Religion, Literature, and Mythology ...
and their misuse in the furtherance of
individual ideologies
by
ldylngstkn
Once upon a time, so sayith the
Brothers Grimm, there was a group of men determined to create a record of
their perceptions of the beginning of time. Everyone, through each age, no
matter what their background, has asked the same question "Where do we come
from?". Being men of thought and logic, they set about to document the
stories
(stories - as in word of mouth tales passed down through the ages, and
certainly not the original story told. i.e.: Remember the GOSSIP GAME? Where
a statement was whispered in the ear of the first person, and whispered down
the line to the next person and the next. By the time it reached the last
person in the line, the story had changed drastically and even fundamentally
from the original form. Such is how it is to be human and blessedly
imperfect.)
Thus began the most beautiful and lasting story anthology initially called
the TORAH by those who first took on the task of taking ink and applying it
the skin that served as the parchment and scrolls of the Torah. The stories
contained everything the children known as man have come to love over the
ages. Stories of magic, miracles, love, war and courage.
It was, however, their perception of the stories that had been passed down
to them. Obviously, they were not witness to the events and the unfolding of
the tales. There was no way, they could be accurate. Impossible. The truth
of that has been demonstrated each and every time a new translation of the
Hebrew or Aramaic is offered. Words are subtly altered to change the meaning
of a passage. An ingenious authors tool. One we all use.
It became the brilliant tool to teach. Stories have always been an
educational tool for parents. How many of us thrilled our children with the
"Little Engine the Could"? To our kids it was an entertaining story. To us,
we knew it was a subtle way to teach them that if they don't try, they will
not accomplish the wonderful and difficult tasks that we all must work our
way through in life.
So, over the ages, as the Torah took form and later became The Bible to
other faiths, the rumor was spread by those who wished to use the story to
insure the will of those in power was ingrained in their subjects. What
rumor? The rumor that the Bible was "Word of God". Hello? When did an
anthology of wonderful literary stories, many clearly mythology, become the
"Word of God"? It became such, when the Priests realized they had a
brilliant tool to impose their will and power over the masses. genius By
making it a part of religion, no one would be so irreverent or blasphemous
as to question the "Word of God"? Or would they?
Judaism does teach the early story of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of
Abraham the father of modern Judeo Christian, and Islamic religions, and the
fight with the angel of God. It wasn't just a physical fight, as i heard
once in Good News Club as a child. (Interfaith parents.) The fight was
allegorical. It meant that Jacob was questioning God.
The faithful missionary teaching the Good News Club, had missed the fact
that after the "fight", Jacob's name was changed to Beth - El. "He who
questions God". i wondered why the Christian half of my journey of discovery
had missed this simple fact. Years later, i realized it was because they did
not WANT me to know this simple fact. By omitting this simple fact, the
meaning of the story changed.
As an adult, i decided to become a Bat Mitzvah. i am certain that the
discussions in an adult class differ greatly from those that are provided to
children. A Bat/Bar Mitzvah is basically when someone is "called to the
Torah", to read or chant. (In my case chant.) my portion was Noah.
i tore Noah apart in the English looking for hidden meanings and unusual
translations. Finally, i spoke to a friend, an Israeli who spoke both the
modern Hebrew and could read and understand the Torah Hebrew as if it was
old poetry. He asked me if i knew that in the original versions of the story
and ancillary stories, it is mentioned, without judgment, that Noah was
interacting with his son's and daughters (or daughters in law) sexually. my
eyebrows flew up. "Whoa!" i said to him. "Do you realize what you just
said?" "Yes," he chuckled, looking directly into my eyes "God made adults
sexual beings. All of us. He doesn't discriminate or worry about what sex is
being loved, or by who. (Between adults, in case a reader decides to
reinterpret this paragraph and insist i was saying between everyone. i am
not.) The Christians decided later in history to make homosexuality a "sin"
by including it in the Bible." THEY decided, not God.
The commandment that refers to adultery was written at a time when families
were polyamorous and extended. Many times that was the only viable way to
insure a new generation. Adultery, as it is contained in the Commandments
and as it was written, referred to going outside your "family" or "tribe".
That was considered an affront, and often would lead to war.
my God Father was high up in the Catholic Church, so my family in their
effort to insure a complete religious education, included Catholicism and
even sent me to Catholic School for a short time. i adore the beauty and
ritual of the Catholic Mass. You feel as if you are centered in the midst of
a wonderful fairy tale with all the pomp and splendor. Being the Beth - El
of our age, i was always asking questions. The questions that were most
notably ignored by the church -- "Why are all the gospels so different? If
they WERE there, why are there so many contradictions?"
That i was able to figure out for myself. (Although i must admit to enjoying
exasperating those who i chose to torment with my questions.) Stories are
perceptions. i determined that the authors of the gospels were telling
stories of the Christ they knew or had heard about. Not necessarily
witnessed 100% of the time and for the entire scope of their work. Again,
word of mouth transposed into a written work.
When i heard that there was another gospel that the church knew about, i
asked. Persistently. How could a gospel written around the time of Christ by
someone who, according to the stories saw and witnessed, be with held by the
Church and called "blasphemy"?
Simple. If you don't want conflicting ideas to be presented that might
undermine the power of the church, or the ideas they wished to insure would
be taken as truth or law, you would certainly limit or prevent access.
There was one more. For someone who thrills at the stories of miracles, i
adored the stories of Fatima and Bernadette of Lourdes, who according to
legend had seen Mary and performed miracles. Later in life according to the
stories, there were revelations that were giving to Bernadette and the last
surviving child from Fatima with instructions to reveal them at the times
ordered by Mary. All but one has been revealed, the last, was to be revealed
to the world years ago. Instead the church has refused to release the
contents of the letter. Why?
Faith, as we have come to understand the concept, is based on perceptions of
what we believe to be true. More importantly, how it centers on your life.
Much of faith, is based on the mythology of the mutated works of the Bible.
Faith, to me, is not believing without question the ideas that many believe
to be truth. It is believing what your heart and your soul believe. That is
your personal connection to your higher power. The connection that together
you work to form a connection that you can believe.
Do i believe in God? i do indeed. i also believe he (or she) has bestowed
upon us the ability to think and act for ourselves. (Without "Divine
Intervention") For me to renounce other faiths, and say "You are wrong. My
way is the only way." is both arrogant and shortsighted. God gave us life
and incredible gifts that, unfortunately, many (men, not God) have decided
that the gift is to be demeaned, destroyed and not allowed.
What gifts do i see as inalienable gifts from God? The gift of life. The
gift of each other. The gift of our bodies and sexuality. The world we live
in and all the plants and animals that were left for our sight, senses and
for consumption in some cases.
What do i see as a misuse of our gifts? War, abuse of our fellow man ,
children, animals, our environment, hate, prejudice, discrimination and
intolerance. Man's inhumanity to man is the worst example of treading upon
the blessings we were given.
i offer no concrete solutions to the differences and problems we all share.
That is for each of us to decide. What i do suggest, is to treat all our
fellow man with love, respect, and understanding. If God is a part of your
solution, wonderful. If you believe, like me, that you are the solution as
well as the problem then, be good to each other. That is all it takes.
The rest is simply commentary. And that best describes religion, literature
and mythology, does it not?
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