By Carl S. ~
Prior to modern scientific forensics, there was no acceptable way to prosecute a murder suspect without the actual physical body of the victim. This is no longer the case. Fiber analysis, DNA, footage of the suspect purchasing the murder weapon, or being absent from a place where the murderer claimed himself to be at the time of the killing, etc., are acceptable evidence in courts of law. Whenever enough evidence is amassed to show that the victim was killed by a particular person, a conviction follows.
You can understand how in the past, being unable to prosecute without a body allowed murderers to get off Scott-free. Or how, even with an actual corpse, the innocent could be convicted solely on the testimonies of what presently can be proven to be hearsay and/or dubious “eyewitness” reports. (Such eyewitnesses having their own motives pro or con the accused.) By today’s standards, what was formerly acceptable as “obvious,” isn't.
If we imagine those former times, when a body WAS necessary to prove that the person was actually dead, we might conjecture this conversation:
Luke: They told me the Great One was murdered and interred near the place where the murder took place. I went looking but I didn't find his body. I thought someone moved it during the night and buried it someplace no one would think of looking for it, to cover up the crime.
Matt: I don't understand. You think someone dug up a body and re-buried it?
Luke: It wasn't buried, but I think it could be now. I've been told it was placed in a tomb. I looked into the tomb everybody mentioned, but there was no stone moved away from in front of it. In fact, there were no marks to show any stone had been moved. But, there were many, many footprints on the floor inside, indicating that much activity took place there recently.
Matt: Look. Save your time. I and many others know that the victim came back to life fro the dead and walked away. We have this information from witnesses. In fact, he went back to assure his family and close friends that he wasn't dead. They didn't recognize him, strangely, but maybe it was because of what he'd been through. I don't know.
Luke: So, let me get this straight. According to you, who got your info as hearsay, and them, he went back and returned to his former life, as if his murder didn't affect him? Like people who fail at suicide and find life to be really worth living? I'll bet that everyone who heard about him wanted to know what it was like to be dead and come back to life. This fantastic event couldn't help but spread like wildfire throughout the region, and thousands of people would come to visit him to see for themselves!
Matt: Well, that didn't happen. From what I heard, and believe, he just left us soon after, and was never seen again.
Luke: I'm confused. You’re saying that because we didn't find this particular body in the first place, it’s because the body got up and walked away? Was there really a murder? This implies there wasn’t, because the body wasn't dead after all. But, it's possible that the person ran away or was kidnapped and was never seen again and isn't dead. The rule of proof states, “No body, no murder. No body, no conviction.” A unique event, though, everyone claims?
Matt: Now that you mention it - no, not so unusual, I guess. There are OTHERS whose bodies were not found. They had already been buried, in fact. They clawed their way out from underground. They were seen by many, walking around. Maybe they went home for awhile to assure their families; maybe not. We don’t know, because they also didn't stay around; they mysteriously disappeared. Come to think of it - the one whose death you were investigating - he floated up through the clouds, and THAT'S why he was never seen again. I can believe that. And so, that's what happened to those others back from the dead; they floated up too. And some day, anyone who dies will float away alive, into the heaven above. It makes sense.
Luke: Except that everything you're saying tells me that there is no evidence: that ALL the evidence VANISHED for major events that happened in your lifetime. Your “proof” went “poof!“ Now I suppose that those un-dead ones you mentioned went somewhere where they lived happily ever after?
Matt: You're not getting it. It's obvious, isn't it? Up, up and away into the sky!
Luke: What's obvious to me is that people DO see things that aren't real. What you've been told by these so-called witnesses usually starts with, “Once upon a time...”
Matt: Well, I believe it. It's obvious to me.
Luke: Obviously. Something else is obvious to me. Unlike you, I can read and write. For three decades now I've written down the testimonies. I've been coming around in my travels and asking the same questions of the same people, and each time they tell different, more and more elaborate stories about what happened, starting from the very beginning when I began to record them. And now, it’s reached the point where the “memories” they have are VERY different from the confused stories they initially came up with. Don't you think it's time you found someone to write them down for you?
Matt: Obviously, it's too late. Who would believe them?
Notice how evidence disappears even in the lifetimes of those “explaining” such evidence - evidence such as a crucified body, the body of Jesus’ mother, Mary, Mohammed's body, the ten commandment tablets, Joseph Smith's golden tablets, etc.?
Kahlil Gibran : “The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.”
 |
| Hans Holbein- The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
You can understand how in the past, being unable to prosecute without a body allowed murderers to get off Scott-free. Or how, even with an actual corpse, the innocent could be convicted solely on the testimonies of what presently can be proven to be hearsay and/or dubious “eyewitness” reports. (Such eyewitnesses having their own motives pro or con the accused.) By today’s standards, what was formerly acceptable as “obvious,” isn't.
If we imagine those former times, when a body WAS necessary to prove that the person was actually dead, we might conjecture this conversation:
Luke: They told me the Great One was murdered and interred near the place where the murder took place. I went looking but I didn't find his body. I thought someone moved it during the night and buried it someplace no one would think of looking for it, to cover up the crime.
Matt: I don't understand. You think someone dug up a body and re-buried it?
Luke: It wasn't buried, but I think it could be now. I've been told it was placed in a tomb. I looked into the tomb everybody mentioned, but there was no stone moved away from in front of it. In fact, there were no marks to show any stone had been moved. But, there were many, many footprints on the floor inside, indicating that much activity took place there recently.
Matt: Look. Save your time. I and many others know that the victim came back to life fro the dead and walked away. We have this information from witnesses. In fact, he went back to assure his family and close friends that he wasn't dead. They didn't recognize him, strangely, but maybe it was because of what he'd been through. I don't know.
Luke: So, let me get this straight. According to you, who got your info as hearsay, and them, he went back and returned to his former life, as if his murder didn't affect him? Like people who fail at suicide and find life to be really worth living? I'll bet that everyone who heard about him wanted to know what it was like to be dead and come back to life. This fantastic event couldn't help but spread like wildfire throughout the region, and thousands of people would come to visit him to see for themselves!
Matt: Well, that didn't happen. From what I heard, and believe, he just left us soon after, and was never seen again.
Luke: I'm confused. You’re saying that because we didn't find this particular body in the first place, it’s because the body got up and walked away? Was there really a murder? This implies there wasn’t, because the body wasn't dead after all. But, it's possible that the person ran away or was kidnapped and was never seen again and isn't dead. The rule of proof states, “No body, no murder. No body, no conviction.” A unique event, though, everyone claims?
Matt: Now that you mention it - no, not so unusual, I guess. There are OTHERS whose bodies were not found. They had already been buried, in fact. They clawed their way out from underground. They were seen by many, walking around. Maybe they went home for awhile to assure their families; maybe not. We don’t know, because they also didn't stay around; they mysteriously disappeared. Come to think of it - the one whose death you were investigating - he floated up through the clouds, and THAT'S why he was never seen again. I can believe that. And so, that's what happened to those others back from the dead; they floated up too. And some day, anyone who dies will float away alive, into the heaven above. It makes sense.
Luke: Except that everything you're saying tells me that there is no evidence: that ALL the evidence VANISHED for major events that happened in your lifetime. Your “proof” went “poof!“ Now I suppose that those un-dead ones you mentioned went somewhere where they lived happily ever after?
Matt: You're not getting it. It's obvious, isn't it? Up, up and away into the sky!
Luke: What's obvious to me is that people DO see things that aren't real. What you've been told by these so-called witnesses usually starts with, “Once upon a time...”
Matt: Well, I believe it. It's obvious to me.
Luke: Obviously. Something else is obvious to me. Unlike you, I can read and write. For three decades now I've written down the testimonies. I've been coming around in my travels and asking the same questions of the same people, and each time they tell different, more and more elaborate stories about what happened, starting from the very beginning when I began to record them. And now, it’s reached the point where the “memories” they have are VERY different from the confused stories they initially came up with. Don't you think it's time you found someone to write them down for you?
Matt: Obviously, it's too late. Who would believe them?
Notice how evidence disappears even in the lifetimes of those “explaining” such evidence - evidence such as a crucified body, the body of Jesus’ mother, Mary, Mohammed's body, the ten commandment tablets, Joseph Smith's golden tablets, etc.?
COMMENTS