Wednesday April 15, 2009
Animal Rights and Imago Dei
Walter Kaiser reacts to "an op-ed piece by Nicholas D. Kristof entitled "Humanity Even for Nonhumans" He argued that one of the great historical landmarks of the presidential election in the United States last year was not in the race or the president himself, but it was in 'the limits of human dominion over other species.'"
Why George Frideric Handel Still Matters
NPR: "Handel has been called the first classical music superstar. His operas, oratorios and instrumental music were the toast of London for more than 30 years. And over the past two and a half centuries, interest in Handel has never waned -- not for audiences or for musicians..." Be sure to listen to the audio clips they provide.
An Ark of Biblical Proportions
Hong Kong's "three billionaire Kwok brothers have just the answer for the rising waters threatening the global economy: the world's first life-size replica of Noah's ark, built to biblical specifications off the coast of this recession-struck Chinese financial center."
Our High Places
Rev. Kev is writing a series on "Our High Places" and it looks like it will be interesting. So far he has taken on our lack of Psalm singing and the worldliness of our entertainment.
Columbine Myths
An article in USA Today looks to the Columbine shootings and tries to sort through fact and fable. "Their rampage put schools on alert for 'enemies lists' made by troubled students, but the enemies on their list had graduated from Columbine a year earlier. Contrary to early reports, Harris and Klebold weren't on antidepressant medication and didn't target jocks, blacks or Christians, police now say, citing the killers' journals and witness accounts. That story about a student being shot in the head after she said she believed in God? Never happened, the FBI says now."
Deal of the Day: F.F. Bruce's The Gospel & Epistles of John
CBD has a great deal on F.F. Bruce's commentaries on the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John. Two volumes in one, 585 pages, for $7.99. "Dr. Bruce intended these commentaries for general Christians interested in serious Bible study, and his goal was to communicate what he learned of the message and meaning of both the Gospel of John and John's three epistles."
Walter Kaiser reacts to "an op-ed piece by Nicholas D. Kristof entitled "Humanity Even for Nonhumans" He argued that one of the great historical landmarks of the presidential election in the United States last year was not in the race or the president himself, but it was in 'the limits of human dominion over other species.'"
Why George Frideric Handel Still Matters
NPR: "Handel has been called the first classical music superstar. His operas, oratorios and instrumental music were the toast of London for more than 30 years. And over the past two and a half centuries, interest in Handel has never waned -- not for audiences or for musicians..." Be sure to listen to the audio clips they provide.
An Ark of Biblical Proportions
Hong Kong's "three billionaire Kwok brothers have just the answer for the rising waters threatening the global economy: the world's first life-size replica of Noah's ark, built to biblical specifications off the coast of this recession-struck Chinese financial center."
Our High Places
Rev. Kev is writing a series on "Our High Places" and it looks like it will be interesting. So far he has taken on our lack of Psalm singing and the worldliness of our entertainment.
Columbine Myths
An article in USA Today looks to the Columbine shootings and tries to sort through fact and fable. "Their rampage put schools on alert for 'enemies lists' made by troubled students, but the enemies on their list had graduated from Columbine a year earlier. Contrary to early reports, Harris and Klebold weren't on antidepressant medication and didn't target jocks, blacks or Christians, police now say, citing the killers' journals and witness accounts. That story about a student being shot in the head after she said she believed in God? Never happened, the FBI says now."
Deal of the Day: F.F. Bruce's The Gospel & Epistles of John
CBD has a great deal on F.F. Bruce's commentaries on the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John. Two volumes in one, 585 pages, for $7.99. "Dr. Bruce intended these commentaries for general Christians interested in serious Bible study, and his goal was to communicate what he learned of the message and meaning of both the Gospel of John and John's three epistles."
Comments (4) »
1. Michael Duenes
April 15, 2009
11:25 AM
Good words from Messrs. Kaiser and DeYoung. I would be interested to know how the FBI refutes Cassie Bernal’s mother’s claim, “She said yes.”
2. J.P.H.
April 15, 2009
12:56 PM
Apparently there is another girl, Emily Wyant, who was witness to Bernal’s killing and claims it never happened. And a third girl, Valeen Schnurr, who claims it was her who was asked the question after she had already been wounded by shotgun pellets, and that after answering they left her alone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassie_Bernall
The witness who gave rise to the Bernal story in the first place was Craig Scott, who admits to not having seen the words come from her mouth (only heard them from a distance). If wiki’s to be believed, he later indicated the voice he heard didn’t originate from the area where Bernal was thought to have been killed.
3. John R.
April 16, 2009
5:44 PM
I just finished reading Dave Cullen’s fascinating, disturbing, and authoritative bookColumbine, and he details this misunderstanding extensively. It looks like J.P.H.’s Wikipedia citation largely has it right. It appears that one of the killers (probably Dylan Klebold) did ask a girl who had already been shot (Valeen Schnurr) whether she believed in God and she said yes, but rather than killing her, he then asked her “why?” and just moved on.
Cassie Bernall was killed hiding behind one of the library tables without having said anything to her killer (Eric Harris) according to the girl who was hiding right next to her when she died. According to that girl, Harris (horrifically) banged on the table a couple of times, squatted down said “peek-a-boo,” and fired, instantly killing Cassie.
It’s thought that Craig Scott actually overheard the exchange with Schnurr girl and mistakenly took it for Cassie. Since there was a lot of shooting going on, it’s understandable that the chronology would’ve gotten slightly confused. When shown where Cassie actually died in the library, he insisted she’d been in another part of the room, and indicated the approximate place where Schnurr was.
Because Craig’s (understandably )mistaken version had been told only hours after the tragedy, it quickly gained “factual” status, and because Cassie’s martyrdom became such a media event, everyone involved became reluctant to debunk it. Both the FBI, the Rocky Mountain News, and numerous witnessess apparently had the correct story but resisted going public with it because of how central the Cassie myth had become to the whole incident. Because the story solidified and magnified so early, it’s been very resistant to the actual facts even up until now.
(The Bernall family, according to Cullen’s book, did not know the truth when Misty wrote her book about Cassie, though they were apprised of the questions about the martyr before the book was released. At the time it came out, the information about what had actually happened were still being largely supressed by the authorities.)
4. John R.
April 16, 2009
5:45 PM
I just finished reading Dave Cullen’s fascinating, disturbing, and authoritative bookColumbine, and he details this misunderstanding extensively. It looks like J.P.H.’s Wikipedia citation largely has it right. It appears that one of the killers (probably Dylan Klebold) did ask a girl who had already been shot (Valeen Schnurr) whether she believed in God and she said yes, but rather than killing her, he then asked her “why?” and just moved on.
Cassie Bernall was killed hiding behind one of the library tables without having said anything to her killer (Eric Harris) according to the girl who was hiding right next to her when she died. According to that girl, Harris (horrifically) banged on the table a couple of times, squatted down said “peek-a-boo,” and fired, instantly killing Cassie.
It’s thought that Craig Scott actually overheard the exchange with Schnurr girl and mistakenly took it for Cassie. Since there was a lot of shooting going on, it’s understandable that the chronology would’ve gotten slightly confused. When shown where Cassie actually died in the library, he insisted she’d been in another part of the room, and indicated the approximate place where Schnurr was.
Because Craig’s (understandably )mistaken version had been told only hours after the tragedy, it quickly gained “factual” status, and because Cassie’s martyrdom became such a media event, everyone involved became reluctant to debunk it. Both the FBI, the Rocky Mountain News, and numerous witnessess apparently had the correct story but resisted going public with it because of how central the Cassie myth had become to the whole incident. Because the story solidified and magnified so early, it’s been very resistant to the actual facts even up until now.
(The Bernall family, according to Cullen’s book, did not know the truth when Misty wrote her book about Cassie, though they were apprised of the questions about the martyr before the book was released. At the time it came out, the information about what had actually happened were still being largely supressed by the authorities.)
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