Magic Statistics

He's just misunderstood, says Monsignor Walter Brandmuller, head of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Science, as reported by the Times of London.

The proposed "rehabilitation" of the man who was paid 30 pieces of silver to identify Jesus to Roman soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane, comes on the ground that he was not deliberately evil, but was just "fulfilling his part in God’s plan".

Christians have traditionally blamed Judas for aiding and abetting the Crucifixion, and his name is synonymous with treachery. According to St Luke, Judas was "possessed by Satan".

Now, a campaign led by Monsignor Walter Brandmuller, head of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Science, is aimed at persuading believers to look kindly at a man reviled for 2,000 years.

Msgr's Brandmuller's views are so foolish that the article cries out for a thorough fisking. Mike the Geek at The Waffling Anglican has done just that. Good work, Mike! Check it out.

This, I think, is one of Mike's best lines: "Are we sure these guys aren’t Episcopalian?"

I would only add that the Old Testament prophets say many times that foreign armies will conquer Israel because of her disobedience–and that these events are in accordance with God's plan. (To cite only two examples, see Isaiah 7:17-8:10 and Jeremiah 25:1-14.)

In the New Testament, this is reinforced by Peter in his sermon at Pentecost, when he says to his audience that they had fulfilled their part in God’s plan by crucifying Jesus. Does that mean that Peter thinks they are "not deliberately evil"? No, for Peter later says to them, "Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins . . ."

So, fulfilling a part in God's plan is no guarantee that one is "rehabilitated" before God. Faith and holiness are necessary.

UPDATE (15 Jan.): Wait a minute!

A Daily Telegraph reporter yesterday visited Saddam Hussein's £50 million bunker, built beneath one of his opulent palaces and designed to survive a nuclear strike.

The palace above did not survive the air strikes of April 2003. Its chandeliers lie smashed amidst the twisted masonry. Its dome is still pierced by two holes where the bunker-busting missiles powered through.

But the bunker itself did the job for which it was designed. The best weapons US military scientists have devised failed to pierce its 60ft concrete roof.

By the time the US military cut a hole through the six-inch thick steel door, Saddam had already fled. Since then, looters have ransacked the bunker and squatters have moved in.

Prime Minister Paul Martin says he approved the release of the now-infamous anti-Harper attack ad:

In an interview Thursday morning on CTV's Canada AM, Martin said he approved every one of the harshly critical ads — including one that suggested the Tory Leader would use the military to occupy Canadian cities.

Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, however, says he didn't.

Keith Martin, Liberal MP for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, has something to say, too.

A Liberal MP is blaming an idiot in the party for allowing the release of a television ad that suggests a Conservative government would put troops on the streets of Canadian cities.

Keith, it sounds like you're calling PM PM, the man in charge of your caucus, an idiot. Are you sure you want to go there?

How could this fiasco possibly get worse for the Liberal Party? Here's how: Finance Minister Ralph Goodale emerges from hiding to support McLellan's version; indeed, he goes further: no one in the Liberal Party approved that ad.

Federal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale is saying an attack ad running in Quebec was never endorsed, approved or released by the Liberal Party.

So, Ralph, tell me: How did the ad come to be made in the first place? And how did it get posted on your party's website? Are you saying the site was hacked? Let me guess: Stephen Harper did it.

Now there's an idea for an attack ad:

Stephen Harper hacked our website and posted a phony ad. In Canada. From somewhere in cyberspace. How did he do that? We don't know. He's not saying. Choose your Canada.

We are now entering the Liberal Twilight Zone.

McLellan reference via Angry in the Great White North.
Goodale reference via smalldeadanimals.

The Out of Canada Christian Blog Showcase is posted at Rebecca Writes. She's done a lot of work in organising this and provides her usual scintillating commentary. Thanks, Rebecca.

Three bloggers are listed from Yukon–Rebecca, my neighbour Chris, and me–but none from Northwest Territories or Nunavut. Aren't there any Christians blogging from Canada's other two northern territories?