Seeking the truth about Jesus

A nativity scene from St. Catherine's Church in Bethlehem in the West Bank.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Jay Parini: There are as many visions of Jesus, and versions, as there are Christians


• Parini: As a child, I wondered why only two of the gospels mention Christmas


• He says he believes firmly that Jesus was a real person, complex and inspiring


• Parini: Jesus's life has mythical resonance with the power to change hearts and minds

Editor's note: Jay Parini, poet and novelist, is author of the forthcoming book, "Jesus: The Human Face of God." He is the Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College.

(CNN) -- At Christmas, the name of Jesus resounds everywhere in homes, churches, in hauntingly gorgeous carols, even casual conversations. Yet Christians didn't settle on December 25 as Christmas day until the fourth century, and this choice probably had something to do with its proximity to the winter solstice or its position as the final day of the Roman Saturnalia.

It was in the late third century, in fact, that the Roman emperor Aurelian established this date as a feast day celebrating the birth of the Unconquered Sun (Sol Invictus), so it already had festive and quasi-religious prominence. Now it serves to welcome the infant who became Christ, the Greek word for Messiah.

There are probably as many visions of Jesus, and versions, as there are Christians. Many regard him as their savior, the Son of God sent to Earth to save human beings from themselves. Others see him as a great teacher, a healer or rabbi of extraordinary power, a holy man or prophet who proposed a new covenant between heaven and earth. To some, he represents a new world order, an egalitarian society, a preacher of nonviolence who asked us to turn the other cheek.

Jay Parini

Was he the long-awaited Messiah? The Lamb of God who removes the sin of the world by his self-sacrifice? King of the Jews? Or something less dramatic but still impressive -- an ethical teacher of extraordinary grace and power?

My father, a former Roman Catholic, became a Baptist minister, and I grew up with an insider's view of evangelical Christianity. My father read the Bible aloud at breakfast each morning, always in the King James Version. Beginning in December, I listened to the sonorous birth narratives of Luke and Matthew. In the latter, there are Wise Men coming from the East, a mysterious star, the massacre of innocent children by King Herod, and a flight to Egypt by the Holy Family.

Belief Blog: The Christmas message of the real St. Nicholas

My father, like me, preferred the gentler Christmas story put forward by Luke: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."

I remember asking my father one day why these two Christmas stories seemed incompatible, at best. Even the lineages put forward by Matthew and Luke have few points of reconciliation. I also wondered why the two other Gospels -- Mark and John -- made no mention of Christmas.

Why was there no mention of Christmas anywhere else in the whole of the Bible? Didn't they care? He was a gentle but cautious fellow, my father, with a rock-solid faith. "It's probably better not to ask difficult questions," he said. "God will, in time, provide the answers. But not now. Not in this life." He told me simply to enjoy Christmas.

That didn't satisfy me, of course. Why should it? I realized that, as St. Paul so elegantly put it, we see only "through a glass darkly" while on this earth. But wasn't that too easy? I needed to know more.

And I still want to know the truth about this luminous figure, Jesus of Nazareth. Was he really the Son of God? Why was he sent into the world? Do we know anything about him, really? To consider yourself a Christian, must you believe in the Virgin Birth, or that Jesus walked on water, healed the sick, and rose triumphantly from the dead? Does it matter if we take all of this on board in a literal fashion? Isn't this a lovely mythos -- the Greek word for story -- a narrative with symbolic resonance and profound meaning?

Christmas by the numbers

Jesus himself seemed unwilling to answer questions about his royal status or divinity. When asked by Pontius Pilate about his status as King of the Jews, he simply replied, "You say so." Many in his circle referred to as the Son of God, but this wasn't an especially divine title. Augustus Caesar was called Son of God -- Divi filius -- on Roman coins. Jesus certainly regarded himself as having a filial connection to the person he called, in his native Aramaic, Abba, or Father. But doesn't that only mean he felt like a son before this personified spirit?

He was also called the Son of Man, reaching back to an ancient Hebraic phrase, which had rather humbling connotations. (It was in the Book of Daniel that a visionary figure called the Son of Man came into view, in apocalyptic terms).

All attempts to classify Jesus seem hopelessly inadequate.

As I've grown older, I appreciate more than ever before the strength of this figure, Jesus, who emerges in the four canonical Gospels, and the Gnostic gospels, as a witty, intelligent, complex, inspiring, and often contradictory person. He was a religious genius who grew up on the Silk Road in ancient Palestine, on that magical trade route connecting East and West.

From the West he acquired an understanding of Greek metaphysics, with its remarkable formulation of body and soul. From the East came the winds of mysticism, a sense of self-transformation based on the loss of selfhood, with enlightenment the ultimate goal. Jesus brings East and West together, focusing on his key idea -- that of a gradually realizing kingdom, a mystical space beyond time, though it requires time in order to root and grow. As he told someone who asked where this lofty kingdom lay: "The kingdom of God is within you."

Photos: Santas over the years

Too many Christians regard their religion as a list of boxes that need checking. To belong, you must subscribe to a particular set of beliefs. It's dogma, pure and simple. I suspect that Jesus himself would have been startled to think that, many centuries after his death, more than 2 billion people would celebrate his coming into the world, find his message of a gradually realizing kingdom an inspiring challenge, worthy of serious pursuit, devotion and emulation.

Jesus was a real person who lived in time, and his life has huge mythical resonance with the power to change hearts and minds. I believe that firmly. At this stage of my life -- a senior citizen, as they say politely -- I'm also quite happy to believe in miracles, assuming that the membrane between life and death is paper thin.

All Christian thinking is, however, about resurrection. It's about moving beyond our small selves, shifting away from our ego-drenched understanding of reality. The way of Jesus involves engagement with his (often difficult) teachings as well as looking for those unspeakably beautiful moments in time when, for just a few seconds perhaps, we apprehend the timeless moment in time.

Life mostly offers, as T.S. Eliot suggests in "Little Gidding," "only hints and guesses, / Hints followed by guesses." The rest is "prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action."

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jay Parini.

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S'pore shares end firmer in shortened pre-holiday session

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed slightly firmer after wavering between positive and negative territories in a shortened pre-holiday session.

Dealers said volume was thin as investors were unwilling to take on new positions ahead of the Christmas holiday break.

Uncertainty over the US fiscal cliff also kept players away.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 5.01 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 3168.57.

Volume totalled 1.09 billion shares valued at only S$430.8 million. Gainers led losers 195 to 134.

SingTel was the main drag on the STI, dropping 8 cents to S$3.32 as the stock went ex-dividend.

Rowsley was the most active stock traded, with its price surging 11.9 cents to end at 26.5 cents, its highest since September 2007, after the investment-holding company said it planned to enter Malaysia's property segment.

Rowsley, controlled by Singaporean tycoon Peter Lim, plans to acquire RSP Architects and land in the Iskandar region, located in Johor, for S$581 million in all-stock deals.

If the deals go through, Rowsley plans a bonus issue of two free warrants for every share held, with an 18-cent a share exercise price.

Singapore Land gained 18 cents to S$7.58, SIA Engineering added 12 cents to S$4.42, while OCBC Bank edged up 5 cents to S$9.77.

Among the losers, Bukit Sembawang fell 19 cents to S$6.63, Osim lost 5.5 cents to $1.645, and UE dropped 5 cents to S$3.38.

Olam finished unchanged at S$1.555 after the commodity-trader said it acquired Seda Solubles' coffee business for US$52 million.

- CNA/al

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Police crackdown amid outrage over gang rape

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Russian President Vladimir Putin is due visit India Monday


• New Delhi's government district is under a lockdown


• Protesters demonstrate after the gang rape of a woman on a bus


• Police say the woman was badly beaten and left for dead

New Delhi (CNN) -- Police locked down New Delhi's key government district ahead of Monday's visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin, after two days of pitched street battles following the gang rape of a woman on a bus.

Putin is scheduled to meet with Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh Monday afternoon and later with the Indian president.

Authorities erected security barriers throughout the city's Raisina Hills area -- home to the presidential mansion, the parliament building and federal ministerial blocks. Only those authorized to work in the district were allowed to pass.

Furious weekend demonstrations rocked Raisina Hills as public outrage surged after a 23-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and beaten to near death on a bus on December 16 by a group of six suspects, now under arrest, police say.

Singh again expressed solidarity with the rape victim in a televised address on Monday. He also reiterated an earlier appeal for calm and a pledge of safety for women and children.

On Sunday, incensed protesters defied a police ban on demonstrations, clashing repeatedly with police.

As officers sprayed water cannons, some dispersed, while others huddled tightly in a circle to brave high-pressure streams in the cold December weather.

"We want justice!" the protesters shouted in chorus.

In addition to banners and cardboard placards, many demonstrators carried Indian flags as they scuffled with police. Authorities also fired tear gas to try to break up crowds.

Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said "hooligans who had joined the protesters" hurled stones, injuring 78 officers on Sunday. At least 65 protesters were also injured, he said.

Many police vans and a dozen public buses were damaged during the demonstrations, he said.

Buy Sunday night, the scene was cleared of all protesters.

Earlier in the day, Singh called for calm after clashes escalated.

"We will make all possible efforts to ensure security and safety to all women in this country," the Indian leader said. "I appeal to all concerned citizens to maintain peace and calm."

In his statement, Singh acknowledged that the anger is "genuine and justified."

Authorities haven't released the name of the rape victim, but protesters are calling her "Damini," which means "lightning" in Hindi.

"Damini" is also a 1993 Bollywood film whose lead female character fights for a housemaid, a victim of a sexual assault.

"We support you Damini. We'll keep fighting for you," a middle-aged woman at the historic India Gate said Sunday. "Damini wants justice," read a placard at the protest.

The rape victim's injuries were so severe she spent days in intensive care in a city hospital, battling for her life. Police said Saturday that she had recovered enough to give a statement to a magistrate from her hospital bed the night before.

But on Sunday, she underwent another surgery to wash out infection in her abdomin, her doctors said.

The protests were among many anti-rape demonstrations staged across the country over the past week.

A video journalist was killed by police gunfire Sunday during a violent protest in India's remote northeastern state of Manipur, authorities said.

The journalist, identified by the information and broadcasting ministry as Dhij Mani, was covering a protest against a separate molestation case in the provincial capital of Imphal.

Protests have rocked Manipur over the alleged molestation of a local actress by a suspected militant on December 18, during a public performance, authorities say.

Protesters torched a vehicle, forcing police to open fire, officer Manik Longjam said Sunday.

The journalist died in the gunfire, Longjam said.

Police say the molester is still at large.

Reported rape cases have increased more than tenfold over the past 40 years -- from 2,487 in 1971 to 24,206 in 2011, according to official figures.

New Delhi alone reported 572 rapes last year and more than 600 in 2012.

As fury about the assault gathered pace, some Indian lawmakers called for treating rape as a capital crime.

"We'll work collectively to see we make a law which is deterrent and preventive," said New Delhi's chief minister, Sheila Dikshit.

India's home minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters Saturday that the government would work toward increasing punishment in "rarest of the rare" rape cases.

But pressed on whether the administration would agree to demands for death by hanging in such instances, he said: "We'll have to see in what way it (the rape sentencing) can be enhanced."

Shinde said the government was pushing for a speedy trial for the attack.

Authorities are also taking a number of steps to improve security for women in New Delhi, particularly on public transport, he said.

"(The) government shares the widespread concern and support that has been expressed throughout society for the girl who has so suffered. Government also respects the right of legitimate protest," Shinde said.

"At the same time, there is need to exercise calm at this juncture and for everyone to work together to improve the safety and security environment."

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Get 'em While You Can? Gun Sales Soar

The National Rifle Association may still get its way and defeat the lawmakers calling for a ban on the sale of assault ridles, but some gun store owners say it seems their customers aren't taking any chances.

"We have never seen anything like this," said Larry Hyatt, who owns a gun shop in Charlotte, N.C. "We have the Christmas business, the hunting season business, and now we have the political business.

"We have seen a lot of things, but we have never seen anything like this, this is probably four times bigger than the last time we saw a big rush," he said.

Some of the customers in his store said it is the talk of stricter gun control in the wake of the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that is driving the rush.

"The way they are trying to approach it, they are just making people who have never thought about buying a gun, now they want to come in here and buy a gun," one customer said.

At NOVA Firearms in Falls Church, Va., there have been "skyrocketing" sales following the Newtown shooting, chief firearms instructor Chuck Nesby said.

"They've been off the charts. Absolutely skyrocketing," Nesby said. "If I could give an award to President Obama and Senator Feinstein would be sales persons of the year."

He was referring to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who said she will introduce an assault weapons ban in January.

Sales are up 400 percent, he said.

"We're completely out of the so-called assault weapons, semi automatic firearms that are rifles," Nesby said. "Forty percent of those sales went to women and senior citizens. We can't get them now. Everybody, nationwide is out of them the sales have just been off the charts nationwide."

National Rifle Association News Conference Interrupted by Protesters Watch Video

The horrific shooting, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza broke in to the elementary school and killed 20 children and six adults with a semi-automatic rifle, has even some former NRA supporters saying it's time to change the rules on assault weapons.

Those guns were banned from 1994 until 2004, when the ban expired and was not renewed.

Now it's not just lawmakers who have traditionally advocated stricter gun control talking about the need to act.

Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas suggested today on CBS' "Face the Nation" that new regulation should be considered.

"We ought to be looking at where the real danger is, like those large clips, I think that does need to be looked at," Hutchison said. "It's the semi-automatics and those large magazines that can be fired off very quickly. You do have to pull the trigger each time, but it's very quick."

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat but a long-time opponent of gun control who like Hutchison has received an A rating from the NRA, has also come out in support of strengthening gun laws.

NRA chief Wayne LaPierre said Friday that more gun control is not the way to stop such shooting from happening again: the answer is more guns, in the form of armed guards in every school.

After being criticized for two days for the proposal, LaPierre today stuck by his guns.

"If it's crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"When that horrible monster tried to shoot his way into Sandy Hook school, that if a good guy with a gun had been there, he might have been able to stop [it]," LaPierre said.

LaPierre and the NRA said that the media, the entertainment culture and lack of proper mental health care are to blame, not the proliferation of guns in the United States.

Asa Hutchinson, the former congressman who will lead the effort by the NRA to place armed security guards in schools across the country, said today on "This Week" that gun control efforts would not be part of the "ultimate solution" to gun violence.

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Senators slam movie's torture scenes

In the new film "Zero Dark Thirty," Jessica Chastain plays a CIA analyst who is part of the team hunting Osama bin Laden.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Sens. Feinstein, McCain, Levin send letter calling new film "grossly inaccurate"


• Letter adds to controversy over depiction of torture as a key to finding bin Laden, Bergen says


• Senate committee has approved 6,000-page classified report on CIA interrogations program


• Bergen says as much as possible of that report should be released to the public

Editor's note: Peter Bergen is a CNN national security analyst and author of "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbottabad."

(CNN) -- On Wednesday, three senior U.S. senators sent Michael Lynton, the CEO of Sony Pictures, a letter about "Zero Dark Thirty," the much-discussed new movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which described the film as "grossly inaccurate and misleading."

In the letter, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-California, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Michigan, and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, expressed their "deep disappointment" in the movie's depiction of CIA officers torturing prisoners, which "credits these detainees with providing critical lead information" about the courier who led the CIA to bin Laden's hiding place in northern Pakistan.

The senators point out that the filmmakers of "Zero Dark Thirty" open the movie with the words that it is "based on first-hand accounts of actual events." The film then goes on, the senators say, to give the clear implication "that the CIA's coercive interrogation techniques were effective in eliciting important information related to a courier for Usama Bin Laden."

Review: 'Zero Dark Thirty' is utterly gripping

Peter Bergen

The senators write that this is not supported by the facts: "We have reviewed CIA records and know that this is incorrect."

Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to sign off on the findings of its three-year study of the CIA's detention and interrogation program, during the course of which the committee's staff reviewed more than 6 million pages of records about the program.

Based on the findings of that review, Sens. Feinstein and Levin had released a statement eight months ago that said, "The CIA did not first learn about the existence of the Usama Bin Laden courier from CIA detainees subjected to coercive interrogation techniques. Nor did the CIA discover the courier's identity from detainees subjected to coercive techniques. ... Instead, the CIA learned of the existence of the courier, his true name and location through means unrelated to the CIA detention and interrogation program."

In their letter to Sony, the three senators write, "(W)ith the release of Zero Dark Thirty, the filmmakers and your production studio are perpetuating the myth that torture is effective. ... We believe that you have an obligation to state that the role of torture in the hunt for Usama Bin Laden is not based on the facts."

Requests from Sony Pictures for comment on the senators' letter yielded a response referring to a statement that the film's director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal had released last week:

"This was a 10-year intelligence operation brought to the screen in a two-and-a-half-hour film. We depicted a variety of controversial practices and intelligence methods that were used in the name of finding bin Laden. The film shows that no single method was necessarily responsible for solving the manhunt, nor can any single scene taken in isolation fairly capture the totality of efforts the film dramatizes. One thing is clear: the single greatest factor in finding the world's most dangerous man was the hard work and dedication of the intelligence professionals who spent years working on this global effort. We encourage people to see the film before characterizing it."

'Zero Dark Thirty' puts U.S. interrogation back in the spotlight

"Zero Dark Thirty" does indeed show many scenes of the various forms of sleuthing at the CIA that were necessary to track down al Qaeda's leader.

But the statement from the filmmakers does not address the fact that eight months ago, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee had publicly said that based on an exhaustive investigation, there was no evidence that coercive interrogations helped lead to bin Laden's courier -- which is clearly what the film suggests, no matter what retrospective gloss the filmmakers now wish to apply to the issue.

Nor does the statement indicate if Sony plans to put a disclaimer at the beginning of "Zero Dark Thirty" explaining that the role of coercive interrogations in tracking down bin Laden that is shown in the film is not supported by the facts.

As I outlined in a piece on CNN.com 10 days ago assessing the role that coercive interrogations might have played in the hunt for bin Laden, about half an hour of the start of "Zero Dark Thirty" consists of scenes of a bloodied al Qaeda detainee strung to the ceiling with ropes who is beaten; forced to wear a dog collar while crawling around attached to a leash; stripped naked in the presence of a female CIA officer; blasted with heavy metal music so he is deprived of sleep; forced to endure multiple crude waterboardings; and locked into a coffin-like wooden crate.

These are the scenes that will linger with filmgoers, far more than the scene in the movie where two CIA analysts discuss what will prove to be a key lead to bin Laden that surfaces in an old file. Brutal interrogations, of course, make for a better movie than a discussion at the office.

It is only after systematic abuse by his CIA interrogators in "Zero Dark Thirty" that the al Qaeda detainee is tricked into believing that he has already given up key information, and he starts cooperating and tells them about a man known as Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, who ultimately proves to be bin Laden's courier.

Acting CIA director Michael Morell, in a letter to CIA employees on Friday, took strong exception to this portrayal of how bin Laden was found:

"The film creates the strong impression that the enhanced interrogation techniques that were part of our former detention and interrogation program were the key to finding Bin Ladin. That impression is false. As we have said before, the truth is that multiple streams of intelligence led CIA analysts to conclude that Bin Ladin was hiding in Abbottabad. Some came from detainees subjected to enhanced techniques, but there were many other sources as well. "

"Zero Dark Thirty" opened Wednesday in New York and Los Angeles and will open nationwide in the second week in January.

Let's hope that the attention that "Zero Dark Thirty" has directed to the issue of what kind of intelligence was derived from the CIA's coercive interrogations will help to put pressure on the White House and the CIA to release to the public as much as possible of the presently classified 6,000-page report by the Senate Intelligence Committee that examines this issue.

_____________

Full disclosure: Along with other national security experts, as an unpaid adviser I screened an early cut of "Zero Dark Thirty." We advised that al Qaeda detainees held at secret CIA prison sites overseas were certainly abused, but they were not beaten to a pulp, as was presented in this early cut. Screenwriter Mark Boal told CNN as a result of this critique, some of the bloodier scenes were "toned down" in the final cut. I also saw this final cut of the film. Finally, HBO is making a theatrical release documentary which will be out in 2013 based on my book about the hunt for bin Laden entitled "Manhunt."

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Japan Emperor Akihito turns 79, says back to health

TOKYO: Japanese Emperor Akihito turned 79 years old on Sunday and reassured thousands of well-wishers that he has regained his health since his heart bypass surgery in February.

The softly-spoken monarch gave his birthday address to the public from a glass-covered balcony at the Imperial Palace overlooking the East Garden, filled with visitors braving the bitter cold and waving small Japanese flags.

"In February, I had a heart surgery and worried many people. Please remain assured that I am now living normally like before," he said in a brief speech.

Surgeons carried out the operation on February 18 -- the emperor's first since he was treated in 2003 for prostate cancer -- after tests showed a narrowing of two of his coronary arteries.

The four-hour operation went without a hitch.

During his birthday address, Akihito also said his thoughts were with those who have be unable to return to their homes since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit northern Japan in March 2011.

"There is only a little time left this year, which once again was a difficult year," he said.

"I plan to spend my time praying for the happiness of all of the Japanese public, particularly those who were affected by the disaster," Akihito said.

The disaster crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which went through meltdowns and explosions, forcing tens of thousands of residents around the facility to abandon their homes, farmland, fishing boats and livestock.

Before his birthday, Akihito told a ceremonial press conference that his health has recovered to the point where he can play tennis.

He added that he wanted to continue to carry out his public duties at the same level, despite calls from his family and court officials to reduce his workload.

Since his heart surgery, Akihito and his wife Michiko have travelled around Japan and visited Britain in May to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee, the royal couple's first overseas trip since 2009, when they visited Canada and Hawaii.

- AFP/ck

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Little common ground in debate on guns

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The NRA wants to staff every school in America with "qualified armed security"


• Obama, Democrats and others see tougher gun control as the way to limit future massacres


• While both sides want to keep children safe, it seems they are living in two different worlds

Washington (CNN) -- For National Rifle Association Vice President Wayne LaPierre and many other pro-gun Americans, the task is clear: The best way to protect children from becoming victims of a slaughter like the one seen last week in Newtown, Connecticut, is to make sure every school in America has "qualified armed security."

For President Barack Obama, many Democratic leaders and a slight majority of the American public, the solution starts with tougher legislation on assault weapons, universal background checks and limits on high-capacity magazines, the first steps needed to begin to make it harder to get at the kinds of firearms that kill thousands of Americans each year.

Both sides are so vested in intractable arguments that there is little room for political common ground. While both sides share a desire to keep children safe, it's like they are living in two different worlds.

On one side, the gun rights advocates argue that a well-armed populace can best defend the innocent. They say that if the teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School were armed -- or if there were armed security at the front door -- fewer lives would have been lost.

On the other side, the gun control advocates are fighting to protect lives by limiting access to guns. They say that if the weapons used in the Newtown massacre weren't so readily available -- there are at least 310 million non-military firearms in the U.S. today -- then the 27 people who were murdered might still be alive.

"It's hard for people to come to the table to at least talk about it," said Alan Lizotte, dean and professor at the State University of New York at Albany's School of Criminal Justice.

Why would someone own a military-style rifle?

It took the NRA -- the nation's most politically powerful gun lobby that boasts 4.3 million members -- one week and a bizarre press conference-turned-one-way-announcement to do just that.

Where some may have hoped for concessions on the NRA's staunch pro-gun, guns-don't-kill-people-people-kill-people stance, the NRA stayed the course, and even doubled down. They offered no willingness to consider any of the proposals offered this week to amend gun laws including limiting access to assault weapons, requiring universal background checks, limiting sales at gun shows and increasing the use of trigger locks.

Instead, the group pointed to media sensationalism, violent video games, gun-free zones in schools, the failure to enforce gun laws already on the books, issues with the nation's mental health system and other societal problems as feeding the spate of gun violence.

NRA clear on gun debate stance: arm schools

They then announced a new national program to train and arm thousands of armed security to be stationed at each of the nation's nearly 100,000 public and 33,000 private schools. They point to the fact that Sandy Hook Elementary School -- and most other schools in America -- are considered gun-free zones as a reason why it was easily attacked.

Policies banning guns at schools create a place that "insane killers" consider "the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk," LaPierre, said Friday. LaPierre said U.S. society has left children "utterly defenseless."

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," he said.

The organization also indicated that it would push back against a growing legislative movement to introduce or, in some cases, reintroduce gun control legislation.

"We can't lose precious time debating legislation that won't work," LaPierre said.

The NRA's hard line came in stark contrast to President Obama's own plan after the Newtown shooting.

The list: Despite emotions, little happens legislatively after mass shootings

Obama appealed to the pro-gun lobby who he said "has members who are mothers and fathers" likely impacted by the shooting. But then he also invited them to "do some self-reflection."

Authorities must work to make "access to mental health care at least as easy as access to a gun," and the country needs to tackle a "culture that all too often glorifies guns and violence," he said.

Obama tapped Vice President Joe Biden to lead an administration effort to develop recommendations in January for preventing another tragedy like the Newtown school shooting.

"This is not some Washington commission. This is not something where folks are going to be studying the issue for six months and publishing a report that gets read and then pushed aside," Obama said Wednesday. "This is a team that has a very specific task to pull together real reforms right now."

Across the rest of the nation, attitudes about guns appear to be changing.

A CNN/ORC International poll released Wednesday indicated that a slight majority now favor major restrictions on owning guns or an outright ban on gun ownership by ordinary citizens and more than 6 in 10 favor a ban on semi-automatic assault rifles.

iReport: NRA member cuts up card in protest

Forty-three percent said the shootings in Connecticut make them more likely to support gun control laws, a 15-point increase from January 2011 following the Arizona gun rampage that wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Half of those questioned said the school shootings have not changed their opinions on gun control, down 19 points from January 2011.

But there's an ocean of difference between the two sides, a gulf broadened by heated rhetoric and an almost singular focus on being "right."

NRA comments draw swift opposition in reactions

While gun control advocate New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the NRA's stance "a shameful evasion of the crisis facing our country," gun rights proponent and economist John Lott applauded the group for "coming out strongly questioning these gun free zones."

Connecticut senator-elect Chris Murphy tweeted his disgust after seeing the NRA's statement: "Walking out of another funeral and was handed the NRA transcript. The most revolting, tone deaf statement I've ever seen," he said on Twitter.

Former Republican National Committee Chairman and NRA supporter Michael Steele called the NRA's remarks "very haunting and very disturbing."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, considered by some as a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, also disagreed with the NRA's position. "You don't want to make this an armed camp for kids," he said at an event in Newark Friday morning. "I don't think that's a positive example for children. We should be able to figure out other ways to enhance safety."

The differences both in perspective and approach couldn't be more divergent, folks on both sides of the issue point out.

"I think that people are hard wired differently. If you look at the world as a beautiful place and I'm in the arts, I'm a composer, I write music, I write poetry, if you believe the world's a beautiful place, your viewpoint is different than if you feel 'I have to have my guns to protect myself,' " said Hollis Thoms, 64, from Annapolis, Maryland, as he protested outside of the Willard InterContinental Hotel just after the NRA's press conference.

That's exactly the type of rhetoric that baffles Paul Martin, who commented on CNN.com.

"I am a gun owner. I would be in favor of a ban on assault type weapons, and limiting magazines to a max of 10 rounds. It's the crazies that say 'ban all weapons' that make me nervous about giving any ground at all," Martin wrote.

"Approach it reasonably, with assurances that you won't go bonkers and demand a total ban, and you might make progress. Approach it just from anger and you will be fought all the way."

Opinion: Madness in the air in Washington

CNN's Josh Levs, David Mattingly, Catherine Shoichet, Paul Steinhauser and Holly Yan contributed to this report

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Newtown parents reject NRA plan

NEWTOWN, Conn. When Adam Lanza started his lethal attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School, Andrei Nikitchyuk's eight year-old son and another third grader were on their way to the principal's office. It was their turn to bring the daily attendance sheet to the front office, near where principal Dawn Hochsprung and psychologist Mary Sherlach would become the first casualties inside the school.

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Gun control advocate speaks out on defiant NRA

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Mental illness and the gun control debate

"When they got close to the office, they heard the shots fired, my son saying that the bullets were flying by him," Nikitchyuk recalled in an interview with CBS News. "I don't think he saw the bullets, but probably he saw the hits in the wall next to them."

Within moments, second grade teacher Abbey Clements pulled the boys into her classroom, where she had already hidden 19 children behind a wall, and locked the door.

"She really is a hero, and we are indebted to her," Nikitchyuk said. "She saved those two kids."

Nikitchyuk's son, nicknamed Bear, is his third child to attend Sandy Hook Elementary, following the path of his two older sisters. As the whole suburban town of 28,000 residents continues to struggle with the shock and grief of the shooting spree that claimed the lives 20 first-graders, 6 adults, and the killer's mother, Nikitchyuk has channeled his emotions into action for greater gun control.

"I will do whatever is in my power to change the situation," he said. "What I don't understand is how the gun manufacturing lobby can argue with a tragedy like this. I don't know how they are looking in the faces of their children. I would like them to make personal statements that they will do whatever it takes to make sure that our children are safe. I want to tell Wall Street to not expect the same type profits of arms manufacturers like they had before."

Nikitchyuk, who immigrated from Russia 22 years ago, is a former Soviet military officer who was trained to fire the Russian-made AK-47 machine gun (sold in U.S. under the trade name Saiga). CBS News has reported that Adam Lanza had a Saiga shotgun in the trunk of the car he drove to the school - the only one of four guns he possessed that he did not bring inside.

"Why are we allowing sales of weapons as terrible as this in this country?" Nikitchyuk asked. "Can you tell me what sport could use such a weapon. If you want to use guns for hunting, that's one thing. You don't need an AK 47."

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A "good guy with a gun" in every school?

Lanza committed the 26 murders at the school with a .223 caliber Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle and emptied at least three 30-bullet magazines. He also carried a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol (the same model issued to Secret Service agents), and a Glock 10mm semi-automatic pistol (issued to park rangers to shot wild game), which he used to kill himself once police arrived on the scene.

"This is insanity," said Nikitchyuk. "We have an escalation of weapons in this country. This is a civilian country. Why do we give these kind of military-grade munitions in the hands of people that are as unstable as that person was?"

On Tuesday Nikitchyuk went public by attending a news conference at the Capitol, in Washington, along with many families victimized by other mass shootings, from Columbine High School in 1999 to the Aurora movie massacre this past summer. The event was organized by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Nikitchyuk later attended a White House meeting with Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

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Newtown police chief shares his story

"We know that the President is committed," he said.

Nikitchyuk appealed to pro-gun rights members of Congress to support the President's proposals to ban the sale of assault weapons and gun magazines that hold more than ten bullets, while expanding background checks to all guns buyers, including at gun shows.

"There is nothing wrong about changing your opinion when you have a really strong evidence. What can be stronger than what happened in Sandy Hook?" Nikitchyuk said. "As a country, we cannot move forward unless we change our gun laws."

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Madness in the air in Washington

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre calls on Congress to pass a law putting armed police officers in every school in America.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• David Gergen: After election, there were hopes partisan tension would fade


• He says this week we've seen a complete breakdown on the fiscal cliff


• The NRA doubled down on its anti-gun-control rhetoric despite Newtown, he says


• Gergen: We're seeing the character assassination of a hero, Chuck Hagel

Editor's note: David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has been an adviser to four presidents. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Follow him on Twitter.

(CNN) -- What in the world is gripping Washington? Everywhere one turns -- from finances to guns to nominations -- there is madness in the air.

With time rapidly running out, efforts have collapsed to reach a major agreement on federal spending and taxes before year's end, and both Congress and President are leaving town for the holidays. At best, they will return next week and construct a small bridge over the "fiscal cliff"; at worst, they won't. But who knows?

David Gergen

And that's a big part of the problem -- no one can be confident that our national leaders are still capable of governing responsibly. And in the process, they are putting both our economy and our international reputation at risk.

Fresh poison

President Barack Obama had rightly hoped that the elections would clear the air; they haven't. If anything, the recent squabbling over the federal budget has injected fresh poison into relationships and dimmed prospects for other bipartisan agreements in the next few years, starting with hopes for a "grand bargain"in 2013.

John Boehner and Eric Cantor, the House GOP leaders

The President insists he remains an optimist, but if he and Republicans can't agree on how to bring the nation's finances under control -- something fundamental to the welfare of the country -- why should we have faith they will succeed on other important issues like energy, education, immigration and gun safety?

As the blame game heats up, Republicans are sure to pay the biggest price with the public. It was bad enough that they lost the message fight, letting themselves be painted as protectors of the wealthy. But it was inexcusable when they revolted against House Speaker John Boehner in his search for a way forward: that only reinforced a narrative that the Grand Old Party has fallen hostage to its right wing -- a narrative that already exacted a huge price in the fall elections.

Most voters -- I am among them -- believe the country needs a center-right party but will not support an extremist party.

President Obama is certainly not blameless in these financial talks. Early on, he overplayed his hand, alienating rank-and-file Republicans. Like Boehner, he has been more accommodating recently, offering concessions on taxes and entitlement spending that narrowed the negotiating gap between the parties, even as his leftward allies fretted.

Still, Boehner has a point in arguing that what Obama now has on the table comes nowhere close to what the he was advocating in the election season: a ratio of 2.5 dollars in spending cuts to 1.0 dollars in tax increases.

The buck stops on the President's desk, so that ordinarily one would expect him to take the lead in these final days before January 1. For reasons that are still unclear, he instead chose in his press statement late Friday to toss responsibility for negotiations next week into the laps of Congressional leaders.

Perhaps he has reached a quiet understanding with Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the two of them can work out a stripped-down agreement. Let's hope so. But as we enter the holidays, it appears to be a mess. And time is quickly running out.

The NRA in denial

As if Friday weren't gloomy enough, the National Rifle Association weighed in with its long-awaited response to the horrors of Newtown, Connecticut. There had been hints that the NRA would offer a more conciliatory stance. Just the opposite: they doubled down.

Incredibly, Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, called for putting armed police officers in every school. Isn't that what parents of every six-year old have been longing for: to have their child studying and playing under the watchful eye of an armed guard? Has LaPierre visited an elementary school classroom in recent years? If so, he would know his idea would be repulsive in most schools.

Just as strikingly, the NRA response refused to acknowledge and address the beliefs of a majority of Americans in recent polls that the U.S. needs tougher laws in favor of gun safety. Americans aren't saying no one should have guns or that the 2nd Amendment should be gutted but they are demanding a national conversation to see what can be sensibly done. It is hard to have a conversation when one side won't talk.

Character assassination

Meanwhile, in a less noticed but important saga in Washington, we are once again watching the character assassination of a public servant of honor and distinction.

Chuck Hagel served America with valor as a sergeant in the Vietnam war, earning two Purple Hearts. He was a popular Republican senator from Nebraska who paid close attention to international affairs and is now co-chair of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, serving with another former Senator, David Boren.

Ever since Hagel's name arose as a top candidate to become the next Secretary of Defense, he has been pilloried for statements and stands he has taken in the past. Is it legitimate to question his positions on Israel, Iran, and on gays? Absolutely. But what is grossly unfair is to misstate them, saying that he is against sanctions on Iran when in fact he has argued in favor of international sanctions, not unilateral sanctions (which don't work). As someone who strongly favors Israel, I am also deeply troubled by the way he has been misrepresented as virtually anti-Semitic.

Nor is this a fair fight. Hagel is in no-man's land because his name is prominently mentioned but he hasn't been formally nominated, so the White House isn't rushing to the barricades to support him.

The signals from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue were that the Secretary of Defense nominee would be announced in a package with the Secretary of State. The President has now gone ahead with John Kerry but the absence of a Defense nominee has now left Hagel dangling in the breeze, a piñata.

The White House should now move early next week -- by announcement or by leak -- to settle this by making a decision. Whether or not the President nominates Hagel, he should put a stop to the defamation by recognizing Hagel as a patriot with an independent mind and a long record of honor. If selected as Secretary, Hagel would be a very fine member of the national security team.

One had hoped that the shootings at Sandy Hook would draw us together. Sadly, they haven't. Now, perhaps the blessings of the holidays and a brief moment to take a breath will lift our sights. Surely, this madness should not continue into the New Year.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Gergen.

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US gun lobby urges armed police in every school

WASHINGTON: The US' most powerful pro-gun lobbying group is suggesting that armed police be deployed to every school in the country following a mass shooting that left 20 young children dead.

The National Rifle Association, which supports a broad interpretation of US citizens' constitutional right to bear arms, had been under pressure to respond in the wake of last week's massacre in a Connecticut elementary school.

Even as the NRA leaders made their combative and determined appearance, another four people died in Pennsylvania in America's latest shooting spree, including the alleged shooter.

And a string of celebrities including Jeremy Renner, Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyonce launched a video to back a campaign to clamp down on gun sales following the Newtown school massacre.

But the pro-gun lobbyists ceded no ground to those calling for tougher gun laws.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," declared NRA vice-president Wayne LaPierre Friday, in his first public comments since the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

"I call on Congress today to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation," he said, in a lengthy statement. He took no questions from reporters.

LaPierre said the NRA was ready to help train security teams for schools and work with teachers and parents to improve security measures, and accused the media and the political class of demonising gun owners.

Last Friday, a troubled 20-year-old man burst into the Sandy Hook school and gunned down 20 six- and seven-year-old children and six staff members trying to protect them, before taking his own life. He also fatally shot his mother.

As LaPierre and his allies were on stage in Washington on Feiday, police in Pennsylvania shot dead a man who had killed three people and wounded "several" others, state troopers.

These deaths were the latest in a series of mass shootings in the United States this year, and prompted President Barack Obama to throw his weight behind plans to revive a ban on assault weapons.

America has suffered an epidemic of gun violence over the last three decades including 62 mass shooting incidents since 1982. The vast majority of weapons used have been semi-automatic weapons obtained legally by the killers.

There were an estimated 310 million non-military firearms in the United States in 2009, roughly one per citizen, and people in America are 20 times more likely to be killed by a gun than someone in another developed country.

But LaPierre insisted gun ownership is not the problem.

"You know, five years ago after the Virginia Tech tragedy when I said we should put armed security in every school, the media called me crazy," he said, referring to a 2007 campus shooting that left 32 people dead.

"But what if, what if when Adam Lanza started shooting his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday, he'd been confronted by qualified armed security?" he demanded.

"Will you at least admit it's possible... that 26 innocent lives might have been spared that day? Is it so abhorrent to you that you'd rather continue to risk the alternative?"

The statement immediately drew criticism from supporters of tougher gun control, who are pushing to ban semi-automatic assault weapons like the .223 Bushmaster rifle that Lanza used in Friday's shooting.

"The NRA leadership's drive to fill our schools with more deadly guns and ammo is wildly out of touch with responsible gun owners and the American public," New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg said.

The New York Times, in an editorial Saturday, did not mince words, calling LaPierre's remarks a "mendacious, delusional, almost deranged rant".

One of the protesters, who attempted to drown out LaPierre's statement, bore a banner reading "NRA kills our kids" the other "NRA has blood on its hands". They were led away by security.

Hollywood stars including Julianne Moore, Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm meanwhile recorded a video backing a campaign calling notably for a ban on assault weapons, as well as criminal background checks for every gun sold.

"Columbine. Virginia Tech. Tucson. Aurora. Fort Hood. Oak Creek. Newtown. Newtown. Newtown," they intoned in the black-and-white video, taking turns to list the names of America's worst gun massacres of recent years.

"How many more? How many more colleges? How many more classes? How many more movie theatres? How many more houses of faith? How many more shopping malls?" they added in the video on the "Demand a Plan" campaign website.

- AFP/al

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