You’ll see to the left a link to a blog post describing the claim that some “Vatican researcher” (?) has found evidence of writing on the Shroud of Turin. I believe that the Shroud is real. Simultaneously, I am quite skeptical of claims that everything under the sun can be found on the Shroud one way or another. I am particularly skeptical in this instance because of the following claim:

“She asserts that the words include the name “(J)esu(s) Nazarene” – or Jesus of Nazareth – in Greek. That, she said, proves the text could not be of medieval origin because no Christian at the time, even a forger, would have mentioned Jesus without referring to his divinity. Failing to do so would risk being branded a heretic.”

Where did she get this from? Who in the Middle Ages was *ever* persecuted as a heretic for referring to Christ as “the Nazarene” without referring to His Divinity? Surely any forger with a half a brain would recognize that Pilate put “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum” on the Titulus on the Cross. Were artists who reproduced the titulus on crucifixes without inserting anachronistic references to Christ’s Divinity ever persecuted for heresy? Er, no. And since the intended date of this purported forgery would have been the time of the Titulus, why wouldn’t a forger have been bold enough to refer to Christ simply as Iesus Nazarenus, which is how the Bible refers to Him? Why do people automatically assume that everything under the sun was suspected of heresy in the Middle Ages?  Now, in case I’m wrong and some people were persecuted as heretics for referring to Christ as “Jesus of Nazareth” while conspicuously avoiding reference to His Divinity, please do correct me.

It’s a common refrain among new parents or the parents of young children. “Before I had kids, I used to get so annoyed with other people who let their children… (fill in the blank.) Now I understand more, and I feel bad for being so uncharitable.” I’d like to think that I’ve been more charitable with respect to children’s behavior. But I figured it might be an interesting experiment to record my thoughts on this matter now, so I can check back later and see if I have anything to regret.

I like to think I’ve always been pretty sympathetic to the needs of young families. When I’m on a plane and I hear a baby howling, I mainly feel sympathy for both parent and child. A break from routine is often upsetting for a baby. And what’s the poor mother supposed to do – take the kid outside? As far as the rest of the passengers go, well, that’s what headphones are for. In a hotel room, similarly, I don’t get too irritated if the sound of a crying child comes seeping through the wall. A blaring television or radio is a legitimate source of annoyance, but I understand that sometimes kids cry, and the parents are probably doing the best they can to restore calm.

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So, just as I promise not to disappear again, I promptly do. It’s not really my fault this time, though. We’ve just finished moving, and had no internet at home for quite a long time. Thanks to Bonifacius for keeping things alive around here… hopefully now that I’m back at my computer I can help once more.

Is there anything more exhausting than moving? It’s a great allegory for Purgatory – anticipation of better things to come, but for the present, seemingly endless pain and toil. This was just a local move, and it still left me wanting to go into hibernation for the next five months. But the happy news is, the Doctor and I are now homeowners for the first time! Hooray for mortgages, property taxes and home improvement projects!

Anyway, just to get my fingers warmed up again, here are the things that I’ve learned over the course of this latest move.
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What is the best possible outcome for the healthcare bill? First, the pro-life Democrats should make a noble, public stand. And then be crushed by their pro-murder fellow party members in the most crooked, corrupt, callow, and callous manner possible. Then the pro-life Democrats caucus with the Republicans and, as a result of massive popular opposition to tax-funded child slaughter, the whole bill goes down in flames. And the public turns on the Democrats in 2010. And Barack Obama, after first going out on a limb to vilify the pro-lifers, must make some utterly disingenuous public volte-face that will tick off *everyone.* And he will be broken on the wheel, skewered as a ruthless, bloodthirsty machiavel by the Right and right-leaning independents, as alternatively delusional in his megalomania and shameless in his hypocrisy by the Left and left-leaning independents. May the millions of slaughtered innocents wreak their vengeance on their persecutor-in-chief.