As I wrote, I highly suggest reading the two other essays I linked for they go deeper into the past to reveal trends that are now occurring. Imperialist Christianity remains a very big problem, is over 1600 years old and is at the root of almost all current injustices.
As I wrote, I highly suggest reading the two other essays I linked for they go deeper into the past to reveal trends that are now occurring. Imperialist Christianity remains a very big problem, is over 1600 years old and is at the root of almost all current injustices.
I'm still reading "Dire Straits", which has been a real eye-opener for me as I had no idea of this history. But I think I recommended "Peace with Russia" in a comment on one of your recent posts. Both of these build on a sense I've had at least for the past 2 or 3 years that the world events we're seeing are signs of an ongoing spiritual war, an uncomfortable feeling since I've never considered myself especially religious.
Spirit resides outside religion in Nature and as such is natural. Religions differ from philosophies in that they proclaim a God-head/Creator of some sort to answer the question, How did we get here along with all other life, which is why ALL cultures have their own specific type of Creation Myth--Western "culture" has cancelled most of those other voices in the quest to create a "unipolar" religion. Ultimately, to be areligious is to be natural. And when properly looked at, what's happening isn't a "spiritual war"; it's a war to establish the hegemony of one religion over all others--that's why the megalomania tinged "founders" of the Christian church allied with Rome and sought to become the "state religion" so it could dominate along with the Empire. If the history of the Crusades was taught properly, few would want to be members of the religion that waged them.
And then there's this horrifying 2018 piece from Ron Unz, "American Pravda: Oddities of the Jewish Religion" (https://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravda-oddities-of-the-jewish-religion/), based on the writings of "Israeli Communist named Israel Shahak, whose views seemed totally at odds with those of everyone else, and who was consequently treated as a fringe figure."
"Once I actually began reading his books, and considering his claims, my shock increased fifty-fold. Throughout my entire life, there have been very, very few times I have ever been so totally astonished as I was after I digested 'Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years,' whose text runs barely a hundred pages. In fact, despite his solid background in the academic sciences and the glowing endorsements provided by prominent figures, I found it quite difficult to accept the reality of what I was reading. As a consequence, I paid a considerable sum to a young graduate student I knew, tasking him to verify the claims in Shahak’s books, and as far as he could tell, all of the hundreds of references he checked seemed to be accurate or at least found in other sources...Almost everything I had known—or thought I had known—about the religion of Judaism, at least in its zealously Orthodox traditional form, was utterly wrong."
"Even with all of that due diligence, I must emphasize that I cannot directly vouch for Shahak’s claims about Judaism. My own knowledge of that religion is absolutely negligible, mostly being limited to my childhood, when my grandmother occasionally managed to drag me down to services at the local synagogue, where I was seated among a mass of elderly men praying and chanting in some strange language while wearing various ritualistic cloths and religious talismans..."
"For example, traditionally religious Jews pay little attention to most of the Old Testament, and even very learned rabbis or students who have devoted many years to intensive study may remain largely ignorant of its contents. Instead, the center of their religious world view is the Talmud, an enormously large, complex, and somewhat contradictory mass of secondary writings and commentary built up over many centuries, which is why their religious doctrine is sometimes called “Talmudic Judaism.” Among large portions of the faithful, the Talmud is supplemented by the Kabala, another large collection of accumulated writings, mostly focused on mysticism and all sorts of magic."
"Given the nature of the Talmudic basis of traditional Judaism and my total previous ignorance of the subject, any attempt on my part of summarize some of the more surprising aspects of Shahak’s description may be partially garbled, and is certainly worthy of correction by someone better versed in that dogma. And since so many parts of the Talmud are highly contradictory and infused with complex mysticism, it would be impossible for someone like me to attempt to disentangle the seeming inconsistencies that I am merely repeating. I should note that although Shahak’s description of the beliefs and practices of Talmudic Judaism provoked a fire-storm of denunciations, few of those harsh critics seem to have denied his very specific claims, including the most astonishing ones, which would seem to strengthen his credibility."
The elementary issue is that of a select group being deemed "The Chosen" that God somehow didn't really make in its image otherwise why should it be different--select, elect, chosen, etc. As I've continually argued for decades, there's only one "race"--the Human Race--that sprang forth from a "bush" of hominid ancestors, and what differences there are no deeper than the depth of the skin.
You see the "chosen" facet even within Christian denominations, like the whole idea of certain people being predestined for Heaven and the corollary that you don't get that reward based on works alone. Seems like that would incentivize misbehavior.
Martin Luther AND the Venetians shared their hostility of the reigning pole and his 'taxes'. The Venician team printed Martin Luther tracts and seditious publications through their virtual monopoly on the printing technology of the day. Then after the Venetians were almost annihilated, they cut a survival deal, with a new pope and immediately dispersed to Amsterdam, London and Madrid. Married into high society, applied their double entry bookkeeping, managed the east Indies trading ventures to new heights and prospered up to this day. Voila, here wwe are with post Christian, neoliberal economies :{
As I wrote, I highly suggest reading the two other essays I linked for they go deeper into the past to reveal trends that are now occurring. Imperialist Christianity remains a very big problem, is over 1600 years old and is at the root of almost all current injustices.
I'm still reading "Dire Straits", which has been a real eye-opener for me as I had no idea of this history. But I think I recommended "Peace with Russia" in a comment on one of your recent posts. Both of these build on a sense I've had at least for the past 2 or 3 years that the world events we're seeing are signs of an ongoing spiritual war, an uncomfortable feeling since I've never considered myself especially religious.
Spirit resides outside religion in Nature and as such is natural. Religions differ from philosophies in that they proclaim a God-head/Creator of some sort to answer the question, How did we get here along with all other life, which is why ALL cultures have their own specific type of Creation Myth--Western "culture" has cancelled most of those other voices in the quest to create a "unipolar" religion. Ultimately, to be areligious is to be natural. And when properly looked at, what's happening isn't a "spiritual war"; it's a war to establish the hegemony of one religion over all others--that's why the megalomania tinged "founders" of the Christian church allied with Rome and sought to become the "state religion" so it could dominate along with the Empire. If the history of the Crusades was taught properly, few would want to be members of the religion that waged them.
Not to mention all the other horrific things they were guilty of.
And then there's this horrifying 2018 piece from Ron Unz, "American Pravda: Oddities of the Jewish Religion" (https://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravda-oddities-of-the-jewish-religion/), based on the writings of "Israeli Communist named Israel Shahak, whose views seemed totally at odds with those of everyone else, and who was consequently treated as a fringe figure."
"Once I actually began reading his books, and considering his claims, my shock increased fifty-fold. Throughout my entire life, there have been very, very few times I have ever been so totally astonished as I was after I digested 'Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years,' whose text runs barely a hundred pages. In fact, despite his solid background in the academic sciences and the glowing endorsements provided by prominent figures, I found it quite difficult to accept the reality of what I was reading. As a consequence, I paid a considerable sum to a young graduate student I knew, tasking him to verify the claims in Shahak’s books, and as far as he could tell, all of the hundreds of references he checked seemed to be accurate or at least found in other sources...Almost everything I had known—or thought I had known—about the religion of Judaism, at least in its zealously Orthodox traditional form, was utterly wrong."
"Even with all of that due diligence, I must emphasize that I cannot directly vouch for Shahak’s claims about Judaism. My own knowledge of that religion is absolutely negligible, mostly being limited to my childhood, when my grandmother occasionally managed to drag me down to services at the local synagogue, where I was seated among a mass of elderly men praying and chanting in some strange language while wearing various ritualistic cloths and religious talismans..."
"For example, traditionally religious Jews pay little attention to most of the Old Testament, and even very learned rabbis or students who have devoted many years to intensive study may remain largely ignorant of its contents. Instead, the center of their religious world view is the Talmud, an enormously large, complex, and somewhat contradictory mass of secondary writings and commentary built up over many centuries, which is why their religious doctrine is sometimes called “Talmudic Judaism.” Among large portions of the faithful, the Talmud is supplemented by the Kabala, another large collection of accumulated writings, mostly focused on mysticism and all sorts of magic."
"Given the nature of the Talmudic basis of traditional Judaism and my total previous ignorance of the subject, any attempt on my part of summarize some of the more surprising aspects of Shahak’s description may be partially garbled, and is certainly worthy of correction by someone better versed in that dogma. And since so many parts of the Talmud are highly contradictory and infused with complex mysticism, it would be impossible for someone like me to attempt to disentangle the seeming inconsistencies that I am merely repeating. I should note that although Shahak’s description of the beliefs and practices of Talmudic Judaism provoked a fire-storm of denunciations, few of those harsh critics seem to have denied his very specific claims, including the most astonishing ones, which would seem to strengthen his credibility."
St. Paul. The very origin of all bigotry. Wish he'd stuck to being Saul.
The elementary issue is that of a select group being deemed "The Chosen" that God somehow didn't really make in its image otherwise why should it be different--select, elect, chosen, etc. As I've continually argued for decades, there's only one "race"--the Human Race--that sprang forth from a "bush" of hominid ancestors, and what differences there are no deeper than the depth of the skin.
You see the "chosen" facet even within Christian denominations, like the whole idea of certain people being predestined for Heaven and the corollary that you don't get that reward based on works alone. Seems like that would incentivize misbehavior.
For hundreds of years, it was clear you could buy your way into heaven. Indulgences they were called.
Yes, I remember that. Wasn't it one of Martin Luther's main criticisms?
Martin Luther AND the Venetians shared their hostility of the reigning pole and his 'taxes'. The Venician team printed Martin Luther tracts and seditious publications through their virtual monopoly on the printing technology of the day. Then after the Venetians were almost annihilated, they cut a survival deal, with a new pope and immediately dispersed to Amsterdam, London and Madrid. Married into high society, applied their double entry bookkeeping, managed the east Indies trading ventures to new heights and prospered up to this day. Voila, here wwe are with post Christian, neoliberal economies :{
Thanks for this fascinating history lesson. I love wading in waters where more knowledgeable people swim.
Pope not pole :))
Uncle, the three dots in a vertical line to the right of your post has an edit feature.
Yes, and he wasn't the only one.