Perhaps the BBC's timing for airing a documentary that questions Mary Mother of Christ's virginity is a bit suspect, it being Christmas and all. But hey -- anything for ratings, right?

Myths all come from somewhere. The Bible, just like the deific soap opera of Mount Olympus, is a collection of stories that. Many of the people in the Bible are real -- I'm sure there really was a Job and that he had a miserable couple of months. There are some great Web sites devoted to urban myths. Harry Potter* is a mythology, too.

So was Mary a virgin in the modern sense of the word? Doubtful. Though it makes for a stronger symbol, a more effective mythology, for the Christian ideology if she is a virgin...

...or does it? Here's a "what if" for you: Imagine that the bible characterizes Jesus as he was (theoretically) really born: an illegitimate child. Triumphing over the stigma, or perhaps shielded from the truth his whole life, Jesus still gathers a group of disciples that preach loving thy neighbor and resistance to the Roman Empire. Maybe Christianity wouldn't have lasted as long as it has, but that story, triumph over adversity to stand up against an oppressive government, is one that I'll be happy to meditate on.

Therefore, in honor of Jesus, the bastard who stood up to the oppressive Roman Empire and the stifling Jewish law, I say Merry Christmas.

*I finished the fourth Harry Potter novel last night. Two entire chapters devoted to the villians explaining everything. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoyed the book and it left me pining for the fifth. But c'mon, J.K., does every book have to end like a Bond film?