David Burchett Christian Blog and Commentary

Get guidance on Bible study from C.S. Lewis - Free Course!

"Post" Mortems

1)     Jesus wins round one in Italy

I wrote about an atheist who was going to take a former friend and Catholic priest to court to prove the historical existence of Jesus. The Washington Post recently reported that "an Italian judge has dismissed an atheist's petition that a small-town priest should stand trial for asserting that Jesus Christ existed. Luigi Cascioli, a 72-year-old retired agronomist, had accused the Rev. Enrico Righi of violating two laws with the assertion, which he called a deceptive fable propagated by the Roman Catholic Church. "The Rev. Righi is very satisfied and moved," Righi's attorney, Severo Bruno, said. "He is an old, small-town parish priest who never would have thought he'd be in the spotlight for something like this." Cascioli, a former schoolmate of Righi's, said he had not expected the case to succeed in overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Italy. "This is not surprising but it doesn't mean it all ends here," he said, adding that he's considering taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights. "This is an important case and it deserves to go ahead," he said. Judge Gaetano Mautone said in his decision that prosecutors should investigate Cascioli for possible slander."

Here is what I had written earlier about the validity of the trial.

For me the real question is not whether Jesus existed. That seems pretty clear to most. There is a very real question for everyone about who Jesus was and what that means in your life and mine. What the writers of the Talmud called sorcery the followers of Yeshua called miracles. The apostasy that led to the death of Jesus was called the Truth by His followers. Putting Jesus on a mock trial in Italy does not change the fact that every person must answer the question of who Jesus is. Some simply dismiss the question out of hand. Foolishness they scoff. A crutch for weaklings say others. Some struggle and look for empiracle and overwhelming evidence to support a step of faith. I find it fascinating that there is evidence to believe if you are looking for it. And there is evidence not to believe if you are looking for that. Faith ultimately means you have to step on one side of the line or the other. Everyone of us must answer the question that Peter and the Apostles did.

One day as Jesus was alone, praying, he came over to his disciples and asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
 "Well," they replied, "some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead."

 Then he asked them, "Who do you say I am?"

  Peter replied, "You are the Messiah sent from God!"

Peter’s impulsive replies often got him in the disciple doghouse but he hit this one out of the theological park. So when the million dollar question is presented to me here is my strategy.

Jesus is: 

A)    A made up figure
B)    A great teacher
C)    A crazy man
D)    The Messiah sent from God

I am going with D, Regis, the Messiah sent from God. Final Answer.


2)      Man who changed name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com still moving awkwardly about.

Now that his fifteen minutes are over the former Chris Garnett gets to deal with the monumental hassles of explaining his name to banks, credit card companies, car rental agencies, etc. Recently Pamela Anderson joined the vegan formerly known as Chris and launched a campaign to have the statue of Colonel Sanders removed from the Kentucky state house. In one of the truly great quotes in history CNN reported the following information.

"Anderson wrote the letter with the help of People for the Ethical Treatment of animals." 

That is just too easy. You insert your own joke here.  In a statement that some literate people helped her write Anderson said, "The bust of Colonel Sanders stands as a monument to cruelty and has no place in the Kentucky state capitol."  I always thought it stood for freedom of choice...regular or extra crispy. But that is why forward thinking people like Mr. KentuckyFriedcCruelty.com need to step up with bold ways to amuse us with their weirdness. This is from the earlier post about the pathetic publicity grab.

An employee of an organization known for ridiculous publicity stunts decided to legally change his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

The new name "never fails to spark a discussion," according to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com. I would imagine that is true. Try to picture the possibilities.

Him: “Hi, my name is KentuckyFriedCruelty.com”

Me: “Nice to meet you. My name is TheBurgerKingDancesFunny.org.”

Him: “Seriously. My name is KentuckyFriedCruelty.com. I changed my name to protest the inhumane treatment of chickens.”

Me: “Later Dude. Much later.”

KentuckyFriedCruelty.com reports at his website (oddly enough of the same name) that his parents "were a little shocked at first" with the name change. They still call him Chris, but "have accepted the change." They are no doubt looking forward to their grandkids someday. Little KentuckyFried.org will be quite unique around the old day care. KentuckyFriedCruetly.com works for an organization that gets publicity out of stunts like this so it shall remain nameless.

While I am sticking with the nominally vanilla Dave I did realize that I have added a name over the years. I have added the name Christian to my identity. And I must admit that I did not always contemplate how serious that responsibility was when I added that name to mine. As I mentioned in prior blogs about the Victoria Osteen event, having the title Christian by your name raises the bar on your life. Oh, it does not guarantee perfection. I don’t get in the same zip code with perfection. But calling yourself a Christian does mean you have given up some rights in order to demonstrate Jesus in your life. The classic quote of Saint Francis of Assissi should be the daily mediation of all who call themselves followers of Christ.

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”