In the news: Jesus Tomb found (Hee hee!)

Filmmaker James Cameron shows off his bone boxes.

The good news? That Anna Nicole Smith is slowly finding her way off he front page. The bad news? Jesus's "tomb" has found its way on.

According to a story in CNN, among many other places, an ossuary or Jewish bone box has been found -- with Jesus's name on it!!! That an upcoming documentary is attached to this supposed find is just a coincidence.

"The Lost Tomb of Jesus," produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron and scheduled to air March 4 on the Discovery Channel, argues that 10 small caskets discovered in 1980 in a Jerusalem suburb may have held the bones of Jesus and his family.

Yes, and the stuff I dig out of my ears may be liquid gold!

One of the caskets even bears the title, "Judah, son of Jesus," hinting that Jesus may have had a son, according to the film...[and] a name on one of the ossuaries -- "Mariamene" -- offers evidence that the tomb is that of Jesus and his family. In early Christian texts, "Mariamene" is the name of Mary Magdalene.

But it doesn't take a biblical scholar to figure out the hole in Cameron's logic. Even if the name on the ossuary is really "Jesus," which scholars aren't sure is even the case, it wold hardly prove anything. "Jesus (Aramaic "Y'shua") is equivalent to "Joshua," a phenomenally common name in 1st century Palestine. It's like finding "George" on a tombstone and claiming that it must be George Washington.

But there's more. In a bit of nearly-comical understatement, the article goes on to say that, "The very fact that Jesus had an ossuary would contradict the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven."

I supposed it might, mightn't it.

Anyway, anything for a buck. Sadly, our increasingly addle-brained and credulous population is prone to fall for this nonsense. The Jesus-Mary Magdalene connection is very old - it goes back at least as the 2nd century gnostics. But you have to wonder about whether people, having heard the connection repeated constantly fore the last 20 years -- think "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," "The Da Vinci Code" book and movie and Sylvia Browne's garrulous claptrap -- will start to think this makes any sense.

Anyway, I am anxious to see the film. But I can't decide whether to block out the commercials or to take careful note so can beat up on the corporations that are selling lies to the American public.