It ran on one of my satellite channels early in March.  The maker of this video which purports to disprove the most basic tenet of Christianity appeared with Ted Koppel, the newsman, in a program following the airing.  When Mr. Koppel -- not a famous  conservative -- pointed out certain problems he had (out-of-context quotes, dramatic segments lacking sufficient evidentiary support, and so forth), the "artist" clamed he was not biased. He made statements of defense which I interpreted to mean that he believes that he is just a journalist, presenting ideas which are supported by what to him seems to be evidence of merit.

When this man produces another "documentary" which offers the idea that an ancient tomb which contains a man named Mohammed (the Middle East has thousands of such burial sites) proves that the Islamic prophet did not ascend to heaven from a particular large rock located on a hill in Jerusalem, I will believe that the exploration of ideas, not left-wing, anti-Christian propaganda, is the driving force behind this film-maker's work.  

It is my hope that he will hold the debut of this second scenario in, oh, Tehran.

If I can reach him before Moslems videotape the removal of his head by kitchen knife in a documentary of their own, I will tell him how much I admire his journalism.

(LL)

© 2007 Oregon Magazine