12:21 - 11.03.08
musings
The king (Saul) is dead, long live the king (David). Reading the Bible is really a challenging experience sometimes, isn�t it? Too much contradiction in behaviour versus the laws as set down by Moses and the Levites (Leviticus) through their communing with the Almighty. You know �Thou shalt not kill�, but then reading about orders for systemic genocide right after that with respect to claiming the promised inheritance of the land of Israel. How long ago was that? If Ramses II be the evil Pharoah of Moses, then about 3250 years ago. Hmmm. If that was applied today in the current Middle Eastern circumstances, then the explanation would have to be that the Israelis aren�t being successful because they haven�t yet wiped out the Philistines (Palestinians) by comparable means, as supposedly commanded in the Pentateuch. Almost all the revered figures of biblical and koranic history would be tried as war crimes criminals in current times.
Very confusing, but then again, the history of the rewrites of biblical scriptures for political purposes is recorded ad nauseam in European history books. Hence the split between the Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic church, as well as the little tiffs with Martin Luther and John Calvin, among others. Oh yes, and the genocides such as that in France of the Cathars, the Crusades, the Arians and then the Spanish Inquisition and the English/Scots burning the Baptists and Joan at the stake.
I think that is why women are drawn to Christianity � God is love and compassion/loving kindness, instead of vengeance/abuse. But then again, there is the undercurrent of Pauline teachings in current mainstream Christian churches that keep harking back to the �eye for an eye� ways, before the new, and few, recorded words of Jesus. For one thing he actually liked women � remember the Marys? That was the only part of the scriptures I could relate to when I was young. The denial of women�s value in the current church canon, was why I decided to seek the Ineffable on my own. After all, there was the blessing of the marriage at Cana, the discussion with the woman of Samaria at the well, the healing of the Roman�s daughter and, of course, His relationship with Mary Magdalene, whose reputation seems to have been savaged and trashed � in the supposed gospel (New Testament), probably written by the Paulines again - yet who was more likely accurately described in the Gnostic gospels. See the Gospel of Thomas. Oh yes, then there is the Holy Ghost of the trinity/kabbalah � Sophia (wisdom). Pistis Sophia, if one wants to read further, or Carl Jung wrote lucidly about that too, if one needs something more contemporary.
If those who follow the teachings of Paul were honest enough to declare their dedication/worship of him and his teachings, instead of subverting the Christian faith to their own version of spiritual practice, I suspect the real Christian churches might see a significant revival. I, for one, can�t support any belief system that sees men being counted righteous because they saved a fellow male from a dangerous situation by handing over their virgin daughters and concubines for sport � �do unto them as you like� � to the wolves (soldiers of the enemy) at the door. Happened frequently in the old testament � at least up to the end of Samuel I. It was that bit about Lot and his daughters that really was the last straw when I was younger and finally understood what incest meant, though. Nothing Christian about any of that behaviour you see. Too many contradictions and confusion drove this child from the church as adolescence approached. I wasn�t willing to accept any man-made deity that promoted or condoned those many forms of domestic/family violence.
That was what was going through my mind as my internet access was shut off less than an hour after I posted that little essay on International Women�s Day to you early Friday morning, dear diary. I had just made a major payment on my internet account and was just a few days late with making the current month�s payment � all that was owing. Not enough to justify shutting out a customer who has had a telephone account with the company for over three decades without ever defaulting on payments in that time. At least one would think long term loyalty to a service would be reciprocated. Guess, like employers now days, that isn�t so though.
Now the government has been asking Canadians not to post sensitive information on-line � you know like photos of family members in military uniform � because terrorists, like Omar in Indonesia, are watching our every post. Maybe the shutdown was proof that Omar really was reading my writing and couldn�t cope with the idea that I believe women really are children of the Almighty and therefore have, by divine right, equal rights to the ones that he claims, too. Faith � his, mine and anyone else�s - after all, is faith/cult, because it isn�t provable by scientific method. Since there is no proof, no faith, by definition, can claim precedence. However, Who else does he think created women. Genesis, revised, is the first book of the Koran too, you know. It says that both genders were created in that Image. There is even a whole chapter about Jesus�s mom, Mary, contained in the contents of the Koran. Get a grip, boyo. Or at least read your sacred texts more carefully. I suppose it could have been that someone in this country imposed their own form of censorship on my humble little post, because they couldn�t tolerate an opposing point of view, but that wouldn�t be either democratic or Christian in the true sense, would it. Just someone really frightened when they see their �power over� being challenged. Nope, must have been one of those terrorists, because the Canadian government has verified it is so through the media � or else we�re all paranoid in a collective delusion or some form of mass hysteria. Kind of a dumb move really, if it is truly what happened, since the diary posting would still be on the internet, now wouldn�t it? Don�t know, but that might be truly verified if my account is shut down after this post. We�ll see dear diary.
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