Why western religions feature an angry god. the REAL reason.

[reprobate]

The western god YAWAH was originally one of the gods of the court of Ba'al in babalon. The small group that was to become the tribes of isreal and judeah took this court god as their own and carried with them on their treck.

But they forgot one thing. They took yawah but they left behind his consort Ashera. So for nearly three millenia poor yawah has been on his own, reflecting the paternalistic society of the time.

In other words, poor ol' yawah is HORNY!

OK, flame is now permitted.

[DrWeird]

1. I suppose that would explain why...

the old testament suggests there are other gods besides God.

[Walt Starr]

2. No flame from me

All textual indications contained within the mythology point to Yaweh being a ward god, too.

[Radical Activist]

3. Is there any truth to this historically?

Or is it just a joke?

[reprobate]

19. It's the Truthhhhh. Google Yahweh

[CatholicEug]

4. Your logic overwhelms me

I must now renounce all religion.

Of course, we must also say that Allah is merely a moon god and Shiva merely the product of a hallucingen.

[arcane1]

5. that sounds about right to me

[Walt Starr]

7. Actually, Allah is just another permutation of Yahweh

and the Yahwists have their roots in Samarian Ba'alism.

:shrug:

Go figure. The Yahwists and Elohimists had it out. The followers of the war god won out in that little conflict, thus the Jehovah mess we're in today.

BTW, Elohim is PLURAL meaning Divine ones. To have been properly singular, the word would have been Elohe.

[reprobate]

20. All gods are created by man in the image of the men who create them

[JVS]

6. You're just making excuses and rationalizations.

The real reason is that he's disappointed that we are all worthless sinners. He busted his hump for 6 whole days to create all of this and look at how poorly we've made it turn out

[RPM]

16. those six days

were really millions and millions of years (see the grand canyon) - so he msut be millions and millions of pissed off

[JVS]

22. Good point

[reprobate]

21. Worthless sinner? Speak for yourself.

People, like gods, are good and bad. Usually in the same person. To make generalizations like that for the entire homo sapien species is not just wrong, it puts gives the whole of humanity behind the eight ball.

Wouldn't a religion that described humanity as basically good, with help for each other the goal be far more positive?

[JVS]

23. Pride cometh before a fall, buddy.

How could we be good? We fail to follow 10 simple rules.

[SnowGoose]

8. "Every day that passes

proves that God has lost his glasses,
or could it be that tears have blurred his vision?"

I blame religion for a lot that's wrong with the world. But not just Yahweh-based religions. People invented the religions, and so it's not surprising that religions have all the human failings. It's a pity, really.

[PATRICK]

9. A littler humbler origin

Moses borrowed the fire god of the shepherd Kenites who resided on Mt. Sinai. A tribal nature deity became identified with his own humble traditional faith he little knew. Jerusalem also belonged to another priestly cult that also peacefully merged with the Israelites.

In the remnant that survived assimilation in Babylon long after King David, they countered that major pagan faith with very broad and sweeping reflections and faith statements on the equality of the sexes and man made in the image and likeness of God(Genesis). This is more a refined reaction against their pagan captors where MOST exiles assimilated and never returned, just a faithful elite. Unfortunately they returned as a bit too self protective, idelaist fanatics trying to repossess the land and vacate the recent "impure" inhabitants, also assimilated Semites, like the Samaritans who practiced the faith in a more primitive thought framework. This is somewhat like the current overstrong repossession of Israel and the unethical results.

God was not defined other than in the saving covenant actions the people experienced as slaves delivered by a God more powerful than the cruel sponsors of greater nations. For more power THEIR God had to be more powerful and the only way open was a more personal, higher ethical and exclusive relationship. As the nation gained or sought national power, so that new God declined in its progressive relationship. And the nation fell over and over and over again as the idea and relationship went on through the unlearned mess.

Power and truth in littleness and weakness. An impossible thing for humans to grasp? But then who needs to know the Judaeo-Christian God when you "have it all"? There are easier Gods to grasp and worship. And they are far crueler and less reliable.

The anger of God is directed at the self hurt of fatal abandonment for lesser falsities and missing the pat more and more like a troubled parent than an avenging monarch.

[the other rick]

10. Too bad

that all (and I mean *all*) theories of 'which pagan god did the Israelites appropriate?' are just wild guesses and almost certainly wrong. While stylistic elements may be reflected, the fact of the matter is that this was all so very long ago that there is no way to know who borrowed what from whom pre-Exile. And even the exilic and post-exilic accretions are very much in a 'contrast, not borrow' mold.

[The Stranger]

12. You seem a little too certain.

No one can reasonably argue the fact that they came from some "pagan" theology somewhere. Which ones were close by would not be "wild guesses and almost certainly wrong," but, on the contrary, would enjoy varying degrees of likelihood.

[the other rick]

13. Speculation and scholarship

Yeah, there were outside influences. But to say 'YHWH is Enkili' is pure speculation. And the interplay was certainly so hideously complex that we will never get it right.

[PATRICK]

14. yes, contrast and basic fidelity

to the cultural deity of the origins which is lost in legends reported upon and editorialized by later generations starting mostly from King David, not Moses' time.

What is relevant is the contrast even when obvious local religious practice is crudely referenced such as the sacrifice of Isaac. they dealt with the challenges of surrounding cultures. You can see it at least vaguely from their perspective but it covers way too much unknowable historical ground.

America loves however to spin grandiose groundless theories(which unlike the timfoil type) ALWAYS get taken seriously and earn more royalties and get more talk show bookings. Ludicrous garbage for the most part too.

[datasuspect]

17. it wasn't THAT long ago

remember that extant text fragments predating christianity by about 1,000 years are still floating around and provide the basis for a lot of scholarship in philosophy and comparative religions.

[htuttle]

11. I blame the whole thing on Emperor Constantine

Anyone know what Christianity looked like before Constantine 'imperialized' it?

[the other rick]

15. Forget the conspiracy theories

We have an excellent understanding of pre-Constantine Christianity. An amazing amount of writings from early Christians survives.

[PATRICK]

18. That is tough

The political victory was two edged. it ended the conflict between Church and pagan state and started the church/state problem big time. Now every citizen was baptized and the rigorous faith community was threatened by staist conformity. Legalism and structure became more dominant than ever although it was supplanting Roman decadence very much already.

It didn't save the Empire but it hurt the spiritual nature of the Church. Identifying church and the earthly kingdom(in an effort to revitalize Rome) was a bad fit for both and very very ironic considering the dire righteous conflict established in the Book of Revelation. Both the eastern Empire idea and the Christian order flourished for many years but decline for both was in the cards as well.

Maybe we are trying to similarly save our own World by a values takeover(whichever Christian or humanist version applies) which cannot fit either but may buy time and save suffering. Maybe even peace and cooperation will take hold so people can determine a good future. I am sure the people of Constantine's time felt some of the same things and gave up on the "last days" showdown.

Well, this is apples and oranges though. Constantine was no religious leader, though sincere, with a gullibly pious mom. He was a warrior Emperor trying for a classic revival. He moved to the East like Bushco(sorry, there I go again).

[Swamp Rat]

24. HAHA! You said horny

:D