Monday, May 26, 2008
Gospel of Judas scholarship dubious
Thomas Bartlett, of the Chronicle of Higher Education, has an article out this week on the scholarship behind the Gospel of Judas. Marvin Meyer, a Coptic scholar from Chapman University (affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)), was the first translator of the document. Unfortunately, he does not come off in a very flattering way. It seems that there was an agenda to find a more sympathetic Judas as the National Geographic project got underway. They found what they were looking for. The translation has many significant flaws in it, skewing the understanding toward a more favorable impression of Judas. The story and analysis of the scholarly debate are very interesting. I recommend it.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Really Late Movie Review: Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines
Since T3 is making the rounds on TV again, I'll take a stab at it.
I'm not a big fan of any of the Terminator movies, but I found the first two at least believable, with meaninful plots. So much of the violence and destruction lack purpose in T3. Example: In the chase scene with the T-X terminator driving the crane, what is the purpose of turning the crane sideways to start ploughing through the buildings? It impeded its progress toward achieving its mission. Something a terminator would never do. The scene became laughable to me.
Most glaring is where the plot leads. If Skynet does indeed become self-aware, it is like an infant becoming self-aware . . . not understanding that the action it will take will render itself incapacitated. Any nuclear blast produces large amounts of electromagnetic energy. These EM pulses fry everything electronic, particularly sensitive computer chips. If Skynet did exist as software on everyone's PCs and mainframes, as the plot indicates, the scale of the attack would have essentially killed off Skynet or isolated each computer from each other . . . like isolating every individual brain cell from communicating with each other. Any way you slice it, the people left would have nothing to fear from Skynet. The machines would have managed to kill themselves off.
If the Terminator movies have a point to pay attention to, it is that humankind must always be wary of our dependence on technology. An ironic point, I understand, as I compose this on my personal computer. And nobody can read this without the same. I find that we trust technology too easily . . . we are very willing to turn ourselves over to it without giving it a thought. Perhaps this is why it seems so hard to grasp a sense of the Divine. We have lost our ability to see and hear God. Something that will truly lead to our destruction.
I'm not a big fan of any of the Terminator movies, but I found the first two at least believable, with meaninful plots. So much of the violence and destruction lack purpose in T3. Example: In the chase scene with the T-X terminator driving the crane, what is the purpose of turning the crane sideways to start ploughing through the buildings? It impeded its progress toward achieving its mission. Something a terminator would never do. The scene became laughable to me.
Most glaring is where the plot leads. If Skynet does indeed become self-aware, it is like an infant becoming self-aware . . . not understanding that the action it will take will render itself incapacitated. Any nuclear blast produces large amounts of electromagnetic energy. These EM pulses fry everything electronic, particularly sensitive computer chips. If Skynet did exist as software on everyone's PCs and mainframes, as the plot indicates, the scale of the attack would have essentially killed off Skynet or isolated each computer from each other . . . like isolating every individual brain cell from communicating with each other. Any way you slice it, the people left would have nothing to fear from Skynet. The machines would have managed to kill themselves off.
If the Terminator movies have a point to pay attention to, it is that humankind must always be wary of our dependence on technology. An ironic point, I understand, as I compose this on my personal computer. And nobody can read this without the same. I find that we trust technology too easily . . . we are very willing to turn ourselves over to it without giving it a thought. Perhaps this is why it seems so hard to grasp a sense of the Divine. We have lost our ability to see and hear God. Something that will truly lead to our destruction.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.Psalm 20:7-8
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