I'm unhappy to learn that 40 cents of every one of my 2013 federal tax dollars went to fund current and past wars, according to the Quaker advocacy group, the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

We have some critical needs as a country -- how to respond to the effects of climate change, how to repair our crumbling bridges and roadways, how to bridge the growing divide between rich and poor. I want to see more of my tax dollars going to these priorities rather than to the Pentagon.

I hope that my senators will work to make this happen in the coming year. They can start by eliminating the more than $100 billion of documented waste, fraud and abuse found in the Pentagon's budget every year. We might disagree about the need to invest in the tools for war, but surely we can agree on the need to spend our tax dollars responsibly.

Sincerely,

Barbara Dougherty

Brackney, PA

Still waiting for a Hollywood film that actually depicts a biblical narrative accurately? The recently released film, Noah, comes inadvertently close.

The director, Darren Aronofsky, said that he attempted to make Noah “the least accurate biblical film ever made.” He succeeded. Now all one has to do is to stand the film on its head to get the long-awaited biblically accurate movie.

According to Scripture, Noah was a righteous man commissioned by God to warn mankind of the impending cataclysm, a consequence of his violence and sin. But the film portrays Noah as a psychotic environmentalist tortured by mankind's crushing impact on the environment.

Then this man of questionable sanity is commanded to build an Ark, not by God but by the demonic fallen angles called “watchers,” improbable creatures not made of demonic spirit but of rock and asphalt.

Contrary to the film and to popular belief, Noah did not build the Ark; his three sons did while Noah was on a 100-year evangelical journey to warn the world of the coming flood.

One can envision his sons as supervisors of scores of men: architects, loggers, millers, shipwrights, carpenters, metal workers, artisans, and laborers working until Noah's return a century later. Which brings us to . . . .Aronofsky's conception of the Ark. It's an assemblage of tree limbs and sticks tied together with vine ropes. But the actuall Ark must have been exquisitely crafted in order to be watertight for a one-year voyage in stormy seas to safely transport thousands of animals from the antediluvian world to the present era.

The boat must have been both a laughing stock and a wonder to behold. According to Scripture, rain and floods driven by today's hydrologic cycle didn’t exist before the flood: “But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground,” (Gen. 2:6). Yet here was this landlocked freight-ship far from any body of water but of marvelous craftsmanship and immense size.

According to measurements given in Genesis, the Ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall; ideal proportions for stability. Since no space in this barge was taken by engines, fuel, sails, rudder, or passenger accommodations (except for Noah's family), its cargo capacity was equivalent to 307 standard railroad boxcars. Picture four locomotives hauling a chain of boxcars 3.5 miles long.

For those who think that constructing such an Ark was beyond the capabilities of pre-flood people, the rectangular megaliths in Baalbek, Lebanon, should give them pause for thought. One of these cyclopean blocks weighs an astounding 1,300 tons.

Last March megaliths were discovered in Russia that weighed three times as much. If they are proven to be man-made, as they appear to be, then these 4,000-ton granite giants will be the largest on Earth. Duplicating this masonry would exceed 21st century technology (view YouTube: Giant Megaliths in Siberia).

But the Lebanese liths are indisputably fabricated. They bespeak of abilities that may have been known to pre-diluvium people that remain unknown today (view YouTube: The Ten Conundrums of Baalbek).

In the film, Noah is asked to explain creation? Is it the Bible's account of six 24-hour periods of sunsets and sunrises (Gen. 1:5)? Not a chance. It is Darwinian evolution spanning billions of years.

During this evolutionary epoch nothingness creates space dust, space dust grows itself into rocks, rocks form themselves into Earth, on Earth a slime pool creates life, and life evolves itself into increasingly complex organisms.

Christ, however, referred to Adam and Eve as God's creation: “But from the beginning of the creation God made them [Adam and Eve] male and female,” (Mk. 10:6).

He also spoke about a literal Noah, the Ark, and the worldwide flood: “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark and took them all away,” (Mat. 24:37-39).

So what are we to make of Hollywood's fanciful tale? Well, if you can take it as such, it's a good flick. Rotten Tomatoes gave it 76 percent, a rating that will flood the multiplexes with people and dollars.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA