CLONING CHRIST: OF CARICATURES, CLOWNS, AND SECOND COMINGS

I was doing some research on cults and whatnot, when I came across this little beauty, at http://www.letusreason.org/curren23.htm:

"Jesus coming sooner than you think

While as Christians we have been waiting patiently for almost two thousands for the Lord to return from heaven, our wait may soon be over. According to some Jesus can be brought back by technology.

A secretive group called The Second Coming Project is trying to do just that by cloning Jesus. Michael Park of Fox news reports “Members of the group see cloning technology as a chance to literally bring Christ to the modern age.” “I'm hoping it will bring world peace,” said a source within the group, which claims 13 or 14 members from a wide range of religions, hometowns and professions. “Not some Armageddon as a tremendous battle where everyone dies, as some people believe.”

The group located in Berkeley, California hopes a cloned Jesus fetus could be placed in a female volunteer's womb and then carried to term in a totally immaculate conception. The birth is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 25, 2001, and the mother wouldn't necessarily have to be a virgin, the source said.” “ thus making Anno Domini 2001 into Anno Domini Novi 1, and all calendrical calculations will begin anew.”(Second coming project website).[Well the time has come and gone with no report on this taking place as planned. ] "

A little further down:

"Jesus Christ, as prophesied in the Bible, in time for the 2,000th anniversary of his birth. Our intention is to clone Jesus, utilizing techniques pioneered at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, by taking an incorrupt cell from one of the many Holy Relics of Jesus' blood and body that are preserved in churches throughout the world, extracting its DNA, and inserting into an unfertilized human egg (oocyte), through the now-proven biological process called nuclear transfer. The fertilized egg, now the zygote of Jesus Christ, will be implanted into the womb of a young virginal woman (who has volunteered of her own accord), who will then bring the baby Jesus to term in a second Virgin Birth.” [Jesus was actually born anyhwere from 4-7 BC. so they missed his 2,000th birthday]. "

Apparently, Ron Rhodes (of letusreason.org) needs to do a reality check:

From here -

"Origins: No, nobody is seriously planning to clone Jesus. This scheme was a put-on from the year 2000, an explanation of which could be found on the now-defunct Clone me? Second Coming Project web site, where the link for more information provided adequate evidence that their notion of cloning Jesus was just a provocative put-on. (The person behind this stunt was Kristan Lawson, who is primarily known for having published the Unabomber's manifesto in book form, and the address provided for readers to use to send their donations to "The Second Coming Project" is in fact the address of his publishing house, Jolly Roger Press.)

Even if we considered this scheme seriously, a good many "splinters of the true cross" and samples of the "real" blood, hair, and foreskin of Christ for a few dozen Jesus are of questionable origin. Determining which, if any, of these samples were genuine would be a matter of sheer trial and error, with no guarantee that we'd even know if we were successful. How could we tell if we'd really cloned Jesus? He almost certainly wouldn't look like the modern image of Christ, and it would be rather arrogant of us to assume His divinity was simply a matter of genetics."

Or even that there was any divinity at ALL. I wonder if Mr. Lawson received any donations? Man-o-man, those 'indulgences' of the old Roman See really still have a ripple effect after all.

Just what we'd need about now: MORE flavors of xtianity to grace the planet. The Church of the Cloned Christ, Mitochondriac Ministries, Church of the Divine DNA, Temple of the Holy Helix, The Mission of Holy Mitosis, oh hell, go ahead and invent a few of your own: I'm spent.

That's whatcha get, for listening to Fox 'News'.

Baroque meritocracies are just the damnedest things. There is such a thing as having TOO open a mind, I'd say.

"In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination." - Mark Twain.