An astute and generous ruler

It's amazing how far we have come! Our culture is headed down the drain and most folks don't seem to notice!

Is this a spoof, or for real?

Geoffrey,

All to real. Several years back the National Geographic did an in depth story on J.R.R. Tolkien and his influences in writing the LOTR. Funny how they never even mentioned his Catholic faith or the fact that he called his books "profoundly Catholic novel"

This reminds me of something I read somewhere (precise, I know), which said that historical research has shown that many of the kings who get a bad rap in Chronicles and the like seem to have been, in worldly terms, successful rulers. Those Hebrews knew the proper way to judge their leaders: how well they followed God and His law.

There you go again, Jeff. Using all that fancy logic and stuff. Don't you know Matthew was a *gasp* Christian, ergo he can't be trusted?

What a bunch of trash. What forfeits the bible from being used as a source? Oh I get it, because the Bible actually paints Herod as he was: a crazy, murderous, blood thirsty nut job.

I also hear that Satan is really not all that bad. He's just really misunderstood.

I'm hoping this is parody.

I'm hoping this is parody.

"Throughout his life, he blended creativity and cruelty, harmony and chaos, in ways that challenge the modern imagination."

That is one of the most revolting sentences I've read in a long time.

Unfortunately, this article is not a parody. Even worse, the article is the cover story for the most recent edition of National Geographic. Perhaps the article's claims are what caused me to eat less this Thanksgiving.

I'm still hoping this is parody.

Hey, Jeff! These nuns have your advent graphic on their webpage:

http://monialesop.blogspot.com/2008/11/let-heavens-rain-down-just-one.html

I think the National Geographic report is part of a report by the New Hebrew University that gives more information on Herod's grave.

http://robertstevenduncan.blogspot.com/2008/12/new-hebrew-university-excavations.html

God Bless
Robert Duncan

Isn't it National Geographic that always seems to come up with this sort of confusing gunk during every Advent and Lent? No doubt, we'll be hearing in the grocery aisles that Herod was misunderstood and that the Catholic Church has lied to us once again. Honestly, every time (the Judas thing, the Mary Magdalen business, the tomb of Jesus' brother, etc, etc) it seems that I become a public magnet for people, even strangers, who want to complain about the Church. Is it the Miraculous Medal around my neck or what? In any case, too many Catholics themselves soak this stuff up as truth, sadly.
You might say that we are provided with teaching moments through these situations, but when the Church tries to defend the truth, She is accused of hiding important facts from the faithful. Yikes. God alone knows if, in the end, more people are convinced of important truths than disabled by nonsensical inventions when National Geographic goes on the attack.

The truth is the first victim in all persecutions of the Church. I am not suprised by this at all.

The name of that rag should now be called "Relativist Geographic".

Fiat Voluntas Tua

Well, jeez, of *course* Herod was a nice guy. Didn't you know that all the mothers of Bethlehem didn't want to be punished with their babies anymore? Politicians who condone the murder of innocent children are all about rights and choice, after all.

Right. He was so wise and moderate that he drove Augustus to distraction and finally had to be restrained forcibly by Rome.

Thanks for reminding me why I am glad I have not renewed my subscription to National Geographic after 20 years membership.
If they don't respect my Catholic Faith, I don't need to support their drivel.

"The right to speak out and teach the nations, which the Church received from God Himself in the person of the Apostles, has been usurped by a mob of obscure journalists and ignorant charlatans."--St. Anthony Mary Claret

I applauded the National Geographic for their open-minded thinking. It's a terrible thing when lovers of art and architecture, builders of kingdoms and empires are pooped upon by history just because they were bloodthirsty monsters. Perhaps someday they'll write a puff piece on me, after all Herod and I have a lot in common.

1. We were both guilty of treason against the regimes we lived under, yet we both managed to rise to power (see note 1)

2. We both were part Jewish but sought to eradicate the facts. (see note 2)

3. we both had a love of art and architecture and he and I contributed to the design of some of the buildings in our respective empires.

4. We were both continuously intrigued against by narrow minded people who chose to focus on our brutality rather than our buildings.

5. Men reject Herod's guilt at Bethlehem, they reject mine at Belsen.

6. Herod killed his wife, I did not kill mine; but here I showed myself to be a man much more ahead of my time than he. Offing the wife was old hat for tyrants, even in Herod's day. I gave my the cyanide pill with which she took her own life-I am the father of assisted suicide, baby! but am I remembered, praised, admired for my forward thinking? No! But this story by NG gives me hope that I will achieve redemption in the minds of the common herd of men.

NOTES:

1) Herod was guilty of treason when he sided with Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar; with the defeat of Cassius at the battle of Philippi he quickly ingratiated himself with Marc Antony. When civil war broke out between Marc Antony and Caesar Augustus Herod sided with the former, but with his defeat at the Battle of Actium he quickly traveled to Rome and groveled at the feet of Augustus, pledging fidelity. What the NG terms political astuteness was in reality sheer political opportunism born of moral relativism. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf while in prison on a charge of treason.

2) There is some evidence to suggest that Hitler had some Jewish ancestors. When he gained control of Austria he had all records of his ancestry destroyed. Herod was half Jewish and half Edomite (Idumean), he made an attempt to destroy the birth records of all prominent Jews so none could claim a purer Jewish pedigree than he could.

A fifth century writer named Macrobius also wrote of the Slaughter of The Innocents. And he was not quoting Matthew. He wrote

"When [Augustus] heard that Herod king of the Jews had ordered all the boys in Syria under the age of two years to be put to death and that the king's son was among those killed, he said, "I'd rather be Herod's pig than Herod’s son.'"

So that is a second reference to the event written by Matthew. I'm sure they'll have some reason it doesn't count.

GEOGRAPHY:(noun)[jee-og-ruh-fee]
1.the science dealing with the areal differentiation of the earth's surface, as shown in the character, arrangement, and interrelations over the world of such elements as climate, elevation, soil, vegetation, population, land use, industries, or states, and of the unit areas formed by the complex of these individual elements.
2. the study of this science.
3. the topographical features of a region, usually of the earth, sometimes of the planets.

What do dubious asssertions about King Herod have to do with any of that?

Matt: No, that reference wouldn't count because it is fifth-century; far too long after the event to be considered historical. That said, I agree with Jeff -- if the Gospel doesn't count, then neither does Josephus.

I used to respect National Geographic, a long time ago.

I agree that National Geographic has sadly slanted the view of Herod, but it is still worth remembering that even a villain such as he is capable of doing at least one good thing in the world. This doesn't negate what he did, just gives another side.
I wonder how NG would deal with Henry the VIII, or that grand reprobate, Pope Alexander VI. For what it's worth, the infamous Pope is considered a respector of the arts.

Here's a little fluff piece quote from foxnews.com that reminded me of this blog piece:

A maid for Adolf Hitler in the '30s is speaking out about what it was like to work for the dictator, saying he was 'a great boss.'

"He was a charming man, someone who was only ever nice to me, a great boss to work for," 91-year-old Rosa Mitterer told the Daily Mail. "You can say what you like, but he was a good man to us."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,461612,00.html

Adolf Hitler: "Great Boss."

Not only was Herod was "an astute and generous ruler"...

Hitler was "a Great Boss";

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1091768/Hitler-perfect-boss-Former-maid-breaks-silence-charming-dictator.html

Well, shoot, looks like we may have had this Hitler fella all wrong... he sounds like a pretty decent joe.

I think the "great boss" story only proves what we already knew--that Hitler was shrewd and good at deceiving others, as well as himself.