According to a recent issue of Biblical Archeology Review (November-December 2002), a startling discovery was recently made in Jerusalem. "Amazing as it may sound," the article begins, "a limestone bone box called an ossuary has surfaced in Israel that may once have contained the bones of James, the brother of Jesus. We know this because an extraordinary inscription incised on one side of the ossuary reads in clear Aramaic letters, 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.'"

As our society has moved to become more secular, Bible-based values have been put aside. So where are the ethics coming from for students—young people—growing up? Where are their moral values? If you live in a society that is based on situation ethics—if you just do what feels good—who defines morality? Who defines right and wrong? Who determines what a person ought to do or not do?

Did you know that there are those in the Canadian government that are seeking to label the Bible as "hate literature"? Not only is this up for consideration in the Canadian Parliament; there are those in the United States and in many other countries that are not far behind. This is an incredible statement—an amazing statement—because the United States and Canada were built on a foundation that claimed to be Christian, and that recognized the Bible as the bedrock of society. Yet, right now there is a proposed bill in the Canadian Parliament that, according to opponents, would criminalize public expression against homosexual behavior. A self-described homosexual member of the House of Commons, Svend Robinson, is expected to reintroduce Bill C415, which would add sexual orientation as a protected category in Canada's Genocide and Hate Crimes Legislation. This is so incredible that any of the forefathers in the United States or Canada—the men who shaped our nations—would surely be absolutely shocked. They would be amazed and flabbergasted that such a proposal would ever be up for discussion.

Do you realize that America has an exploding criminal class? The incarceration rate in the United States remained basically the same from about 1925 to 1973. There was an average of a little over 100 people behind bars for every 100,000 residents of this country. By the year 2000 that rate had quadrupled, with almost 500 people incarcerated for every 100,000 residents. America has overtaken Russia as the world's most aggressive jailor. Approximately two million Americans are currently behind bars, with about four and a half million on parole or on probation. Another three million Americans are ex-convicts.

Did you know that the fall of Constantinople in 1453 played a major part in exposing one of history's greatest hoaxes? The particular hoax to which I am referring is the so-called "Donation of Constantine." This was a document that was used throughout the medieval period to explain and to justify the claims of the papacy in Rome to rule a temporal territory, and to have jurisdiction over churches scattered all over—from Alexandria, to Antioch, to Jerusalem, to Constantinople—and that gave them oversight of the lands in Judea, Greece, Asia, Thrice, Africa, Italy and the various islands. This "Donation of Constantine" was a document purportedly written by the Emperor Constantine the Great.