Doctor X

People will grasp at whatever unlikely chance of being right rather than admit that they are wrong.

Why do I think that ten years from now someone will cite this as "evidence" of a historical Jesus?

--J.D.

Vorkosigan

I don't understand why Keall et al were even talking. I mean, if a nobody like me is getting info direct from the police investigation -- I was told three weeks ago that Oded would be nailed in a couple of weeks -- then how is it that Keall et al were out of the loop?

Vorkosigan

Haran

What I'd like to know is why Rochelle Altman appears to be leaking police investigation information...

Sauron

Yep. And someone will claim that it was carried on Noah's Ark - you know they've found pieces of Noah's ark, up in the ice on Mt Ararat, right? It's just that the Muslim govt of Turkey wont' allow any Christian archaeologists up there to do research, because they Muslims don't like the gospel.

Vorkosigan

I didn't know either. That is why I did not publicly broadcast it. The whole sequence of events involving you, Altman, Shanks and everyone else was quite bizarre. I did not want to get dragged into it, and quite a lot of stuff was flying into my mailbox from all directions. I did not want to become someone's pawn in a disinformation campaign, so held my tongue for the most part. Ow! but that was painful.

There was a blurb in one of the articles on Golan's arrest that some academics were being detained for questioning. Does anyone know who and for what reason?

Vorkosigan

Haran

Tell me about it. My only desire was to have Altman clarify her vague points on the ossuary and possibly have a dialogue with her about it. I even gave her an easy out on the whole incised/excised thing which she decided not to take. Oh well. Water under the bridge...

Doctor X

What Ted Kennedy said. . . . [Stop that.--Ed.]

Seriously, Sauron, I find the whole ark thing hillarious right down to "artist's conception of the photographs" that we see every week in the supermarket!

Back to topic, will someone successfully turn this into a "conspiracy?" Perhaps the same types who think the Holocaust was a hoax will try to mutate this into an "Israeli conspiracy against Jesus"--but for the immediate period it will die away--the public will lose interest--at least in the US.

My fear is that ten years from now, when the dust has literally settled, it will be seen more an more. However, I doubt it will be something that is popularly believed--just crap we will see on "interested" web-pages and the like.

As I wrote that, I wondered "what about the Shroud of Turin." This has been debunked so many times, it is ridiculous, but still in the "public mind" exists an assumption of authenticity. I think if a hoax or conspiracy lasts long enough, it gets "legs" in that the public "assumes."

The JFK Conspiracies are like that--people just sort of "assume" one existed. They then--much like scripture--randomly quote facts and outright lies--"what about that gunman everyone saw on the grassy knoll?" "How come his head went backwards." "How does a robot named Kryton fit into it?"

So, it is possible that, some time from now, someone can write The Ossary Conspiracy about how "they" covered it up "years ago." Unless people bother to sort through the archives and dusty journals, they will not have a rebutal.

Of course, now that I think of that we should still have an internet with a Search function.

--J.D.

Vorkosigan

Hey, Doc X, it has started early...did you see the ROM's reaction to the arrest of Oded Golan?

July 23 announcement

"However, we have no new information pertaining to the James Ossuary itself that would lead us to conclude that it is not authentic."

and

"Until the ROM receives convincing evidence to the contrary, we stand by our opinion that the James Ossuary is not a forgery. ...The studies that were carried out on the inscription and broken fragments of the Ossuary, however, satisfied the ROM investigative team that it was an authentic artifact with an authentic inscription that might make it the Ossuary of James, the brother of Jesus. "

Vorkosigan

Clutch

I saw this. I emailed ROM about it on Thursday, warning them that they risked turning off (former) patrons like me. Naivete (I wrote) is a mild and forgivable vice; much more serious to compound the initial error by a willful misrepresentation of the state of affairs.

In this respect, I thought their remark about the IAA "questioning" the artifact's authenticity was shameful spin.

Doctor X

Oh man . . . when will people learn that the more you try to deny something real, the worse you end up looking.

Are they afraid they will have to return money to patrons who paid to see it?

Maybe some donated substantial $$ to the museum because of this.

--J.D.