous that the evidence is good. They’re giving 600 to 1 odds that what they’ve found is actually Jesus. The tomb inscription reads, “Jesus, son of Joseph …” and there are two sets of remains named Mary – or Aramaic versions of these names. One of them is named Mariamene e Mara – the generally accepted official name of Mary Magdalene, who was apparently Jesus’ old lady. Okay, to be fair, Jesus was a common name back then, and so was Joseph. But out of thousands of tombs found in the region, only two have the names Jesus and Joseph, and only one also includes a set of Marys. I for one am excited. If in fact this tomb houses the same Jesus that laid such a groovy trip on us all those years ago, then it will lend outstanding tangibility to the stories. Others, I suspect, will not be so welcoming of this potential revelation. This is due to the fact that it would run counter to their well-cultivated notions about Jesus, not the least of which is the one about him vanishing in a poof three days after being entombed. And they mean vanished, body and all. The other hard-to-swallow notion would be the one about the wife and the son. That’s certainly not in the brochure. The thing about it is that if this find turns out to be the actual remains of Jesus of Nazareth, it will alter Christianity, and I think in a positive way. Sure, there will be the die-hards that will insist the find only proves he existed and that his spirit ascended, rather than his body, but they’ll have to do some rationalizing on a biblical scale to explain his wife and child. Or they can just accept the change, just like the Rabbis had to do back when Jesus was thirty-three, turning all religion on its head. That’s the thing about Jesus: he challenges our assumptions, and forces us out of our conventions. It appears he may be at it again with this find. In fact, does this qualify as a return? Hmm … Neil Zawicki, exiled Alaskan, is Editor at Large for Insurgent49, a former reporter for the Alaska Star, and winner of the Alaska Press Club's 'Best Columnist' award. He is now living out the rest of his days in an undisclosed location in Oregon. He can be contacted at hondo23@gmail.com 'Alaskan In Exile' appears on insurgent49.com every Friday. |
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Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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