All human endeavors show signs of evolutionary progression. Examples of human advancement can be found in shelter, communication, art, and religion. It is religion that we find some of the earliest examples of the creative genius that is human. Because developmental theology is such a broad and deep topic only a few examples will be given in this article, with much of this topic only given cursory comment. An attempt to show the beginnings of human worship can be found in cave art found in such places as Lascaux and Altamira France, or in the Petroglyphs of the America’s. The worship of a female deity can be seen again in cave art at Lascaux, figurines throughout the world, often of accentuated breast and vulva. A long historical leap will then be made, by discussing Egypt’s “heretical” pharaoh Akhenaten and the development of monotheism.
Being human is a process of evolution. Humankind has lived in caves, such as Danger Cave in western Utah, exhibiting some 11,000 years of habitation;1 to a 5,000 year old timber, stone, wattle and daub construction found at Crannog;2 or Catal Hüyük in Anatolia built c. 7,250–6,150 B.C.E. A finale example is the massive brick construction as seen in ancient Mesopotamia and Sumer around 2,700 B.C.E. The megalithic stone construction of ancient Egypt, starting around 3,000 B.C.E., which still stands today, is a monument of human ingenuity. Today we have modern buildings of concrete and steel, each method being an adaptation or improvement upon other methods of construction.
From the earliest times, humans have tried to communicate beyond speech. Symbolistic communication in the form of Petroglyphs are found throughout the world with stunning examples in the American Southwest. Pictograms bare resemblance to physical objects where early examples are found on rock walls and were used in writing systems in which the characters resemble an idea or thought; the like can be found on modern road signs. Ideograms are the next step in the evolution of communication; they are graphic symbols that represent the development of communication by expanding upon more complicated concepts. Ideograms are found in mathematical notation and Chinese characters and then are arranged in sequential order that can be understood by those properly trained, such as ancient scribes. The iconographies of ideograms lead to the development of phonetic symbols, or phonograms that would become the written word.3 This progression would continue forth until today with modern telecommunications. “The reverence which Middle Eastern cultures held for the religious and political values of written language represents one of the most immutable factors in the history of writing.”4
For as long as people have existed, there has been a spiritual realm. In attempting to show recognition of the spiritual realm, humans have constructed numerous types of monuments to withstand the ages. Humans have been compelled to beautify and explain the world around them. Beginning around 40,000 B.C.E., the archaeological record shows that the earliest known art was created. In France, in the 1940’s, four children were searching for their dog and discovered one of the oldest and best examples of prehistoric art. The Lascaux Cave has magnificent paintings of wildlife on the walls, along with multiple relief’s of animals and several sculpted Ox. Among the plethora of lifelike animals can be seen aspects of the female divine. The cave itself represents the womb from which life springs. Throughout the cave and its representation of animals and female worship are multiple footprints of ancient youths visiting the most remote areas of this cave, in areas that were once muddy clay, but now hardened like pavement. The most supported theory of the cave art is that they were created as a method to conduct spiritual or religious ritual rites.5 Evidence of “ceremonial artifacts have been found more in some areas of the cave than in others. In addition, archeological evidence has shown that people were only there for short periods of time.”6
Some 40,000 years ago, humans began creating sacred wall art in a form of worship. Other evidences exists that suggests from the earliest beginnings humans worshiped, and that the earliest forms of worship was that of the female… “it appears that originally the goddess was a more powerful and important personage than the male god.7 From these humble beginnings the male and female gods and goddesses were paired. Yet the earliest known artifacts are clearly of female deity figurines such as, the Venus of Willendorf carved around 24,000–22,000 B.C.E.8 As Karen Armstrong has pointed out,
In the Paleolithic period, for example, when agriculture was developing, the cult of the Mother Goddess expressed a sense that the fertility which was transforming human life was actually sacred. Artist carved those statues depicting her as a naked, pregnant woman which archaeologist have found all over Europe, the Middle East and India. The Great Mother remained imaginatively important for centuries.9
As communication was able to progress through drawn symbols, more complex thoughts could be communicated through generations via the written word. One area of complex reasoning is found in the art of philosophy. Philosophically speaking, the argument of God existence can be broken down into two camps, intellectualism and Voluntarism, “the rational versus the instinctual, or the cognitive versus the emotional.”10 In Socratic intellectualism, God follows eternal laws and does not break them; it is part of the Socratic notion that “one will do what is right or best just as soon as one truly understands what is right or best.”11 Voluntarism on the other hand, is the notion that God can do anything, and God’s will determines right and wrong.
Most commentaries and Bible scholars agree that when we read in the Jewish scriptures the Tanakh Devarim or in the Christian Bible Deut. 18:10 “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft. . .” or 2 Kngs 23:10 “And he defiled Topheth, which [is] in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.” These sections are discussing human sacrifice which the Old Testament (OT) clearly denounces.
However, in Eerdmans Bible Dictionary it states that Human sacrifice was apparently part of the Yahwistic cult in pre-exilic times. Yahweh in the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) is translated as Lord in the OT and is considered by most people, God. According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia human sacrifice was clearly practiced among the Canaanites though irregular, and for the most part done at times of extreme peril or need. One example is, 2 Kings 3:27 “Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The fury against Israel was great; they withdrew and returned to their own land.”
In Judges 11, Jephthah made a vow to God to kill his daughter. What is found here is that in the earliest biblical tradition there is a notion of human sacrifice. Though deplorable, it should not come as a surprise. Some of the earliest forms of worship were done with the sacrifice of humans. “We have to remember that human sacrifice is not just a ritual act designed to appease the gods, divine the future, or bring luck and prosperity to those offering the sacrifice. It covers all situations in which a human life is exchanged for a greater cause.”12
In the case of Attis in Phrygia, there was a mimic killing of the priest accompanied by a real effusion of his blood. It is thought that this practice “as it has been elsewhere, a substitute for a human sacrifice which in earlier times was actually offered.”13 Also, in ancient Greece, there was the custom to sacrifice, to the goat-smiting Dionysus, a child. Later a goat was substituted.14 “Human sacrifice was practiced at least 5,000 years ago among the early agricultural societies of Europe.”15 It is something that has been found throughout the world in ancient times and is even practiced in some of the most remote parts of the world to this day.
The development of intellect is one form of evolution often overlooked in historical debates about theology. If intellectual development means, the ability to gain knowledge and determine a course of action based on our knowledge, then clearly evolution is illustrated. Technologies alone show a development of thought to transform the world around us and make it what it is today. The fact that humans communicate using symbols that others recognize, on paper and verbally is amazing. The development of the written word from pectoral symbols such as Egyptian hieroglyphs to Sumerian cuneiform developing into Greek and Roman symbols still used in the West to this day is an extraordinary feat. An evolutionary process is clearly demonstrated with the advent of the printing press to the development of word processors and computers.
From the progress of religion we can see the earliest forms in primitive cave art to the great temple complexes of Egypt and Mesoamerica. From earliest times, humankind has worshiped. From these ancient beginnings humans have created a multitude of theisms ranging from beliefs in a pantheon of gods and goddesses to the development of a monotheistic view of one God.
The primordial deity for our Paleolithic and Neolithic ancestors was female, reflecting the sovereignty of motherhood. In fact, there are no images that have been found of a Father God throughout the prehistoric record. Paleolithic and Neolithic symbols and images cluster around a self-generating Goddess and her basic function as Giver-of-Life, Wielder of Death, and Regeneratrix. This symbolic system represents a cyclical, nonlinear mythical time.16
The mother goddess has been found throughout the world in various forms and at various times, “she was called Inana in ancient Sumeria, Ishtar in Babylon, Anat in Canaan, Isis in Egypt and Aphrodite in Greece, and remarkably similar stories were devised in all these cultures to express her role in the spiritual lives of the people.”17 One ritualistic form of worship takes on the form of animism in which natural objects have souls. This type of worship is found throughout the world at various times and is thought to be most common among primitive peoples. Humans later develop forms of polytheism, a belief in or worship of multiple deities, made up of a pantheon of gods and goddesses. This form of worship is often best viewed in the ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome with their own mythologies and rituals. While some may think that polytheism has lapsed into the realms of antiquity, it is very much alive today found in many vibrant religions now such as: Shinto, Chinese folk religion, Neopagan faiths and even Christianity. Finally, as far as this paper is concerned, people develop into monotheist, or the belief in one God. This belief is perhaps best adhered to by Islam today.
There are many examples of monotheism throughout history, three excellent examples found in Egypt, with Akhenaton, Israel with Jehovah and finally in Mecca and Medina with Mohamed and Islam. This paper will concern itself primarily with Egypt and Israel. Beginning with, Akhenaton, the heretic pharaoh of Egypt, we find great details of his city, Amarna’s, internal plans in large part because the city was abandoned shortly after the death of Akhenaton, and remained uninhabited thereafter. Along with a virtually untouched city complex there is a multitude of clay tablets from the Tel el-Amarna known as The Amarna Letters and also called the Amarna correspondence or Amarna tablets.
From the beginnings of religious expression one of the worlds most fascinating individuals come into view. He was the man who started monotheism in a land that was abundant in gods. Akhenaten was Ancient Egypt’s “Heretic King,” founder of Amarna. The ruins of Tel el-Amarna/Akhetaten in English literally means “the Horizon of the Aten” and is the site of modern day El-Amarna. It is located on the east bank of the Nile River some 58 km (38 miles) south of the city of al-Minya, and 312 km (194) miles south of Egypt’s modern capitol Cairo. This region of Egypt is the solar center of that Ancient land. Akhenaten was a worshiper of Aten, who was represented by the solar disk, and was the God above gods. In the KJV of the Bible in 2 Chronicles it reads strikingly similar when Solomon is giving orders for the construction of the ancient Temple of Israel. 2 Ch 2:5 “And the house which I build [is] great: for great [is] our God above all gods.”
The site was discovered in 1887 when a local Egyptian peasant woman digging for sebakh or fertilizer, often made from clay brick, found a few tablets buried in the ruins of the Akhetaten palace complex and sold them to antiquities dealers. These tablets recorded a select diplomatic correspondence of the Pharaoh. The tablets were written predominately in Akkadian, the langue of the era much like English is today. “Later excavations recovered the rest, beginning with the work of English Egyptologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie in 1891-92.”18
“There are about 382 tablets (350 of which were letters), now scattered among various museums but mainly found in: the British Museum in London, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and the Vorderasiatishes Museum in Berlin.”19
Though lost to history until its discovery in the 19th century, this site has been rich in gaining a better understanding of Egypt and its relationship with its neighbors. In the tablets from Amarna there are some letters written from the Lavant, the area of the Middle East encompassing the region from Sinai to Lebanon, Syria, Jordon, Iraq, Palestine and Israel. In the vicinity of present day Jerusalem, warning the Akhetaten of the Habiru, who have been conjectured to be the Hebrews of the Old Testament.20 The name Habiru seems to mean homeless or displaced people. It should be noted that Abraham and his descendants fall into that category.21 According to William G. Dever ““Habiru” is not the preferable transliteration; the Akkadian (Mesopotamian) root of “Apiru” means something like “freebooter,” while the root of “Hebrew” means “to cross over.” That is, it refers to those ancestors of Israel who like Abraham come over from Mesopotamia to Canaan.”22
Akhenaton’s importance cannot be underestimated. Akhenaton is one of the most controversial figures in history. When comparing Akhenaton’s one god against the worship of the Hebrew’s one god there are a lot of similarities. According to Kent Weeks, a noted Egyptologist and scholar,
…Amenhotep IV [Akhenaton] has been labeled everything from a religious genius to a mentally deranged, physically deformed zealot. He has been the subject of a study by Sigmund Freud, an opera by Philip Glass, a novel by Mika Waltari, and a film by Darryl F. Zanuck. Thousands of articles have been written about him, ranging from the profoundly scholarly to profoundly ridiculous.
Although Tel el- Amarna boasts a large wealth of artifacts, often times the history of Amarna and Akhenaton are embellished or woven into the story and account of the ancient Israelites. While we have many artifacts, it is not enough to say concisely one way or the other, that Akhenaton ties into the history of the Hebrews and because of that we often allow imagination and conjecture to reign supreme.23
Many people have become interested in Egyptology because of their reading of the Jewish Tanakh or Old Testament in the Christian Bible. This was especially true from around the early 1800’s to the early 1900’s. A special interest occurred particularly in the U.S., between the years 1850 to 1950, culminating with studies of W. F. Albright. Much has changed since those heady days with the Archeologists’ desires to transpose their beliefs on the excavations. Often the attempt to impose their particular belief systems was defined by trying to prove the accuracy of the Biblical text.24 Outlandish statements based on truth have occurred throughout the studies of Akhenaton such as: “There was a Pharaoh who built a city of mud and straw brick, and some of the bricks lack straw?” Another statement might be, “Akhenaton worshiped ‘one god’ which can be found in the Old Testament.” Yet, another comment might be, “Akhenaton had a chief artist named Tuthmosis, his grandfather was Tuthmosis IV and he had a brother named Tuthmosis.” While this last statement about the many Tuthmosis’ is true, it should be noted that the name Tuthmosis is fairly common. Akhenaton’s brother Thuthmosis, did not attain the crown of Pharaoh because of a split in his tongue which made him slow of speech, due to this impediment people have linked and inflated Akhenaton and Thuthmosis into being the brothers Aaron and Moses. At the end of the heretic Pharoah’s life, he was stricken from the records of Egypt and left off the list of Pharaohs. Shortly thereafter, there was a mass exodus of priestly lepers who moved into the southern Levant, modern Israel. To give an idea of the antiquity of the debate about Akhenaton, one of the most influential writers in ancient times was Flavius Josephus. In his book Against Apion Book 1:26, Josephus tries to prove Mantheo’s histories (Mantheo, was an Egyptian historian that composed a list of the pharaohs during the reign of Ptolemys 283–246 B.C.E.) as inaccurate by quoting him and giving the name of what at that time seemed to be a fictitious king’s name, Amenophis. Amenophis was discovered in 1887 in Tel el- Amarna and is now known by his throne name of Akhenaton.
The struggle for a single god, took place over thousands of years and was often violent. After Akhenaton’s failed attempt at a form of monotheism in Egypt, a man named Moses would leave that ancient land with the Israelites and bring to the world its first beginnings of a single god after descending from mount Sinai. Even after the miraculous events surrounding Moses and the children of Israel’s leaving Egypt that can be read about in the Tanakh or OT the Israelites struggled to worship just one god. As one author informs us,
It was almost inevitable that the cult of this great Canaanite mother goddess, who was venerated also in many other parts of the Ancient Near East, should penetrate Hebrew religion as well. In fact, it was not long after the Israelite conquest of the Canaanite hill country, in the period of mixed Israelite-Canaanite settlement that this development took place, together with intermarriage between the Israelites and the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, “among who they dwelt.” The establishment of family and religious ties went hand in hand, and “the Children of Israel…served the Baals and Aherahs.” (My quote Jdg 2:13 And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.)
So ingrained in the local populations of ancient Israel, this Asherah was worshipped even in the Temple of Solomon. A Biblical reference can be found in 2 Kings 21: 4-5 in referring to Manasseh it says, “And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. According to Raphael Patai, the word Asherah in Biblical usage can thus refer to either the goddess herself or to her image. Patai further informs us,
From a story told in the Book of Judges about Gideon, who lived in the 12th century B.C.E. we learn that the Asherah worship in those early days was a communal or public affair. However, the wooden image of the goddess belonged to the town’s chiftain who, at one and the same time was also the priest of Asherah and Baal. This chieftain was none other than Josah the Abiezrite, Gideon’s father. When Gideon, an early precursor of zealous Yahwist, demolished the alter of Baal and cut down the Asherah, he incurred the wrath of the entire town of Ofra. His immediate punishment of death was demanded by the men of the city, and he was saved only because his father stood by him. Gideon’s act remained, for several generations at least, an isolated incident.25
There is ample archaeological evidence of the Asherah as a household goddess. The evidence is found in the many small clay figurines of nude women with protruding breasts. These statuettes called Teraphim or idols in the Bible have been found throughout Palestine and have been dated with confidence ranging throughout the ancient Israelite period.26 One of the most interesting aspects of the acceptance of the Asherah while fighting against other gods is told by Raphael Patai in his book The Hebrew Goddess,
The extent of the worship of these Sidonian deities in Ahab’s court is attested by the report that 450 prophets of the Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah ate at the table of Jezebel. It was these prophets whom Elijah met on Mount Carmel, in a great public rain-making contest which ended with the utter defeat of the Canaanite god and a miraculous vindication of Yahweh. It is interesting to observe that Elijah did not accuse the people of having abandoned Yahweh for the foreign gods but merely of dividing their attentions between both. Although the 400 prophets of Asherah seem to have attended the meeting on Mount Carmel, only the 450 prophets of Baal were challenged to the contest by Elijah, and no further word is said in the entire detailed narrative about the prophets of Asherah. Evidentl, the Phoenician Baal was the real rival of Yahweh, not the goddess Asherah. The appeal of the Baal prophets to their god and that of Elijah to Yahweh are surprisingly similar, in fact, almost identical. When Yahweh’s fire (lightning?) descends on Elijah’s alter and thus proves His superiority, the people side with Elijah, and burst into shouts of “Yahweh is the god!” Thereupon the 450 prophets of the Baal are seized, dragged down into the valley, and slaughtered at the River Kishon. No word is said about the fate of the 400 prophets of Asherah. The inference must be that, not being part of the contest, no harm befell them. If so, they must have continued unhindered to serve their goddess. Nor was the Asherah which Ahab had “made” and set up in Samaria removed or in any way harmed either as a result of Elijah’s victory over the prophets of the Baal, during the remaining years of Ahab’s reign. It would appear then that only the Baal was considered by Elijah (and the strict Yahwists in general) as dangerous rival of Yahweh, while the goddess Ahserah was regarded as his inevitable, necessary, or at any rate tolerable, female counterpart.27
As professor Patai further developed his thesis he was able to demonstrate that the female aspect of deity continues within Judaism, morphing from one goddess to another and eventually becomes the consort of God.
From the earliest of times humans have sought meaning in their existence. Progress continues to be made in shelter, communication, art, and religion. Yet religion seems to strive to enrich life and give meaning to our existence, and it is within the context of religion that we find some of the earliest examples of human creative genius. Because this topic is so broad and all encompassing the narrative must end but the search continue. Some of the marvels of early human worship can be found throughout the world such as the cave art found in such places as Lascaux, Altamira, and in the Petroglyphs of the America’s.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
'10 Rules for Dealing with Police' seeks to teach constitutional rights
By DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 25, 2010
The short film "10 Rules for Dealing With Police" opens with an unfortunate but common scene: A young black man in a little red car, rap music blasting, is driving down a gritty highway at night, minding his own business, thumping to a beat.
A police car pulls behind him. The man becomes agitated as he stops, muttering under his breath, "I am tired of this [expletive]."
By the time the officer gets to his window and shines the flashlight, the man, having done nothing but switch lanes, is projecting much attitude. He rolls down his window halfway.
"Yeah, I know the drill," he says, this being the fourth time in a year he has been "pulled over for nothing."
"Excuse me?" the officer says.
The man grabs his registration out of his glove box.
"No need for the attitude, bro," the officer says. "I'm looking out for your safety and everyone else on this road."
The man mutters some obscenity.
The officer asks him to step out of the car.
In that instant, he has violated the film's rule No. 1 for dealing with police.
"As soon as you opened your mouth, you failed the rule with your attitude," says narrator William "Billy" Murphy, a former Baltimore judge and defense attorney, best known for his role in "The Wire."
"10 Rules," a docudrama produced by the D.C. nonprofit Flex Your Rights, dispenses free legal advice with no-holds-barred dialogue. The producers, D.C. residents Steven Silverman, 33, and Scott Morgan, 30, created the film to help people in urban areas understand their constitutional rights.
"I realized the majority of people are confused and overwhelmed about how to handle a police encounter," Silverman says, standing in the lobby of the Cato Institute, the libertarian think tank where the film premiered Wednesday.
Upstairs there are sandwiches, spring water and soda in clear glasses for the policy wonks streaming in. This is what people in think tanks do in the middle of the day in the middle of the week in Washington: They take big, complicated issues, such as unintended consequences of everyday events, and turn them into products the rest of us can understand.
"Most people are constitutionally illiterate," says Silverman, a former Cato intern. "Most people will waive their rights entirely during a police encounter."
Silverman and Morgan, who studied criminal justice, plan to distribute DVDs to high schools, community groups, youth groups and churches. They spent two years making the film, which cost $110,000 and was funded in part by the Marijuana Policy Project. It was shot in Baltimore.
"Minorities are the audience," Morgan says. "It was important to us with this project because people of color are disproportionately targeted by police across the country." According the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, minorities are more likely to be searched when arrested. The bureau's stats show that "stop and frisks" are occurring at record rates, Morgan says, particularly where minorities and low-income people live. He blamed "hard on crime" campaigns by politicians trying to get or stay elected.
Silverman says there are unintended consequences for not knowing the rules of what to do if stopped by police. "The term is racial targeting," Silverman says.
Neill Franklin, a retired Maryland state police officer, calls the film an important primer for educating police academies. "I'm a cop. I'm straight from the streets," Franklin says. "One of the things I always talked with police academy instructors about is to ensure we follow our oath, to serve and uphold the Constitution of the United States. Most people think what a great piece for kids and grown-ups, but I see it as a great tool for police academies."
The 40-minute film is straightforward. Murphy, the judge turned actor, is blunt in his advice. "There are lots of good police out there doing what needs to be done," he says. "And I don't need to tell you there are also a few too many cops who don't respect the basic rights of innocent people."
He tells the audience: "The smartest way to take the Fifth is to keep your mouth shut. You always have the right to remain silent."
Then he makes them repeat a lesson, like a teacher instructing a class: "Repeat after me, 'I don't consent to searches.' " And the audience repeats.
In the film, Murphy helps the man in the opening scene understand what happened when he was pulled over and how he made the situation worse by not following the rules.
"That cop profiled me," the man protests. "It's ridiculous. I go to school -- I'm not a gun trafficker."
Murphy: "I know how you feel, man. . . . You never know for sure what's going on in an officer's head. I hate to say it, but from what I hear it sounds like you broke the first rule of dealing with police: Always be calm and cool."
Carry the rules on a little white napkin if you have to, the producers say, but remember them:
1. Always be calm and cool.
2. You have the right to remain silent.
3. You have the right to refuse searches.
4. Don't get tricked into waiving your rights.
5. Determine if you're free to go.
6. Don't do anything illegal.
7. Don't run.
8. Never touch a cop.
9. Report misconduct: Be a good witness.
10. You don't have to let them in.
A spokesman for the D.C. police, who had not seen the film, said the rules are good rules to follow. "However," he said, "if you have nothing to hide and police are doing some kind of investigation, you should tell them whatever they need to know. Police are there to protect the society and the community in which we work."
Rewind the opening scene: This time a polite young man rolls down the window. The officer writes him a ticket for swerving between lanes. The man gets back into his little red car, drives off into the night.
Citation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032402907.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 25, 2010
The short film "10 Rules for Dealing With Police" opens with an unfortunate but common scene: A young black man in a little red car, rap music blasting, is driving down a gritty highway at night, minding his own business, thumping to a beat.
A police car pulls behind him. The man becomes agitated as he stops, muttering under his breath, "I am tired of this [expletive]."
By the time the officer gets to his window and shines the flashlight, the man, having done nothing but switch lanes, is projecting much attitude. He rolls down his window halfway.
"Yeah, I know the drill," he says, this being the fourth time in a year he has been "pulled over for nothing."
"Excuse me?" the officer says.
The man grabs his registration out of his glove box.
"No need for the attitude, bro," the officer says. "I'm looking out for your safety and everyone else on this road."
The man mutters some obscenity.
The officer asks him to step out of the car.
In that instant, he has violated the film's rule No. 1 for dealing with police.
"As soon as you opened your mouth, you failed the rule with your attitude," says narrator William "Billy" Murphy, a former Baltimore judge and defense attorney, best known for his role in "The Wire."
"10 Rules," a docudrama produced by the D.C. nonprofit Flex Your Rights, dispenses free legal advice with no-holds-barred dialogue. The producers, D.C. residents Steven Silverman, 33, and Scott Morgan, 30, created the film to help people in urban areas understand their constitutional rights.
"I realized the majority of people are confused and overwhelmed about how to handle a police encounter," Silverman says, standing in the lobby of the Cato Institute, the libertarian think tank where the film premiered Wednesday.
Upstairs there are sandwiches, spring water and soda in clear glasses for the policy wonks streaming in. This is what people in think tanks do in the middle of the day in the middle of the week in Washington: They take big, complicated issues, such as unintended consequences of everyday events, and turn them into products the rest of us can understand.
"Most people are constitutionally illiterate," says Silverman, a former Cato intern. "Most people will waive their rights entirely during a police encounter."
Silverman and Morgan, who studied criminal justice, plan to distribute DVDs to high schools, community groups, youth groups and churches. They spent two years making the film, which cost $110,000 and was funded in part by the Marijuana Policy Project. It was shot in Baltimore.
"Minorities are the audience," Morgan says. "It was important to us with this project because people of color are disproportionately targeted by police across the country." According the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, minorities are more likely to be searched when arrested. The bureau's stats show that "stop and frisks" are occurring at record rates, Morgan says, particularly where minorities and low-income people live. He blamed "hard on crime" campaigns by politicians trying to get or stay elected.
Silverman says there are unintended consequences for not knowing the rules of what to do if stopped by police. "The term is racial targeting," Silverman says.
Neill Franklin, a retired Maryland state police officer, calls the film an important primer for educating police academies. "I'm a cop. I'm straight from the streets," Franklin says. "One of the things I always talked with police academy instructors about is to ensure we follow our oath, to serve and uphold the Constitution of the United States. Most people think what a great piece for kids and grown-ups, but I see it as a great tool for police academies."
The 40-minute film is straightforward. Murphy, the judge turned actor, is blunt in his advice. "There are lots of good police out there doing what needs to be done," he says. "And I don't need to tell you there are also a few too many cops who don't respect the basic rights of innocent people."
He tells the audience: "The smartest way to take the Fifth is to keep your mouth shut. You always have the right to remain silent."
Then he makes them repeat a lesson, like a teacher instructing a class: "Repeat after me, 'I don't consent to searches.' " And the audience repeats.
In the film, Murphy helps the man in the opening scene understand what happened when he was pulled over and how he made the situation worse by not following the rules.
"That cop profiled me," the man protests. "It's ridiculous. I go to school -- I'm not a gun trafficker."
Murphy: "I know how you feel, man. . . . You never know for sure what's going on in an officer's head. I hate to say it, but from what I hear it sounds like you broke the first rule of dealing with police: Always be calm and cool."
Carry the rules on a little white napkin if you have to, the producers say, but remember them:
1. Always be calm and cool.
2. You have the right to remain silent.
3. You have the right to refuse searches.
4. Don't get tricked into waiving your rights.
5. Determine if you're free to go.
6. Don't do anything illegal.
7. Don't run.
8. Never touch a cop.
9. Report misconduct: Be a good witness.
10. You don't have to let them in.
A spokesman for the D.C. police, who had not seen the film, said the rules are good rules to follow. "However," he said, "if you have nothing to hide and police are doing some kind of investigation, you should tell them whatever they need to know. Police are there to protect the society and the community in which we work."
Rewind the opening scene: This time a polite young man rolls down the window. The officer writes him a ticket for swerving between lanes. The man gets back into his little red car, drives off into the night.
Citation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032402907.html
Monday, April 5, 2010
Which are better?
Dunkin donuts, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts or Winchell’s. I grew up on Dunkin and to this day I think they are absolutely hands down the best. Krispy Kreme’s while they are served nice and warm are like biting into a bunch of hot air. Never had much luck with Winchell’s the one they had here oh, so many years ago, never had selection and never seemed fresh. I think the place only baked at 2:00 in the morning. For my money Dunkin’s though the last batch I had weren’t all that good either. Maybe I’m just getting old and picky.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The roles of government
Have a sound currency or monetary policy—this may mean bring back specie
Ability to Declare War—defensive war and provide for the nation's defense only—not pseudo wars, a subject for another day
Regulate interstate and foreign commerce
Maintain Roads—Transportation, and communication routes
Public education—schooling provided by the government that is compulsory student attendance until a certain age or standard is achieved to all children, paid for by taxation.
Levy Taxes—not income tax, this was never implied by the founders
Prevent Fraud—Trust-busting, also something to be considered in this day of consolidation and conglomeration and multi-nationalization of corporations
Maintain and provide natural monopolies—public utilities such as providing and regulating potable water, water reclamation (waste removal), air pollution, electricity and may include telecommunications
Protect the right and control of private property
I also argue that the amendments to the Constitution are a wise and prudent activity, while bearing in mind the People have rights that should always supercede the Federal Governments.
Protect the rights of religion, free speech, to assemble (meet), to address (petition) the government, and a free press to publish.
The right to keep bear arms.
No quartering soldiers during times of peace or war without the consent of the owner.
The government cannot improperly take property, papers, or people, without a valid warrant based on probable cause.
Due process guarantees, people will not be held for committing a crime unless they are properly indicted, that they may not be tried twice for the same crime, and that you need not be forced to testify against yourself, and from property being taken without just compensation.
The right to a speedy trial, an impartial jury, that the accused can confront witnesses against them, and that the accused must be allowed to have a lawyer.
The right to a jury trial in federal civil court cases. (for the most part this is no longer done)
Punishments will be fair, and not cruel, and that extraordinarily large fines will not be set.
There are not expressed rights that these rights are real and cannot, should not be violated.
Any power not granted to the federal government belongs to the states or to the people.
These in my world view are basic rights and responsibilities of government. There are others that have been added overtime and these a good.
Ability to Declare War—defensive war and provide for the nation's defense only—not pseudo wars, a subject for another day
Regulate interstate and foreign commerce
Maintain Roads—Transportation, and communication routes
Public education—schooling provided by the government that is compulsory student attendance until a certain age or standard is achieved to all children, paid for by taxation.
Levy Taxes—not income tax, this was never implied by the founders
Prevent Fraud—Trust-busting, also something to be considered in this day of consolidation and conglomeration and multi-nationalization of corporations
Maintain and provide natural monopolies—public utilities such as providing and regulating potable water, water reclamation (waste removal), air pollution, electricity and may include telecommunications
Protect the right and control of private property
I also argue that the amendments to the Constitution are a wise and prudent activity, while bearing in mind the People have rights that should always supercede the Federal Governments.
Protect the rights of religion, free speech, to assemble (meet), to address (petition) the government, and a free press to publish.
The right to keep bear arms.
No quartering soldiers during times of peace or war without the consent of the owner.
The government cannot improperly take property, papers, or people, without a valid warrant based on probable cause.
Due process guarantees, people will not be held for committing a crime unless they are properly indicted, that they may not be tried twice for the same crime, and that you need not be forced to testify against yourself, and from property being taken without just compensation.
The right to a speedy trial, an impartial jury, that the accused can confront witnesses against them, and that the accused must be allowed to have a lawyer.
The right to a jury trial in federal civil court cases. (for the most part this is no longer done)
Punishments will be fair, and not cruel, and that extraordinarily large fines will not be set.
There are not expressed rights that these rights are real and cannot, should not be violated.
Any power not granted to the federal government belongs to the states or to the people.
These in my world view are basic rights and responsibilities of government. There are others that have been added overtime and these a good.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The World of Two Ways
"Two ways hath God put before the children of men, and two inclinations hath He bestowed upon them, two kinds of actions and two aims. Therefore all things are in twos, the one opposite to the other." We ought not be double minded pursuing both goodness and wickedness. Cling only to the ways of goodness, the Lord delights in them and we should yearn after them. We are in the world of the 'two ways'.1
According to some philosophers and religious teachers we are in the world of the two ways we can either choose the treasures of heaven or the treasures of the earth but you cannot have both for you will learn to hate the one and love the other.
But, I shall ramble about wealth for a moment. Being rich neither makes one good nor bad. It rains upon the just and the unjust. Wealth is a magnifier of ones deeds. Though deeds or alms giving are to be done in secret. There is a saying, the greater the secret the greater the reward. Along with this according to the teaching of the Jesus of Nazareth in Matt. 19:24 “And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” This quote is reiterated in
Mark 10:23–27
23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Luke 18:25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. The story of the wealthy youth who could not give all to follow this ancient prophet of Nazareth was clearly of great weight, import and moment.
No such gate exists. There has never been any evidence for such a gate called the “eye of the needle” existing, much less a gate of this nature at all in the Jerusalem wall. The entire thing is a complete fabrication, which sounds good, in a bible given to me in my youth called Holy Bible: From the Ancient Eastern Text is a translation from Aramaic by George M. Lamsa he uses the word 'rope' in the main text. In a footnote on Matthew 19:24 it says the Aramaic word gamla means rope and camel, possibly because the ropes were made from camel hair. Evidence for this also comes from the 10th century Aramaic lexicographer Mar Bahlul who gives the meaning as a "a large rope used to bind ships". These stories completely ignore what Jesus also said in Matthew 26 “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
The great secret of this world is that one can get gain through murder. But, can one get gain through "lesser" sins or evil? Maybe a little lying, a little cheating, perhaps steal a little? Vice and virtue these are the two choices. One seems fun, glitzy and glamorous. The other seems boring, trivial and often not worthwhile. We are shown the lifestyles of the rich and famous we ogle over the massive wealth of Bill Gates or Carlos Slim Helu the richest man in the world. We now build mansion unto ourselves. Look at the houses we live in today. Go to the homes and neighborhoods of the average person in the 1940's- 50's and 60's compare them to the middle class homes of today.
The homes of today are mansions of yesteryear. The saltbox home of the 50's were purchased on loans that were 10-15 years. Today we settle for 20-30 year mortgages. We enslave ourselves to debt, and for what? By indulging in the 'things' of today we put off or ignore the things of tomorrow.
We learn from Abraham the friend of God that what makes him righteous is the fact that he seeks out the wayfarer and stranger. Abraham actively purses those lost in the desert to give them water, food and shelter. Wherever Abraham goes he plants an oak tree.
In legends about Abraham, he seeks out the wayfarer and stranger. The midrash tells us that Abraham’s tent was open at both sides so that he could see visitors coming from any direction (Genesis Rabbah 48:9 411). “The heat of the day” refers to noon, when the sun and the shade are equally hot (Genesis Rabbah 48:8 410). Why did not Abraham remain within the relative coolness of his tent? The Talmud explains (B. Talmud Baba Metzia 86a):
The Holy One, Blessed be He, came to enquire after Abraham’s health; moreover, he drew the sun out of its sheath so that the righteous man (who is Abraham) should not be troubled with wayfarers. Abraham sent [his servant] Eliezer out to seek travelers, but Eliezer found none. Abraham said, “I do not believe you.” So Abraham himself went out, and saw the Holy One, blessed be He, standing at the door, thus it is written, “Pass not away, I pray you, from your servant.” But on seeing Abraham tying and untying the bandages of his circumcision, the Lord said, “It is not well that I stand here;” Hence it is written, And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him, and when he saw them, he ran to meet them.
Citations
According to some philosophers and religious teachers we are in the world of the two ways we can either choose the treasures of heaven or the treasures of the earth but you cannot have both for you will learn to hate the one and love the other.
But, I shall ramble about wealth for a moment. Being rich neither makes one good nor bad. It rains upon the just and the unjust. Wealth is a magnifier of ones deeds. Though deeds or alms giving are to be done in secret. There is a saying, the greater the secret the greater the reward. Along with this according to the teaching of the Jesus of Nazareth in Matt. 19:24 “And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” This quote is reiterated in
Mark 10:23–27
23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Luke 18:25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. The story of the wealthy youth who could not give all to follow this ancient prophet of Nazareth was clearly of great weight, import and moment.
No such gate exists. There has never been any evidence for such a gate called the “eye of the needle” existing, much less a gate of this nature at all in the Jerusalem wall. The entire thing is a complete fabrication, which sounds good, in a bible given to me in my youth called Holy Bible: From the Ancient Eastern Text is a translation from Aramaic by George M. Lamsa he uses the word 'rope' in the main text. In a footnote on Matthew 19:24 it says the Aramaic word gamla means rope and camel, possibly because the ropes were made from camel hair. Evidence for this also comes from the 10th century Aramaic lexicographer Mar Bahlul who gives the meaning as a "a large rope used to bind ships". These stories completely ignore what Jesus also said in Matthew 26 “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
The great secret of this world is that one can get gain through murder. But, can one get gain through "lesser" sins or evil? Maybe a little lying, a little cheating, perhaps steal a little? Vice and virtue these are the two choices. One seems fun, glitzy and glamorous. The other seems boring, trivial and often not worthwhile. We are shown the lifestyles of the rich and famous we ogle over the massive wealth of Bill Gates or Carlos Slim Helu the richest man in the world. We now build mansion unto ourselves. Look at the houses we live in today. Go to the homes and neighborhoods of the average person in the 1940's- 50's and 60's compare them to the middle class homes of today.
The homes of today are mansions of yesteryear. The saltbox home of the 50's were purchased on loans that were 10-15 years. Today we settle for 20-30 year mortgages. We enslave ourselves to debt, and for what? By indulging in the 'things' of today we put off or ignore the things of tomorrow.
We learn from Abraham the friend of God that what makes him righteous is the fact that he seeks out the wayfarer and stranger. Abraham actively purses those lost in the desert to give them water, food and shelter. Wherever Abraham goes he plants an oak tree.
In legends about Abraham, he seeks out the wayfarer and stranger. The midrash tells us that Abraham’s tent was open at both sides so that he could see visitors coming from any direction (Genesis Rabbah 48:9 411). “The heat of the day” refers to noon, when the sun and the shade are equally hot (Genesis Rabbah 48:8 410). Why did not Abraham remain within the relative coolness of his tent? The Talmud explains (B. Talmud Baba Metzia 86a):
The Holy One, Blessed be He, came to enquire after Abraham’s health; moreover, he drew the sun out of its sheath so that the righteous man (who is Abraham) should not be troubled with wayfarers. Abraham sent [his servant] Eliezer out to seek travelers, but Eliezer found none. Abraham said, “I do not believe you.” So Abraham himself went out, and saw the Holy One, blessed be He, standing at the door, thus it is written, “Pass not away, I pray you, from your servant.” But on seeing Abraham tying and untying the bandages of his circumcision, the Lord said, “It is not well that I stand here;” Hence it is written, And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him, and when he saw them, he ran to meet them.
Citations
Friday, April 2, 2010
Men should get out of the Kitchen
I have had fine food, in many places out here in the west and few on the eastern seaboard, but nothing compares to the meals my, wife, step-mom, mother and mother-in-law can prepare. I have sons, and some can cook, my father tried and I have attempted, but nothing compares to these women. I am tired of over spiced, overcooked or underdone foods. Women please, I beg you, get back in the kitchen and fix some real food!
World of idiots
We live in a world of fools. I believe we call the modern idiot a terrorist. Their cause at times may be just, but their actions clearly are not. As the song says,
Mojique sees his village from a nearby hill
Mojique thinks of days before Americans came
He sees(serves) the foreigners in growing numbers
He sees the foreigners in fancy houses
He dreams of days that he can still remember...now.
Mojique holds a package in his quivering hands
Mojique sends the package to the American man
Softly he glides along the streets and alleys
Up comes the wind that makes them run for cover
He feels the time is surely now or never...more.
The wind in my heart
The wind in my heart
The dust in my head
The dust in my head
The wind in my heart
The wind in my heart
(Come to) Drive them away
Drive them away.
Mojique buys his equipment in the market place
Mojique plants devices through the free trade zone
He feels the wind is lifting up his people
He calls the wind to guide him on his mission
He knows his friend the wind is always standing...by.
Mojique smells the wind that comes from far away
Mojique waits for news in a quiet place
He feels the presence of the wind beside(around) him
He feels the power of the past behind him
He has the knowledge of the wind to guide him...on.
The wind in my heart
The wind in my heart
The dust in my head
The dust in my head
The wind in my heart
The wind in my heart
(Come to) Drive them away
Drive them away.
Listening Wind, Talking Heads
Darn, I’m off topic!
Something about idiots and terrorist. Apparently, because as an American I’m not safe enough, Homeland Security Secretary has announced a new level of security screening. This because of the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day, you know the winnie bomber (friggen idiot). To keep me safe this new system will use “fragmentary information” that might include travel itinerary, age, partial passport information and a partial name. Great! Maybe then we’ll have more cases like Mikey Hicks an 8-year-old Boy Scout. Mikey gets stopped by airport security, for free back rubs, I mean pat-downs when he travels. I know, I get ‘em too! Mmmm free pat-downs mmmm.
As tragic and senseless as it was on June 10, 2009 at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Stephen Tyrone Johns was shot by the idiot James Wenneker von Brunn. Having been to the USHMM to do research the previous March and again this March, I can say nothing perceptually has changed. You still go through a security scan, you still may get patted-down. I do because of my suspenders, and in the interest of security you still have to remove electronics such as laptops cameras and cell phones, so these can be scanned. The cellphone, laptop, camera thing one could write a book on, but suffice it to say any security checkpoint in the world is not doing what is required to stop an idiot attack. I degrees, I must now ask, did these precautions stop the idiot-butt head James Wenneker von Brunn from murdering an innocent man? Rather than feeling safer with all of these inconveniences—We should feel violated.
My point in all of this is—is my right to privacy worth the stupid intrusions that, others and I are willing to submit to? One such infringement is, full body scans. Do we want to cede what most Americans consider a direct violation of privacy for safety’s sake? Do we really want some dough-head to take a full body scan of us? I believe the modern idiot is a terrorist—but just whom is the terrorist and why is there fear mongering? For me the “Only Thing We Have to Fear, Is Fear Itself” maybe the right solution and attitude in these times of the idiot.
Citations
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/15/earlyshow/main6100536.shtml
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/archive/Who-is-James-Wenneker-von-Brunn.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-kleiman/full-body-scans-are-a-fem_b_487860.html
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/
Mojique sees his village from a nearby hill
Mojique thinks of days before Americans came
He sees(serves) the foreigners in growing numbers
He sees the foreigners in fancy houses
He dreams of days that he can still remember...now.
Mojique holds a package in his quivering hands
Mojique sends the package to the American man
Softly he glides along the streets and alleys
Up comes the wind that makes them run for cover
He feels the time is surely now or never...more.
The wind in my heart
The wind in my heart
The dust in my head
The dust in my head
The wind in my heart
The wind in my heart
(Come to) Drive them away
Drive them away.
Mojique buys his equipment in the market place
Mojique plants devices through the free trade zone
He feels the wind is lifting up his people
He calls the wind to guide him on his mission
He knows his friend the wind is always standing...by.
Mojique smells the wind that comes from far away
Mojique waits for news in a quiet place
He feels the presence of the wind beside(around) him
He feels the power of the past behind him
He has the knowledge of the wind to guide him...on.
The wind in my heart
The wind in my heart
The dust in my head
The dust in my head
The wind in my heart
The wind in my heart
(Come to) Drive them away
Drive them away.
Listening Wind, Talking Heads
Darn, I’m off topic!
Something about idiots and terrorist. Apparently, because as an American I’m not safe enough, Homeland Security Secretary has announced a new level of security screening. This because of the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day, you know the winnie bomber (friggen idiot). To keep me safe this new system will use “fragmentary information” that might include travel itinerary, age, partial passport information and a partial name. Great! Maybe then we’ll have more cases like Mikey Hicks an 8-year-old Boy Scout. Mikey gets stopped by airport security, for free back rubs, I mean pat-downs when he travels. I know, I get ‘em too! Mmmm free pat-downs mmmm.
As tragic and senseless as it was on June 10, 2009 at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Stephen Tyrone Johns was shot by the idiot James Wenneker von Brunn. Having been to the USHMM to do research the previous March and again this March, I can say nothing perceptually has changed. You still go through a security scan, you still may get patted-down. I do because of my suspenders, and in the interest of security you still have to remove electronics such as laptops cameras and cell phones, so these can be scanned. The cellphone, laptop, camera thing one could write a book on, but suffice it to say any security checkpoint in the world is not doing what is required to stop an idiot attack. I degrees, I must now ask, did these precautions stop the idiot-butt head James Wenneker von Brunn from murdering an innocent man? Rather than feeling safer with all of these inconveniences—We should feel violated.
My point in all of this is—is my right to privacy worth the stupid intrusions that, others and I are willing to submit to? One such infringement is, full body scans. Do we want to cede what most Americans consider a direct violation of privacy for safety’s sake? Do we really want some dough-head to take a full body scan of us? I believe the modern idiot is a terrorist—but just whom is the terrorist and why is there fear mongering? For me the “Only Thing We Have to Fear, Is Fear Itself” maybe the right solution and attitude in these times of the idiot.
Citations
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/15/earlyshow/main6100536.shtml
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/archive/Who-is-James-Wenneker-von-Brunn.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-kleiman/full-body-scans-are-a-fem_b_487860.html
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Free speech, free speech for the dumb
Do you believe in free speech? At what price should this freedom cost? Albert Snyder's lawsuit against Westboro Baptist Church is a wonderful case study of what free speech means. Snyder was ordered to pay $16,000 to Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. Phelps and his congregation travel the United States protesting gay’s, by picketing military funerals. To the Phelp’s gang military deaths are God’s punishment for America’s tolerance of homosexuality.
When Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder was slain in Iraq protecting the Constitution, his body was sent home for his funeral. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church showed up not to pay respects, but rather protest—Homosexuality. They waved signs claiming, “God hates fags” and “God hates the USA” at this young man’s funeral in Westminster, MD.
A federal jury in Baltimore awarded Snyder $11 million in damages in 2007, saying Phelps’ group intentionally inflicted emotional distress on the family. The award was later reduced to $5 million, and eventually overturned on appeal, a federal appeals court dismissed the suit on First Amendment grounds. It is currently scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Against this remember, in 1988, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment barred the Rev. Jerry Falwell from suing Hustler Magazine for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Mr. Snyder, has testified that the protests continue to haunt and disturb him. Mr. Snyder said he becomes angry and tearful when he thinks about the protest. The memory of these events has caused him to vomit, clear indications of emotional distress.
So is this free speech or yelling fire in a crowded theater?
Citations
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03/31/2010-03-31_bill_oreilly_helps_albert_snyder_after_weird_westboro_baptist_church_protests_hi.html#ixzz0jrBAsNot
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/us/09scotus.html
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/people-from-across-the-us.html
When Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder was slain in Iraq protecting the Constitution, his body was sent home for his funeral. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church showed up not to pay respects, but rather protest—Homosexuality. They waved signs claiming, “God hates fags” and “God hates the USA” at this young man’s funeral in Westminster, MD.
A federal jury in Baltimore awarded Snyder $11 million in damages in 2007, saying Phelps’ group intentionally inflicted emotional distress on the family. The award was later reduced to $5 million, and eventually overturned on appeal, a federal appeals court dismissed the suit on First Amendment grounds. It is currently scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Against this remember, in 1988, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment barred the Rev. Jerry Falwell from suing Hustler Magazine for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Mr. Snyder, has testified that the protests continue to haunt and disturb him. Mr. Snyder said he becomes angry and tearful when he thinks about the protest. The memory of these events has caused him to vomit, clear indications of emotional distress.
So is this free speech or yelling fire in a crowded theater?
Citations
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03/31/2010-03-31_bill_oreilly_helps_albert_snyder_after_weird_westboro_baptist_church_protests_hi.html#ixzz0jrBAsNot
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/us/09scotus.html
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/people-from-across-the-us.html
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States
The Federal Reserve Bank of the United States was created to achieve several goals. The Fed is to “keep inflation in check, maintain full employment, moderate the business cycle and contribute two achieving long-term growth.”1 While these objectives are clearly impossible to achieve, a need to provide economic stability in a world of rapid economic transition remains a realistic challenge through direct intervention verses a hands off approach. Even though the need for a central US Bank was apparent during the nations founding, the controversy of this bank can be found from the earliest times in the creation of the United States even to the present. The national founding that Thomas Jefferson foresaw, was a nation of loosely confederated yeomen farmers, while Alexander Hamilton envisioned the need of a strong federal government for mutual protection and cooperation. Because of these two differing views, this debate has continued in the national sphere of Jeffersonian verses Hamiltonian politics. The Fed has proved to be a controversial subject by many people from it’s founding, even up to today.
Modern central banking theory began to evolve in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries under the gold standard.2 The Federal Reserve was developed by people who based many of their ideas on the dominant position of the Bank of England before World War I.3 It should be understood that the foundations on the Federal Reserve were based on economic practicalities not on the political or administrative framework. The actualization of the Fed combined the unique American Experience using a blend of public and private, or centralized and decentralized, banking techniques in one organization. With the beginnings of the foundlings of the Federal Reserve cloaked in secrecy, and the Glass-Owen Bill being passed through the House of Representatives on December 22, 19134 and passed through the US Senate on December 23, 19135 only to be signed an hour later by President, Woodrow Wilson6 has been a subject of speculation since. Adding to the fuel of speculation was a seemingly glamorized account by Bertie Charles Forbes, of the secret meeting at J.P Morgan’s estate on Jekyll Island in 1910. This account was published three years after the Federal Reserve Act had been signed into law and published by the periodical called Current Opinion in 1916.
Picture a party of the nation’s greatest bankers stealing out of New York on a private railroad car under cover of darkness, stealthily hiding hundred of miles South, embarking on a mysterious launch, sneaking onto an island deserted by all but a few servants, living there a full week under such rigid secrecy that the names of not one of them was once mentioned lest the servants learn the identity and disclose to the world this strangest, most secret expedition in the history of American finance. . . . I am giving to the world, for the first time, the real story of how the famous Aldrich currency report, the foundation of our new currency system, was written. . . . The utmost secrecy was enjoined upon all. The public must not glean a hint of what was to be done. Senator Aldrich notified each one to go quietly into a private car of which the railroad had received orders to draw up on an unfrequented platform. . . .Nelson (Aldrich) had confided to Henry, Frank, Paul and Piatt that he was to keep them locked up at Jekyll Island, out of the rest of the world, until they had evolved and compiled a scientific currency system for the United States, the real birth of the present Federal Reserve System. . . . 7
Private or is that public centralized banking?
The Fed is a “decentralized central bank” governed by a seven-member board of Governors, called the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), consisting of the chairman and six other members of the Board of Governors appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the US Senate. The FOMC is made up of the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the presidents of the other regional banks. Meeting every six weeks to review the economy and determine what actions need to be taken by the New York Fed.8 While this structure may leave the impression that the Board of Governors holds power within the Fed, it is the Chairmen of the board who has the largest influence on the Fed’s monetary policy. “The Board represents the public sector, or governmental side of the Fed.”9 The decentralized portion of this central bank is in the design or make up of 12 regional Reserve Banks; each regional bank is also made up of a board of directors representing the private sector.10 One unique aspect of the Federal Reserve System is that the Federal Reserve is a “privately held” corporation backed by the United States government. Like any corporation the Fed has stockholders with whom the presidential appointed board of directors are accountable to. “All nationally chartered banks may choose to join the Fed and likewise own stock.”11 On the other hand, unlike stockholders in a publicly held company, banks cannot sell or trade their Fed stock. What this means, in essence, is that while the Fed has privately held aspects it is not a privately held corporation. However, “The Federal Reserve System is not “owned” by anyone and is not a private, profit-making institution. Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects.”12 However, “The Federal Reserve System is not “owned” by anyone and is not a private, profit-making institution. Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects.”13
An example of this private corporation and Federal Government hybrid is the confusion wrought by such a contraption. An example of this is the structure of the Federal Reserve, which combines the public and private sectors in a complicated mesh of bureaucracy. An example of one such confusing episode in the life of the Fed can be told in the story of the Federal Reserves newly completed Washington D.C. headquarters, which opened in 1937. In a congressional hearing it had been observed that the Federal Reserve Bank’s headquarters had been sold to the privately held Federal Reserve Bank by the US government and therefore was not tax exempt. Since this publicly held land was sold to a privately held corporation it should be required to pay property taxes. However, when the District of Columbia sent a tax bill to the Federal Reserve headquarters the Fed exercised its governmental exemption status.14 To be sure the Federal Reserve is a centralized bank and a Government appendage, the most striking difference and the one that leads to the most confusion is that other central banks take their orders from their governmental official wither elected or not. For instance the central bank of the People’s Republic of China takes its orders from the National People’s Congress and the Bank of England from its elected officials. The United States Federal Reserve Bank take their cues from the financial markets in conjunction with the US President and the Secretary of the Treasury. One system could be said to be more democratized, because they take their orders from people directly accountable to the masses while the other is an autonomous, even autocratic, association accountable only to themselves.15
Controversy
From the founding of the Federal Reserve, controversy has surrounded this organization continuing to this day. One organization begins its grassroots movement to dismantle the Fed on November 22, 2009. The rational in ending the Fed is the belief that,
the Federal Reserve is a cartel of private banking corporations which lend money to the United States. It is touted as if it were a Government Agency. IT IS NOT. The Federal Reserve Bank, through its inflation of the money supply and the distortion of free markets resulting from its intervention, is responsible for the current financial and economic crisis. The current round of “bailouts” and federal government nationalization of large segments of the financial sector further inflates the US dollar and disrupts the proper funtioning of the markets and will ultimately serve to plunge the nation into an even more severe crisis, quite possibly even into a serious depression. Our goal is to educate Americans so we can have a sound monetary system in this country, and not be held at gunpoint by a private banking cartel who pretends to be a government entity.16
Because one of the goals of the Fed is to smooth transitions within the financial markets, something that is virtually impossible, people will see an organization that they believe benefits from times of economic prosperity as well as crises. Continuing this path of proclaimed banking and governmental subversion in 2007 a viral Internet film took root. It was to be combined with activation and public showings. This film, done in three parts, attempts to show how people are enslaved to those in power. The movie called Zeitgeist, third part is called “Don’t Mind the Men Behind the Curtain” and attempts to show that American citizens are enslaved to our Government and banks by quoting President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “The real truth of the matter is that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government since the days of Andrew Jackson”–Franklin D. Roosevelt, US President, 193317 While this quote seems incriminating finding the exact source has prove elusive not only for myself but others. One such person seeking to find this quote has said,
It is apparently a letter sent from Roosevelt to Colonel Edward M House, and apparently can be received from Sterling Library at Yale University or from Radio Liberty. After hours of searching, I could not find a single location on the Internet that references this letter that is not a conspiracy site or is from a post on a forum written by someone who is promoting a conspiracy theory. More so, searching Yale’s library database yielded nothing. I found plenty of letters, but not this one.18
No cohesive framework within the financial policy community
Contributing to these difficulties is the fact that there is no cohesive framework within the financial community, that provides a well developed, articulated, or widely excepted and consistent whole on the development of financial policies as many article show.19 “One important conclusion of the analysis, and a lesson for the many less developed financial systems around the world, is that an effective (if not efficient) process of finance requires extensive private-collective and public policy involvement, to internalize and capture social economic benefits and public goods associated with finance.”20
The lack of a consistent framework within the policy making community and the addition of the “magic” of fiat money, such as our Federal Reserve Notes that have no intrinsic value because it is not backed by specie (gold or silver) giving it anonymity and liquidity by people at large. The wide acceptance of fiat money allows for smoothed economic transactions, allowing for a unit of account and as a medium of exchange.21 This fait money allows for the “The Fed” to achieve its main mission, establishing and maintaining confidence in the US dollar and in the US banking system.22
Today there is a tremendous need for a US Central Bank even though it is often surrounded by controversy. To achieve this goal of a Central Bank, Hamilton desired to create the Bank of the United States, modeled after the Bank of England.23
A national bank would collect taxes, hold government funds, and make loans to the government and borrowers. One criticism directed against the bank was “unrepublican”--it would encourage speculation and corruption. The bank was also opposed on constitutional grounds. Adopting a position known as “strict constructionism,” Thomas Jefferson and James Madison charged that a national bank was unconstitutional since the Constitution did not specifically give Congress the power to create a bank.24
Hamilton responded to the charge that a bank was unconstitutional by formulating the doctrine of “implied powers.” He argued that Congress had the power to create a bank because the Constitution granted the federal government authority to do anything “necessary and proper” to carry out its constitutional functions (in this case its fiscal duties).25
Because of the continued national debate of Jeffersonian verses Hamiltonian politics the Fed has proved to be a controversial subject by many people from its founding, even up to today, often leading to conspiracy theories showing that in the land of some of the freest people in the world we are oppressed by corrupt government and evil bankers.
Citations
1 Parkin, Michael. Economics seventh edition.
New York: Pearson Education, 2005. p.616
2 Meltzer, Alan H. A History of the Federal Reserve.
Chicago: The University of Chicgo Press, Ltd., 2003. p. 19
3 Ibid
4 Congressional Record–House December 22, 1913 p.1464
5 Congressional Record –Senate 1913 p. 1487
6 “28. Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921.” the White House. Available from http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/woodrowwilson. Internet; accessed 20 November 2009.
7 Wheeler, Edward J. “How the Federal Reserve Bank was evolved by five men on Jekyll Island.” Current Opinion. December 1916, 382.
8 Parkin, Michael. Economics seventh edition.
New York: Pearson Education, 2005. p.616
9 Ibid
10 Ibid
11 “The Fed Today: History, Structure, Monetary Policy, Banking Supervision, Financial Services and More!” Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Available from http://www.philadelphiafed.org/publications/order-form/fed-today.cfm. Internet; accessed 14 October 2009. p.3
12 “The Federal Reserve Board Frequently Asked Questions Federal Reserve System.” Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, provides the nation with a safe, flexible, and stable monetary and financial system.. Available from http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/faq/faqfrs.htm. Internet; accessed 22 November 2009.
13 “The Federal Reserve Board Frequently Asked Questions Federal Reserve System.” Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, provides the nation with a safe, flexible, and stable monetary and financial system.. Available from http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/faq/faqfrs.htm. Internet; accessed 22 November 2009.
14 Greider, William. Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987. p.48–50
15 Ibid p. 50
16 “End the Fed: sound money for America.” End the Fed Network. Available from http://endthefedusa.ning.com/. Internet; accessed 18 November 2009.
17 Joseph, Peter. “Zeitgeist, The Movie - Transcript -.” Zeitgeist The Movie. Available from http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm. Internet; accessed 12 October 2009.
18 “A “debunking” of the movie Zeitgeist.” We Can Change the World a better world is possible if we work together. Available from http://wecanchangetheworld.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/a-debunking-of-the-movie-zeitgeist/. Internet; accessed 20 November 2009.
19 Schinasi, Garry J. Safeguarding Financial Stability Theory and Practice.
Washington D.C.: International Monetary Fund, 2006. p. 23
20 Ibid
21 Ibid p.29
22 “The Fed Today: History, Structure, Monetary Policy, Banking Supervision, Financial Services and More!” Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Available from http://www.philadelphiafed.org/publications/order-form/fed-today.cfm. Internet; accessed 14 October 2009. p.3
23 ( http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=6)
24 Historical Content Steven Mintz John and Rebecca Moores Professor of History University of Houston Site Design and Curriculum Development Sara McNeil Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction University of Houston Engines of Our Ingenuity John Lienhard M.D. Anderson Professor of Mechanical Engineering University of Houston Database Development and Image Processing Kai-Ju Hsieh Meng-Fen (Grace) Lin Flash Movie Design and Development You-Mei Lui Sam Hanlon University of Houston Technical Support Jerry Price Michael Rapp University of Houston , “Alexander Hamilton’s Financial Program.” Digital History: using new technology to enhance teaching and research. Available from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=6. Internet; accessed 14 October 2009.
25 Ibid
Monday, March 29, 2010
Christian Persecution
To best under stand early Christian persecutions several historical events need to be understood. I will examine in brief the enmity between Jews and the Jewish sect of the followers of Christ. Rome and its role in what were acceptable and unacceptable religion. The Diaspora and its helping us to understand societal conflict finally with Christianity’s success its role reversal with the Jews and becoming their persecutor. By the first century, perhaps 10 percent of the population of the Roman Empire was Jewish. Readership of prominent Jewish authors like Josephus and Philo of Alaxandria, who explained the history and beliefs of Judaism in language that a Hellenist could understand, including the ruling class of pagan Rome were well known.
From this group came a figure known in tradition as the Messiah (literally “Anointed One”)—“Messiah” is translated in the Greek Septuagint as “Christos,” and so the followers of Jesus came to be called “Christians.” From the earliest Christian writings we find the seeds of mutual antagonism of Jews and Christians sown, persecution is found in Christianity’s very roots. The earliest gospels accuse the Pharisees and Sadducees of playing a part in the persecution and death of the Messiah. (See Mark 2:24; Mark 7:5) And seek to destroy Christ. (Mark 3:6) (Mark 8: 15) (Mark 15: 27)
However as we move forward we see a continued Jewish antagonism in Christianity’s first martyr (Martyrdom is, being put to death for one’s faith. This became a test for many Christians.) In “The Church History of Eusebius.”2 he writes that in the time of Claudius “Herod the King stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church. All of the faiths of the ancient world were to be found in Rome. Because Julius Caesar recognized Judaism as an ancient religion he granted the Jews the right to freely practice their own religion. The Christian sect evolving form Judaism at first too was recognized as legitimate. Some of the complexities involved in the Roman view of Christian insubordination towards the empire are founded upon these founding privileges.
The first Christians were regarded by the Roman authorities as a sect within Judaism and given the same protections as any sanctioned religion. Christians met secretly for worship at night—men and women, behind closed doors—hence charges of immorality and incest it was rumored that they partook of the blood of a newborn babe—hence charges of cannibalism—and they were militant proselytizers. The Roman historian Tacitus accused them of ‘hatred of the human race.’5
The earliest Roman brutality against Christians was usually in the form of outbreaks of largely local mob violence against Christians in Asia Minor and in Rome, during the first and second centuries. From a Roman point of view, they were guilty of insubordination.”There are what are commonly called “Ten Persecutions of the Early Christians” these persecutions were raised by the Romans against the primitive church during the reign of the following emperors.
Nero (Roman emperor AD 54–68), In the early hours of July 19, 64 A.D., a fire struck Rome, engulfing some of the greatest buildings in antiquity and devastating the capital city, the Christians were blamed and the first Roman persecution stirred up.7 In this persecution the Apostle Paul was killed and the apostle Peter crucified in Rome. This first persecution ceased under Vespasian (reigned AD 69–79).
Domitian (Roman emperor AD 81–96). John, the apostle and evangelist was exiled to Patmos during this persecution. After the death of Domitian, John was released and came to Ephesus in AD 97, where he wrote his Gospel and where he lived until the time of Trajan.
Trajan (Roman emperor AD 98–117). Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch suffered in this persecution.
Marcus Aurelius, his other name being Antoninus Verus (Roman emperor AD 161–180). Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, and the Christian martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, two cities in France, were martyred in this persecution.
Septimius Severus (Roman emperor AD 193–211). This persecution extended to northern Africa, which was a Roman province.
Maximinus, Gaius Julius Verus (Roman emperor AD 235–238).
Decius (Roman emperor AD 249–251). The one-thousandth anniversary of the founding of Rome stirred him to re-establish the ancient worship of the Roman gods, to reunify the empire he instigated the first empire-wide systematic persecution of the Christians. In January 250 Bishop Fabian of Rome was martyred; Cyprian, and Bishop Dionysius of Carthage, went into exile; and Origen was imprisoned and tortured. Many Christians stood fast (the confessors); many conformed to the state religion by taking part in sacrifices or burning incense before the statue of the emperor (they became the lapsed). There were many martyrs. When the persecution ended in June 251 with the death of Decius, the church had to deal with the problem of the readmission of the lapsed, and a severe split occurred between Pope Stephen of Rome and Cyprian in the North African Church.
Valerian (Roman emperor AD 253–260). During the renewed persecution under the Emperor Valerian in 258 AD Cyprian was beheaded. Thereafter the Church endured peace for nearly sixty years, during which many half-converts joined the church.
Aurelian (Roman emperor AD 270–275).
Diocletian (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, reigned AD 284–305) and Maximian (reigned AD 285–305) governed as emperors together. Diocletian issued a series of edicts, designed to stamp out the Christian scriptures, the clergy, and finally the laity as well. He began his furious persecution against the Christians in 303. The emperor ordered the doors of the Christian church at Nicomedia, the capital, to be barred, and then burnt the edifice with 600 Christians within. Churches were demolished, books were seized and burnt, Christians were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and killed. The persecution brought a considerable number of martyrs, and it continued until 313, until Constantine the Great defeated the Roman usurper Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. The following year Constantine issued, together with the Eastern emperor, Licinius, an edict of toleration of all religions. Christianity did not become the official religion of the Roman Empire until the Edict of Theodosius in 380 AD.8
By making martyrs of Christians, the Romans contributed to the record of bravery and fidelity that the Christians could be proud of. Persecution had a reverse effect from the intended imperial policy, and according to a number of accounts, the steadfast faith of the martyrs offered an example that attracted many pagans to become Christian.
The Nicene Creed ratified in 381AD is a statement partly of historical facts and partly of dogmatic inferences. One belongs to a world of Syrian peasants, the other to a world of Greek philosophers.
With the accession of Constantine to the throne of the Cæsars and his subsequent conversion to Christianity, he eased the afflictions of the Church by issuing the Edict of Milan, which sought to make the Roman Empire religiously neutral. Constantine’s initiative of having the first ecumenical conference in 325, known as the First Council of Nicea followed the dominant Roman imperial hierarchy inspiring the organizational structure of the Church. The Roman Church put the local administrations of diverse Christian cults, and churches within the Empire in one hierarchical organization; the Vatican situated in Rome. From these beginnings dawned a new era in the history of the Jews.10
Jewish settlements in the Diaspora, did not proceed form voluntary arrangement but from compulsory demand of conquerors. The Jews quickly became in a position to extend aid to many thousands of Judeans who returned to their homeland in 536 BC. After the second century, there are several indications that relations between the Jews, authorities and segments of the Empires population were increasing in tension.
Over the course of time the Jews were gradually accepted in ancient societies but never truly assimilated. Equality of rights for the Jews to which the pagan emperors had admitted them was gradually restricted by the head(s) of the Christian State.
Since 325 AD after enjoying the outspoken favor of the Roman Empire, most Christians authors abandoned all restraint in their attacks upon the Jewish people. The works of such writers as Ephraem Syrus, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa are notorious for their virulent denunciations against the Jews. But none surpassed in vehemence and ferocity the anti-Jewish diatribes of John Chrysostom of Antioch. No other writings contributed as much, to the transition from literary attacks, to physical aggression against the Jews.
The Church’s power over the soul and conscience of the empire was complete. The church, offered the only career open to men of all ranks and stations. In achieving the Churches supremacy, much had been sacrificed. Christian virtues of humility, charity and self-abnegation had virtually disappeared in the contest, which left the temporal power dominant over the spiritual. The worldly prizes offered by an ecclesiastical career brought into the ranks of the clergy able men, but men whose object was often worldly ambition rather than spiritual development. With Jewish loss of rank and privilege within Roman society came greater opportunities to blame those already lowered in social standing for the problems of the day. Along with these burdens for the Jews came an increase of hostile writings and finally a clergy more interested in worldly ambition rather than spiritual development. As slaves rejected by God, in whose death they wickedly conspire, they shall by the effect of this very action, recognize themselves as the slaves of those whom Christ's death set free…” In 1215: The Fourth `Lateran Council approved canon laws requiring that “Jews and Muslims shall wear a special dress.” Others converted to Christianity but often continued to practice Judaism in secret.17
Over the next five centuries the sporadic acts of violence and persecution against Jews continued.
2 The Church History of Eusebius Christian Classics Ethereal Library Classic Christian books in electronic format. The Early Church Fathers All of the files linked here are in the public domain. All of the books on this server are believed to be in the public domain in the United States unless otherwise specified.
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-01/Npnf2-01-07.htm#P993_481588
5 Parrinder, Geoffrey. World Religions: From Ancient History to the Present, Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, New York. 1971 page 429.
7 Secrets of The Dead III: The Great Fire of Rome “Yet there is evidence that, in 64 AD, many Roman Christians believed in prophesies predicting that Rome would soon be destroyed by fire. Perhaps the fire was set off by someone hoping to make such a prophecy come true. Historian Henry Hurst feels the fire most likely began as an accident. There were as many as a hundred minor fires that broke out in Rome every day, so it's quite feasible that such a fire evolved into the one that leveled the city. Tacitus claims that the only explanation for how the fire spread from these kindling hovels to the sturdy stone houses of the senators is arson. Yet modern technology seems to prove otherwise. Inside a fire chamber, fire specialists created a replica of an aristocrat's home in the hope of determining whether such an abode could have been set ablaze by a small, wood-fueled fire. After a small blaze was lit in a corner of the replica, the fire spread to the furniture and soon had consumed the miniature home. Temperatures rose to 1100 degrees and part of the ceiling collapsed before the fire was extinguished for safety purposes. The recreation suggests that the fire could easily have spread from the tenements to the stone homes in the Forum. Recent excavations have provided further evidence to corroborate the notion that this great fire was raging by the time it spread to the forum.
Certainly, it's hard to know whether to trust the allegations in the writings of Tacitus. Yet, what about the explanation offered by Nero, that the Christians were to blame? At least one scholar believes Nero was on the mark. Professor Gerhard Baudy of the University of Konstanz in Germany has spent fifteen years studying ancient apocalyptic prophecies. His studies have shown that in the poor districts of Rome, Christians were circulating vengeful texts predicting that a raging inferno would to reduce the city to ashes. "In all of these oracles, the destruction of Rome by fire is prophesied," Baudy explains. "That is the constant theme: Rome must burn. This was the long-desired objective of all the people who felt subjugated by Rome."
Moreover, the Book of Revelations, written a mere 30 years later, seems to equate evil with Rome. The Whore of Babylon, the source of this evil according to Revelations, is described as having seven heads. "The seven heads are seven mountains," Revelations says. Rome, of course, is famously known as the city of seven hills. What's more, an ancient Egyptian prophesy that would have been well-known in the Christian quarters of Rome foretold the fall of the great evil city on the day that the dog star, Sirius, rises. In 64 AD, Sirius rose on July 19, the very day the great fire of Rome began. Baudy believes that, bearing this prophetic date in mind, some of the Christians, maltreated and embittered, may have started the fire -- or perhaps lit additional fires, adding fuel to the larger conflagration -- in hopes of realizing their prophesies.
Regardless, over two hundred years would pass before the Christians escaped the kind of persecution they endured under Nero. In the meantime, Nero's reign soon crumbled. Four years after the fire, as the senate and the army turned against him, Nero was forced to flee Rome. Aided by a secretary, he stabbed himself to death with an iron blade.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_rome/
8 The Church History of Eusebius Christian The Church History of Eusebius Christian http://www.cryingvoice.com/Christian_martyrs/TenPersIntro.html
10 Inquisition from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Inquisition (Latin: Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis Sanctum Officium) was an office of the Roman Catholic Church charged with suppressing heresy. Its actions and interactions with local governments are the subjects of considerable historical inquiry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition#Origin
17 Oxtoby, Willard G. World Religions Western Traditions Second Edition
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