To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Man Marries Barbie Doll
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 08:27:53 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

Toying with the Bride Man Marries Barbie Doll
Thought to Hold Spirit of his Dead Wife

From Wire Reports C H A N G H U A, Taiwan, Dec. 7 =97 On
Sunday, a Taiwanese man went to his local Buddhist temple and, during an
elaborate ceremony, married a Barbie doll. Chang Hsi-hsum, 46,
married the Barbie because he believed it would appease the
restless spirit of his dead wife.

Like any Other Wedding

It appeared to be a wedding like any other in Taiwan. In the
minutes before the ceremony, the bride=92s anxious family waited
outside the temple for the groom=92s arrival. However, the bride
was anything but normal =97 she was less than one foot tall and
made of molded plastic. Chang Hsi-hsum believes this Barbie doll
houses the spirit of his wife, Tsai, who killed herself 20 years
ago because Chang=92s family had rejected their marriage. The
groom=92s family sought to make up for the error and ask for
forgiveness by giving their blessing for the marriage. =93I have
waited for this day for 20 years. Even after all this time, I
feel in love with her. Now I will marry her spirit and take her
home. We will be finally together and able to live in peace,=94
said the groom.

Groom Already Married

Chang re-married after his wife=92s death, but Sunday=92s ceremony
was carried out with his current wife=92s blessing. The two of
them say they hope the wedding will pacify Tsai=92s restless
spirit. As part of the ceremony, a Red Mercedes car,
representing part of Tsai=92s dowry, was burnt, so she could make
use of it in the spirit world. In an amazing coincidence, Tsai=92s
sister claims she was visited by the dead woman in a dream and
told about the wedding before Chang had announced it. =93She came
to me and she told me that on 27th of the tenth month of the
lunar calendar that she would be married,=94 said Tsai Pei-yu, the
bride=92s sister. During their ceremony, a gold necklace that had
belonged to Tsai was placed on the Barbie doll. After the
wedding, Chang and the doll returned home, together with an urn
which contains Tsai=92s ashes. The urn will be placed at their
home and from now on Tsai will be regarded as a member of their
family.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/dailynews/barbie991207.html

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arabia On Line news items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 08:31:58 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

Lebanon to join peace talks after January
http://www.arabia.com/article/0,1690,News-8411,00.html

World Bank gives first funding to Syria in 13 years
http://www.arabia.com/article/0,1690,Business-8395,00.html

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Storm over Diana 'Madonna' statue
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 08:41:37 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

Storm over Diana 'Madonna' statue

Lord Alton said many would find the exhibition "deeply offensive"

A controversial statue of Diana, Princess of Wales portrayed as
the Virgin Mary is to go on show in Liverpool on Thursday.

The figure, on show at the Tate Gallery at the Albert Dock,
shows the late princess dressed in the traditional robes of the
Virgin Mary.

It is part of Heaven, a collection of work by artists from
around the world. The artist behind the Diana sculpture, Luigi
Baggi, is also behind a 15ft fibreglass statue of Jesus Christ,
which is displayed on a floating pontoon.

Lord Alton, professor of citizenship at Liverpool John Moores
University, said many people would find the exhibition "deeply
offensive".

But Bishop of Liverpool James Jones, called the exhibition a
reflection of today's society.

He said: "This controversial exhibition is a sign of our times.
It reflects our culture and shows the huge gap that exists
between traditional beliefs and the spirit of a new age."

He said he had not yet seen the exhibition in full, but had
discussed its contents with the gallery's curator.

The Bishop added: "Like it or not, the church has to face up to
the fact that although people are spiritual, many do not find
the church fulfils their hopes.

"I see this exhibition as a challenge to Christians to
communicate our faith at the end of this millennium with great
imagination and compassion."

The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Rev Patrick Kelly, said
he would not be able to visit the exhibition because of other
commitments.

In a statement, he said: "I would suggest we keep three things
in mind.

"Firstly, Roman Catholic devotion to Mary is rooted in the
Gospels which set before us Mary of Nazereth, her poverty, and
her surrender to the word of God.

"Secondly, over the course of 2,000 years appreciation of Mary
has been expressed in many forms of art no one of which would
ever claim to tell the whole story.

"Thirdly comparisons might be made between the story of Mary,
guaranteed to aspire the Gospels, and the story of anyone else,
for example Princess Diana, and that would determine the
authenticity of linking these stories through an art form."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_555000/555606.stm

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - History of the Candy Cane
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 09:10:07 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

Raising Cane
from Elesha Coffman, assistant editor of Christian History

Lately we've been getting a lot of e-mails inquiring about the
origins of various Christmas customs. For the next two weeks,
we'll take a look at some of these legends, starting with the
candy cane.

From searching the Web on "candy cane story," I learned that
the confection's conception is a very hot topic among
Christians. On countless home pages (including
www.copetv.org/thecandy.htm and http://purestoke.org/candy.htm),
as well as in several gift books, every facet of the cane's
construction was attributed spiritual significance. According to
most of these sources, a faithful Indiana candymaker developed
the treat as a witnessing tool. The candy is hard because God's
church is founded on the rock, white because of Jesus's purity
(or his virgin birth), peppermint flavored as a reference to
cleansing hyssop, and curved to represent a shepherd's staff
and/or the letter "J" for Jesus. Accounts vary regarding the red
stripes, though they all agree that red stands for Christ's
blood. Depending on which story you read, three small stripes
might represent the Trinity, or small stripes could mean the
stripes by which we're healed, or our small sacrifices in
comparison to Christ's ultimate sacrifice (represented by a
large stripe). One site even suggested that the green stripe
sometimes featured reminds us that Jesus is a gift from God,
though why green signifies a gift I don't know.

The motivation for candy cane apologetics can be seen in a
quote from one of the sites: "Doesn't it seem strange that
something we often see as unimportant and insignificant can be
turned into something so vibrant, so important, simply by
knowing its origin?" Of course, the same site proclaims that
candy canes were originally a code between English Christians in
the seventeenth century, when all public religious symbols were
banned. That's simply not true, and neither are most of the
other stories.

So where did candy canes come from? Tradition holds that in
about 1670, the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral was frustrated
by fidgety kids at the living Nativity. He had some white, sugar-
candy sticks made to keep the youngsters quiet. The sticks were
curved like shepherds' staffs in honor of the shepherds at the
stable (score one for the apologists). The idea caught on, and
candy sticks became common at living Nativities all over Europe.

In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard put
candy canes on his Christmas tree in Wooster, Ohio. The sweets
gained popularity here, too, and around the turn of the century,
they assumed their now familiar properties of red stripes and
peppermint flavoring. (Though these elements might have been
added for symbolic purposes, there's no evidence to confirm that
theory.) In Albany, Georgia, in the 1920s, a candymaker named
Bob McCormack made canes as special treats for family and
friends, but the confections were difficult to mass-produce.
Then, in the 1950s, Bob's brother-in-law Gregory Keller, a
Catholic priest, invented a machine to speed up the process.
Other members of the McCormack family worked on new packaging to
keep the canes from breaking in transit, and Bob's Candies
(www.bobscandies.com) became the world's leading candy cane
producer.

So yes, the candy cane's origin was Christian. But it was
almost certainly not designed to be the tasty theological
treatise it's now purported to be. As Barbara "the cane mutiny"
Mikkelson posted on the Urban Legends Reference Pages
(www.snopes.com/holidays/xmas/cndycane.htm), "It's charming
folklore at best, and though there's nothing wrong with
Christians now finding (and celebrating) symbolism where there
wasn't any before, there is something wrong with myths being
presented as fact." For the sake of history, I have to agree
with her.

======================================================

This week in CHRISTIAN HISTORY online at
http://www.christianhistory.net

ALONE IN THE DESERT? Why thousands of early Christians took up
the monastic way, and what their life was really like. By James
E. Goehring.

By the middle of the fourth century, asceticism was in the air
and spreading, especially in Egypt. The author of _Ascetics,
Society, and the Desert_ explores what kind of life the
monastics found.

=======================================================

This week in Christian history: (For more dates, see
www.christianhistory.net)

December 17, 1917: Bolsheviks confiscate all property of the
Russian Orthodox Church and abolish religious instruction in the
schools. Within two decades, at least 45,000 priests were
reportedly martyred in the country (see issue 18: Russian
Christianity).

December 18, 1707: Charles Wesley, who founded Methodism with
his brother John, is born in England. A celebrated hymn writer,
his "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Lo, He Comes" are widely
sung this time of year. He is also the author of "Christ the
Lord is Risen Today" and "Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise" (see
issue 2: John Wesley and issue 31: The Golden Age of Hymns).

December 18, 1865: Slavery is abolished in the United States as
the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified. Many
of the abolitionists who pushed for its passage were Christians
seeking to make America more like the Kingdom of God (see issue
33: Christianity and the Civil War).

December 18, 1957: English writer Dorothy Sayers, the most
popular mystery writer in England and a Christian apologist, dies.

December 19, 1734: Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf, founder of
the modern Moravian church and a pioneer in ecumenism and
missions, is recognized as a minister by the theology faculty of
Tubigen, Germany (see issue 1: Zinzendorf).

December 20, 1552: Former nun Katherine von Bora, Martin
Luther's wife from 1525 to Luther's death in 1546, dies (see
issue 39: Luther's Later Years and Legacy).

December 20, 1560: The Scottish Reformed Church, organized with
the help of John Knox, holds its first assmbly (see issue 46:
John Knox).

December 20, 1787: The Shakers, a millenarian communal society
in New Lebanon, Indiana, experience a revival. The religious
fervor continues throughout the frontier, crossing
denominational barriers.

December 21, 1118: Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of
Canterbury who clashed with England's King Henry II, is born in
London.

December 21, 1511: In Hispaniola, preacher Antonio des
Montesinos counters the conquistador sentiment "Gunpowder
against Indians is incense to the Lord" with a fiery sermon
denouncing Spain's atrocities in the new world (see issue 25:
Columbus & Christianity).

December 21, 1620: The English separatists known as Puritans
land at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts (see issue 41: American
Puritans).

December 21, 1807: Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John
Newton, author of "Amazing Grace," dies (see issue 31: Golden
Age of Hymns).

=======================================================

BACK ISSUES: CH back issues referred to in this newsletter can
be ordered: Online: http://st3.yahoo.com/cgi-
bin/clink?cti+q7W2e2+chrishispasi1.html By phone: 1-800-806-7798
(When you call, mention this offer: HZ0CHNL)

CD-ROM: 50 CH back issues are available on CD-ROM and can be
ordered: Online: http://st3.yahoo.com/cgi-
bin/clink?cti+q7W2e2+chrishisincd1.html By phone: 1-800-806-7798
(When you call, mention this offer: HZ0CHNL)

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Subscriptions to the magazine can be purchased
online:
http://www.christianityonline.com/shopping/subs/sbstrt02.php?cc=H
_newslett er By phone: 1-800-873-6986 (When you call, mention
this offer: HZ0CHNL)

Christian History is also available on AOL at Keyword:
christianhistory.

=======================================================

Copyright 1999 Christian History. To unsubscribe from this
newsletter, send the message "unsubscribe christian-history"
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---

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Dec 19, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 20:33:52 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

8:00 PM Eastern

 A&E - BIOGRAPHY - "The Unknown Jesus" - Scholarly
          research and biblical sources interpret the lessons of Jesus'
          life and death.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

 HIST - SWORN TO SECRECY - "Spies in the Sky" - Aerial
          surveillance; photo reconnaissance biplanes of World War I;
          spy satellites.(CC)(TVG)

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