ARAMAIC WATCH (cross reference with "journalistic objectivity watch"): The A.P. article "Gov't Seeking to Preserve Dying Languages" report that

WASHINGTON (AP) - Thousands of languages are threatened with extinction, and the U.S. government is trying to help save some of them, from the one used by Cherokee Indians to a language spoken by a small group of people in Tibet but never written down.

The project awards $4.4 million to 26 institutions and 13 individual scholars to investigate the status of more than 70 languages among the 6,000 to 7,000 in the world.

This is a good thing, of course. And, as pointed out by reader Ian M. Slater, Aramaic is one of the threatened languages:

For more than a decade, the endowment has helped pay for the writing of a dictionary of ancient Aramaic. Many Christians believe that Jesus spoke that language, which is related to Hebrew. Modern versions of the language are spoken in a few Middle East villages and used in the services of some Christian denominations.

I assume that this dictionary is the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon project, although I can't find anything on their website to confirm it. (Perhaps Ed Cook can tell me if I'm right.) But the second sentence, which I have put in bold font, requires a comment. This is an example of a journalist showing his critical caution and objectivity: he takes a thunderously obvious fact that no one disputes and presents it as though it might be a dubious religious belief: many Christians believe that Jesus spoke Aramaic. (Cf. Jews believe that a Jewish temple once stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.) Meanwhile, journalists present things that really are religious beliefs as objective scholarship: "Many biblical scholars believe that the Jezreel Valley will be the site of the penultimate battle between the forces of God and Satan, with the final conflict and return of the Messiah taking place in Jerusalem." I have nothing against religious beliefs or scholarship, but let't try not to confuse them.

Sigh.

UPDATE (19 May): Several days ago Ed Cook e-mailed the following:

Yes, the NEH has supported the CAL project (along with other donors). (BTW, I haven't had any official connection with CAL for several years, so my knowledge of the recent details is sketchy.) But it sounds like CAL is what the article is talking about.