Saturday, May 27, 2006

Separation yes; above the law, no

I have intense respect for the separation of powers established by our Constitution, and I am fiercely protective of that privilege. But I also believe that no one is above the law--and that includes elected Members of Congress.

Based on the information that has been made public, it seems to me that the Justice Department had ample probable cause to think Louisiana's William Jefferson was involved in accepting bribes or other abuses of power. They had a legal search warrant and executed it on his office. That seems reasonable.

Not even a MOC is above the law. It is true that the Constitution prevents their arrest on lower crimes but they are not protected from felonies.

I am amazed at the outcry from both sides of the aisle claiming that this violates the separation of powers.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

It's Just a BOOK!

A few years ago I had a pleasant beach vacation sitting in the surf and reading The DaVinci Code. Just like I read a John Grisham novel the year before, Robert Ludlum a few years earlier and so on.

Yep. It was an interesting read with a lot of historical references that it was fun to Google. An interesting theory about Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene conceiving a child with their bloodline still living today. It was fun to lie in the sand and contemplate. Just like I have contemplated time travel after reading a science fiction book, or about America in the wake of the SOUTH winning the Civil War after reading an historical fiction book.

But I never THOUGHT the South actually won.

And as a Christian, I haven't had my belief shaken by Dan Brown's book. IT'S A BOOK (and soon to be a movie).

Several clerics (primarily, but not exclusively, Catholic) have criticized the book, damning it as blasphemy, and even calling for legal action against it.

First, I wonder when critics will understand that when they shout loudly about popular books (movies, music, tv shows), they only help PROMOTE the book. The DaVinci Code movie will only see BIGGER audiences because of the complaints.

And second, if a Christian has a faith so shallow, so lightly taken that a work of fiction....a book, a movie...can shake that faith and change their Biblical understanding, then they didn't have much of a faith to begin with.

Perhaps the complaining clerics should worry more about that.