Hesiodic Works and Days # Hesiod’s Theogony describes his version of creation accepting the gods as delivering justice. In Works and Days, a more practical almanac on living an ordinary life, he appears to advocate for leaders to make laws and determine the quality of society. Hesiod may be the world’s first existential philosopher as he realised that humans are responsible for determining justice. The ruling factions propagated the myth that their laws were laid down by the gods, and the ordinary citizens merely had to submit.
The Sumerian creation of man # The Akkadian creation myths of man reference ‘Enki and Ninma ‘, of a god who has been slain and whose blood had to be mixed with clay. In ‘Enki and Ninma ’ man is created in the womb of Mother Earth. The anthropology of the Sumerians, van Dijk writes that the relation between god and man is twofold. On the one side man is a slave of the god; on the other side there is a family’
Biblical Women # Eve was the first woman, created by God to be a companion and helper for Adam, the first man. Everything was perfect in the Garden of Eden, but when Eve believed the lies of Satan, she influenced Adam to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, breaking God’s command. Eve’s lesson was costly. God can be trusted but Satan cannot. Whenever we choose our own selfish desires over those of God, bad consequences will follow.
The Crusades # Some histories describe the Crusades as a sightseeing lark on the way to Jerusalem! The Holy Land Crusades began in 1095 AD when European Christians sought to regain land around Jerusalem. The bloody battles endured until the fall of Acre in 1291. This is one of the most fascinating periods in history. From Richard the Lionheart to the mighty Saladin, from the emperors of Byzantium to the Knights Templar, A magnificent epic of Holy War between the Christian and Islamic worlds unfolds.
Mahatma Ghandi 1869 - 1947 # Born to a Hindu caste family in India, decaying for centuries, constantly making itself archaic, had closed up; and the rules of Gandhi’s Gujarati merchant caste—at one time great travelers—now forbade travel to foreign countries. Foreign countries were polluting to pious Hindus; and no one of the caste had been to England before. Ghandi left in 1888 to study law. To please his mother Gandhi had taken vows not to touch wine, meat, or women while abroad.
Frank Epp (1929-1986) # What happened to Frank Epp is happening all over the evangelical and ecclesiastical world, including Jewish, Catholics, evangelicals and even Muslims; vicious, ferocious, mean – spirited polarising attacks on enlightened leaders by ultra - extremists. I prefer the ultra – moderates. The malice that infects so much of religious animosity is one the nastiest elements of the sanctimonious piety of all religions throughout history. Petty minds like to bring down tall poppies.
Sex and Religion # Religion and Sex Sumerian # Gilgamesh, corrupted by his power, became an abusive oppressive tyrant. He insists on the droit du seigneur: he, not the groom, spends the wedding night with the bride. The gods, listening to the complaints of his people send a priestess, the Goddess of Love, Shamhat, a sacred prostitute, to seduce Enkidu, the wild brutalised man, and they make love continuously for six days and seven nights.
The Rise of Muslims # Muhammad ibn Abdullah (born c. 570, Mecca, Arabia died, 632, Medina) founder of Islam and the proclaimer of the Qurʾān. Fields of Blood by Karen Armstrong. The founding of Islam by Muhammad came at a time when the newfound wealth of Arabs in Mecca had led them to ignore the plight of the poor. Muhammad’s message was a reminder to his fellow merchants to take responsibility for one another and feed the destitute, even when they were hungry themselves.
Superstitions # People believe what they want to. W.H. Auden has a beautiful line in The Shield of Achilles: “They (soldiers) marched away enduring a belief Whose logic brought them, somewhere else, to grief.” Rational people can rationalize or justify almost anything. We are good at self-deception. All ideologies can be self-serving and delusional. That’s why philosophy, history and great literature is such a good guide to reality. All early civilisations relied on gods.
Epidemics # Influenza Plagues and Pestilence have been with us since early times, originally seen by superstitious people as the result of offending the gods. Influence - power from heaven – Influenza was considered punishment for disobeying authority. Biblical # One of the earliest records of plagues was one Moses unleashed on Egypt when Pharaoh would not free the enslaved Hebrews. It was divine punishment for injustice, and an assertion of religious power in the battle between Egypt’s gods and the god of the Hebrews.
Inquisitions # The Inquisition is an historical persecution that originated in Southern France around the turn of the 13th Century and lasted about 500 years after spreading throughout Europe including England. Napoleon is credited for putting an end to its bloody ethnic cleansing. It is without a doubt the darkest and bloodiest period of Christian history, making the barbaric antics of Daesh or ISIS look like a Sunday school picnic.
Violence and Religion # Religions tend to arouse deep passions, strong convictions and assumptions of righteousness that justify entitlements of power to impose their views on others. Most conquer territory by a combination of coercion and conversion forcing the indigenous inhabitants, as part of their hegemony, to adhere to their teachings and practices - Catholics in South America, Protestants in North America and Africa, Muslims in North Africa and in the Balkans, later India and Afghanistan and the Hindus vied the Buddhists for hegemony in the Orient.
Apostasy # The formal disaffiliation from, abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion Secular apostasy: - When founding principles give way to pragmatic compromises in everyday life. Apostasy – espousing high ideals – perverted by base morality. The problem with hypocrisy is that it shatters truth. If we believe in a principle, but don’t apply it ourselves, that principle is essentially meaningless.
Imagination, fantasy, illusions, chimera # Mythomane - a person with a strong or irresistible propensity for fantasizing, lying, or exaggerating. Literature is based on make believe. As Margaret Atwood wrote, both the reader and writer know what is fiction, but agree to believe it. Ashleigh Brilliant coined this saying: Now that I have abandoned my search for truth, I’m looking around for a good fantasy. For survival, we need some self-deception and useful delusions.
Evangelicals # Religious sectarianism has been the cause of more murders and blood shed in the world than any other cause. Christians against perceived heretics, or any other faiths; Catholics versus Protestants and vice versa, Hindus versus Buddhists, Muslims, Sihks .. Muslims versus Christians and other infidels, Buddhists versus Hindus, Tamils or Muslims - and everyone against Jews. All sanctioned by religion. Thomas Paine defined theology as the study of human opinion and fancies concerning God.
Judas Iscariot, betrayer or faithful? # Inveterate mindsets are sometimes so ingrained, nothing can disturb them. Once an historical person has been successfully slandered, it is almost impossible to redeem their reputation or rightful status. Perhaps the most demonised is Judas, deemed to have betrayed Christ. Learned, conscientious scholars have a disobliging view basing conclusions on a closer reading of evidence. A recent documentary on the last week of Jesus in Jerusalem, by Hugh Bonneville, shows a number of scholars talking about Judas who appeared to fully accept that Judas is no longer the villain he has been portrayed over the past two centuries.
Saints and Martyrs # The word “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios, which means “consecrated to God, holy, sacred, pious." Kurt Vonnegut has the best definition: You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society. The Bible mentions them too: "…Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem" (Acts 9:13).