If you read a my entry last week you know that I plan on reading through the entire Bible, and then sharing my thoughts here. This has turned out to be a little more ambitious than I expected, but never fear I'm still doing it, with just a few changes. I wanted to make this a Sunday feature, as in one post per week on my thoughts for each book. One thing I didn't realize his how dense and packed to the brim each book is. I'm going to have to split up each book into multiple entries. Which means I can post each entry sporadically throughout the week, but I'd still like the last entry to land on Sundays if at all possible. Of course I'm already behind, it being Sunday after all, and I only have one part completed as of right now, real life intervened. I'm also considering a "What I Learned" for each book, just a bit to say a few last words on each book as I go along. I'm inspired to do this due to my upset feelings towards Genesis as it stands as an introduction to what's supposed to be our spiritual and moral guide.
A few other things I'd like to note. I'm approaching this in what could be seen as a sacrilegious and snarky way. I want to make it clear that I have nothing but respect for the devout Christians out there, as well as your holy book. But I also believe that a lot of stuff found in the good book was more a product of the times than something to be taken word for word today. If you take the Bible 100% literally, and have no sense of humor about your beliefs, then you may want to turn back now. If you're like me, a questioning type who believes in God but feels that the church is only man made, that the Bible is God inspired but Not God written, and you can laugh at the little things in the good book that contradict each other, then read on fellow traveler. I'm approaching this project as I would when reading any book, I'm casting aside my rose tented glasses towards the subject matter and looking at what's in these pages head on with no preconceptions of it being true. In other words, do I care if Abraham was a real person who actually did all this stuff? No. Do I care if there's a moral or spiritual message to be taken out of the story? Yes. Do I think Abraham was a psychotic con man? Most definitely yes.
If this sounds fun to you, come along for the ride. If you disagree with my approach and my conclusions then you're welcome too, but do so in as polite a manner as possible. Inarticulate and pointless comments will be deleted by me with extreme prejudice. Feel free to disagree, but if you call me a Godless atheist with no morals then I'm muting you and I don't care what you have to say. Alright, let's get this party started with some Genesis.
you're a godless atheist with no morals....just thought i'd let you know. But that's ok, cause i happen to like godless atheists with no morals. Almost as much as i like celtic throwbacks. anyways, enjoyin your take on the bible...i should probably read it too, just so im not so ignorant about the subject, like all the other sheeple. so i guess that would make me a sheep too. oh well, shave my skinny ass wear my hair to keep ya warm, what i say.
ReplyDeleteyessir, everyone oughta read this crazy little book sometime, i'm having so much fun with it so far
ReplyDeleteInteresting..hmmmm. Let me tell you about the book that you're currently reading and the "real story" behind it.
ReplyDeleteIn the days of caveman, there were no rules and no community. It was a solitary life until they figured out that strength in numbers allowed them to hunt more efficiently and even parcel out responsiblities like hide cleaning, tool making, etc.
The problem was that with no rules, one caveman would violate another with no law or morals to inhibit him. He could just go next door, boink the cavewoman over the head and drag her back to his cave to do the naughty.
As intelligence advanced, the elders of the tribe decided they had to find a way to control the folks. They decided on lightning. They told everyone that if they broke the rules, they would be struck with the fire in the sky. Ohhhh...it scared the hell out of everyone and that fear lasted and kept folks in line until intelligence evolved more and some smart caveman or woman put rain and thunder together with lightning and deduced that it was just weather and folks got back to raping and pillaging.
Hmmm...more control needed. Okay, this time it's the fire they finally came up with that was sold as a terrible entity that would gobble you up if you didn't keep you crap together and play nice. Cool, everyone played nice until intelligence evolved more and they figured out that fire could be used to cook meat and it was a good thing so the folks were back to being nasty. We're talking hundreds of thousands of years here that this is happening.
The smart folks in these communities went through lots of stuff to keep folks in line. They used gold idols, greek gods, etc. but intelligence kept evolving to the point that folks couldn't be fooled with that. What to do?...What to do. We haven't invented Police yet. I've got it!
The elders noticed that when someone died. They didn't come back to life. As a matter of fact, after a few days, they began to stink a bit. That's it. If they don't come back, they can't prove or disprove what happens to you when you die. Let's tell everyone that if they don't play nice, they will not enjoy the wonderful harps, wings and clouds stuff awaiting them when their body starts to stink. As a matter of fact, folks didn't give a damn about harps and wings so they kept raping and robbing. It was only when the threat of hell, pitchforks and fire was used that humans behaved out of fear of the unknown.
Then the guys in robes and sandals saw that intelligence was beginning to evolve again and were worried that chaos would reign again unless they found a cover story for this heaven and hell stuff.
Hey, somebody write a book that'll keep the unwashed masses in line...You Matthew, Luke, Mark and you other nimrods, put some crap on papyrus that'll keep the fear alive and well through the ages.
What'ya want to call it? What about the BIBLE?
Sounds good to me..anyone got any ink?
Kent Blackwelder
Right, fun (albeit long) story, though I'm not quite sure what your point is other than you don't much like the bible. Which is fine, I go back and forth myself on the moral point of view, but the point of these entries is to bask in the complete batshit insanity of what's in this "holy" book, I don't give a shit if it actually happened I'm just intrigued by the sheer absurdity of it.
ReplyDeleteThe other point I can gleam is that you certainly don't think human beings are inherently good (whatever that word actually means), and you cite that the increase in intelligence implies the increase in raping and pillaging. I don't see this as being true one bit, and there's scientific evidence (but no theories as of yet, just evidence at this point) that human beings evolved BECAUSE they're naturally inclined to help one another and act as a functioning society. Much raping and pillaging happened between different tribes, which is a completely different story, but has since evolved as well.
I'm a scientist by trade so I tend to side with where the evidence falls (which I question that as well, it's part of the process after all). Which leads me to another point, do you really think that an increase in intelligence automatically leads to casting off all things religion? Intelligence gives us the power to question what we're told, but I can't count how many people in my department that are devout Hindus (as an example) which is a religion far older than Judaism (not to mention Christianity) and doesn't rely on scare tactics to keep it's membership rates high. Something to think about, especially considering these are smart people with phds in a scientific field.