Islands w/ apple, religions in the stream of time.
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Kant said that no one could or would ever empirically establish whether or not god exists, so why bother? People scurrying about the “Holy” Land gathering up broken pots in ancient garbage heaps, and digging out the battered remnants of distant lives, will not thereby prove or disprove the presence of any holy spirit at any site at any time. The fact that some bricks are scorched in Jericho and that the prostitute-traitor’s (read the book) house “may be that one” are conclusive of destruction, but mute on the subject of an invisible god’s genuine and verifiable machination causing it.
But people need to believe: in anything, in something, the more hopeful, the better. The less plausible, still acceptable (see: Mormons, Scientologists, the knuckleheads in tenny-runners who went off to see the comet, Jim Jones, et al), provided the final reward remains colossal (so you want to be a millionaire?). Hope, aka faith, springs eternal for all, and, as Martha says, “That’s a good thing.” However, wishing on a star” doesn’t pay the bills, so it helps if the “religion” is also a “cash cow.”
“Faith is belief in things unseen,” said “St. Paul” a.k.a. Saul of Tarsus, inventor of the Paulist Christian doctrine, which was adopted by the Roman Emperor Constantine as a weapon against his political enemies, cobbling together an ad hoc “holy” text to be used as a road map for political activities. It is in fact, anything anyone wants it to be. Believe it, or not. JL/PDX:10/27/06.
“It does not do to dwell on dreams, Harry, and fail to live. It will not do.” – Prof. Dumbledore (Richard Harris), Harry Potter: The Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Ancient Egyptian proverb:
“A trifle, a little, the likeness of a dream, and death comes as the end…”
Tags: archaeology, aztecs, bible, constantine, death, dreams, dumbledore, egypt, egyptian, god, gods, harry potter, holy land, immanuel kant, incas, islands, jericho, kant, life, provwerbs, psalms, richard harris, romans, rome, time
John Legry's Blog 
December 19, 2009 at 10:17 pm |
Job Chapter 13 cited as related article generated by some automatic list does not relate to this post, unless it is used as an example of extreme drivel. Poor old Job. See rather: ODD SHOTS and IDLE PENSEES #3
In the Story of Job – essentially the end of the Old Testament – God lets the Devil torment Job, essentially for reasons of vanity: “I bet ya ten bucks I can shake this guy,” Satan says. “You’re on!” God replies.
Job, however, refuses to forsake his faith in the face of overwhelming torture, including the loss of his entire family. Since God created man in his own image, in allowing the Devil to do violence to Job, without giving Job relief or reason, God is complicit in evil.
God finally declares that Job is right and all others wrong. Job has shown God his true self (which is man’s function): man is in God’s image and God is both good and evil. As man sees himself in God, God sees himself in man. This is the end of God’s growth. Man’s too; he is able to be a self-directing free agent. God has to go peddle his papers elsewhere.
Worried learned men wanted to leave Job out of the Bible; their “Jobs” were on the line. “Down with equality!” They cried. “The Invisible Cloud Being (ICB) rules; we’ll tell you what he wants you to do!” But the story got in anyway.
Viewed in Job, God and man cancel each other out and merge as one. One can see why the learned men wanted Job out of town as fast as humanly possible. Ever since, this whole business has been called a “Mystery of the Bible.” And no wonder.
LAST WORDS:
Whenever we come to the Book of Revelations we must always ask the same question, “Who wrote this crap?”
HOLY GRAIL, BABOON HEART