Religiousness

 Here's JUST the posts of the month of June. Today is Sunday, the 23rd, 9:30am I put this together in response to a conversation with someone else. It needs a lot more work. A LOT. But this is good enough for now, I think.

Section 1: The Roots of Christianity Explored

First, we had a conversation about the origins of the Bible. I dug up some of my notes, and did some research. In the Persian scriptures of the Zoroastrians, the Avesta tells the story of how Ormuzd created the world and the first two humans in six days and then rested on the seventh. The names of these two human beings were Adama and Evah. These texts date back as far as the 10th century B.C. Eventually that will become the Garden of Eden story and appear in the  New American Standard Bible. We also have the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest recorded texts in human history, it tells the story of Enkidu, who was created from the earth by God. He lives in  paradise until he is tempted by a woman, Shamhat. He accepts food from this woman and is forced to leave and later in the epic, he encounters a snake which steals a plant of immortality from him. Sounds familiar to me.

I will go on.

The Epic of Gilgamesh talks of a man who is warned of an imminent flood by God and is instructed to build a large boat in order to survive. After the flood, the boat lands on a mountaintop where the man sends out a series of birds to find dry land. He eventually lets all the people and animals free and sacrifices to the god that saved him. That sounds a lot like the Great Flood story, which it is, Chistianity borrowed it from the religions that borrowed it from the Epic, its in the story of Utnapishtim.

It wasn't just that story where they borrowed but also from the Egyptians  like these examples

Proverbs 22:17-18: “Incline thy ear, and hear the words of the wise: and apply thy heart to my doctrine. Which shall be beautiful for thee, if thou keep it in thy bowels, and it shall flow in thy lips.”

Amenemope ch1: “Give thine ear, and hear what I say, And apply thine heart to apprehend; It is good for thee to place them in thine heart, let them rest in the casket of thy belly; That they may act as a peg upon thy tongue.”

And I mean there's multitudes of other examples like this one: 

Proverbs 22:22: “Do no violence to the poor, because he is poor: and do not oppress the needy in the gate.”
Amenemope ch1: “Beware of robbing the poor, and oppressing the afflicted.”

Even borrowed from the Teachings of Buddha and ancient African parables, and this one from all sides has long been a favorite of mine. The African citation goes something like "Why do you bother either the gnat in my brow when you have a water buffalo in hour beard" I wish I could find the attribution or a little more about it, but a s its a minor point and it wasn't coming up in my internal or external searches I'll let it go as that. Of course I'm referring to the famous saying that appears in the Bible in Luke 6:41 "How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,' when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye.". It was borrowed, there's plenty more societies including the Egyptians that also can be cited as a source for the quote before the Bible started coming about in 334-429 BC

And even the "Eye for an Eye" idiom originated in the ancient Mesopotamian Empire during Hammurabi's rule in the 18th century BC. “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” was part of Hammurabi's code. And well to say that thats where it originated is kinda iffy because it seems to be a common parable among many cultures with roots like in the far east going back 4000 years.

I mean it could be that it's just a coincidence that an older religion was saying these things and the Christianity got them out of thin air and they were the same. 

Moving right along… One of the earliest mythologies of an immaculate conception was that of the Egyptian God Horus, borne of the virgin Isis. Other virgin births prior to Jesus consist of Zoroaster, Mithra (who’s birthday is also written as December 25th), Krishna, and the Tien-Tse (Sons of Heaven) in China, among others.

Moving right along, the Ten Commandments also have origins in Egyptian Book of the Dead and a couple of quick examples are:

Book of the Dead: “I have not blasphemed.”

Exodus 20:7: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain.”

Book of the Dead: “I have not committed adultery, I have not lain with men.”
Exodus 20:14: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Book of the Dead: “I have not stolen.”
Exodus 20:15: “Thou shalt not steal.”

And note that these as with the other dozens of citations I could provide all predate the Old Testament by about 1000-1500 years.

There is also some similarity between the story of the Ten Commandments and the Code of Hammurapi, dated around 1772 B.C.

And I mean I could go on. But basically it seems that at its core, Christianity is a major (re)interpretative overhaul of ancient Judaism, which itself represents a major (re)interpretative overhaul of ancient paganism; as the new religion later spread to non-Jews, it sought to apply the same (re)interpretative mechanism to these newly encountered faiths as well; furthermore, Judaism itself already shared many concepts or ideas in common with non-Jewish belief systems, being itself a descendant of pre-Abrahamic paganism. 

And whenever delving into the Pagan origins of Christian holidays, I think you need to keep in mind that some of the appropriation was deliberate; but also that some of it was just the natural tendency for new religions to incorporate elements of the old. Even the Hellenic pantheon and its myths were largely borrowed from the pre-existing cultures that were conquered Not to minimize the suppression of Paganism by Christianity, but it is the nature of religions to borrow from each other

Furthermore, some will say that the early Roman Church adopted many pagan practices, giving them Christian names, in order to attract new converts (syncretism). For instance, many statues and other depictions of Isis and Apollo were simply renamed to represent Mary and Jesus, and many local festivities were allowed to continue, but in the spirit of Christianity rather than their pagan origins. You read that a lot amongst scholars.

But what really happened is the exact opposite, or so it seems. The existing pagan church wasn't absorbed by Christianity. Instead, from what I read, the pagan church applied Christian nomenclature to its own practices and beliefs in order to suppress the true Christian religion, which was growing rapidly and seen as a threat. Those that continued to follow the original biblical religion were branded as Judaizers and persecuted.

Eventually paganism, rebranded with biblical terms, became what the world now considers to be Christianity. For 2000 years, true Christianity has survived only as small isolated groups.

Almost all of what is now called Christianity is pagan in origin.

Compare:

• the fish-head hat worn by Dagon against the mitre.

• statues of Isis against statues of Mary, including as a madonna and child.

• images of Apollo against those of Jesus.

• Mithras and sun-worship against Christmas.

• Constantine's "In this sign you shall conquer" against a sundog phenomonon.

• Representations of the sun against various forms of the cross.

• Ancient fertility rites against Easter celebrations.

"Christianity, it seems, like many other major religions, has been influenced by and has interacted various cultural and religious traditions throughout its history. The process of adopting elements from other religions can be seen in several ways:

• • • Cultural Assimilation: As Christianity spread to different regions and encountered diverse cultures, it often incorporated local customs and practices. This process, known as syncretism, led to the blending of Christian beliefs and rituals with those of other religions. For example, Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter coincide with pre-existing pagan festivals, making it easier for local populations to transition to Christianity while maintaining some of their traditional customs.

    • Iconography and Symbols: Christianity adopted certain symbols and icons from other religions. An example of this is the halo, which was already used in ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art to represent divinity or holiness. Christianity later adopted the halo as a symbol for saints and sacred figures.

    • Religious Concepts and Doctrines: Over time, Christianity absorbed and integrated various religious concepts and doctrines from other belief systems. For instance, the concept of the afterlife and the belief in a judgment day can be traced back to earlier religions like ancient Egyptian and Zoroastrian traditions.

    • Saints and Martyrs: The veneration of saints in Christianity bears similarities to the practice of honoring deceased ancestors in many indigenous and polytheistic religions. The cults of saints and martyrs became an essential part of Christianity, especially in the early centuries of its development.

    • Architecture and Sacred Spaces: Christian architecture often reflects influences from other religious buildings. Early Christian basilicas, for example, were influenced by Roman civic buildings. Later, during the era of European exploration and colonization, Christian churches were built using architectural styles and design elements from local cultures.

    • Religious Festivals and Observances: Christian festivals and holidays, such as All Saints' Day and the Feast of the Nativity (Christmas), were strategically placed to coincide with existing pagan festivities, making it more acceptable for people to convert to Christianity without completely abandoning their traditions."

It's worthy to note a little about the age of the Bible, "The first unified collection of New Testament books came about in the late fourth century CE: the Codex Sinaiticus. Curators of a preservation project describe the Codex Sinaiticus as “one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1,600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible and the manuscript — the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity — is of supreme importance for the history of the book

"
You get my point. 

Part 2: By the numbers

I also did a little research because I was curious. By the numbers (I like numbers) if religion were a popularity contest (and I tend to place more value on age rather than popularity but still….) 

Ranked by popularity we get

1. Islam about 1.9 billion

2. Hinduism about 1.2 billion

3. Catholic over a billion

4. Protestant about 700 million

5. Buddhism about 520 million

6. Eastern Orthodox a few hundred million

7. Oriental Orthodox only tens of millions

8. Southern Baptist about 16 million

9. Judaism about 14 million

10. The United Methodist Church around 8 million

11. Rastafarianism almost 1 million people

12. Mormonism almost 17 million  people

13. Christian atheism is a form of Christianity that adopts the teachings, narratives, symbols, or communities associated with Jesus without accepting the literal existence of God.

Ranked by age we get 

1. Hinduism has been called the world's oldest religion still practiced, and coming in at over 4000 years old

2. Judaism over 3500 years old

3. Buddhism about 2500 years old

4. Eastern Orthodox about 2000 years old

5. Catholic about 2000 years old

6. Islam about 1450 years old

7. Oriental Orthodox about 1600 years old

8. Protestant about 500 years old

9. Southern Baptist less than 200 years old

10. Mormonism about 190 years old

11. Rastafarianism around 90 years old

12. The United Methodist Church less than 60 years old

13. Christian atheism is a form of Christianity that adopts the teachings, narratives, symbols, or communities associated with Jesus without accepting the literal existence of God.

The Christian Atheists don't have many members I just found the idea of the faith brilliant and totally fascinating. In general, people are fascinating creatures. And I didn't realize Judaism was that small. I had a rough idea of how the order of religions according to popularity are except for the orthodox, I didn't realize there were so many. Its worth noting that if you combine all the sects of Christianity together as if they all believe the same thing then their number are about two billion just like Islam but, of course, Protestants and not like Catholics or Baptists at all, so lumping them together into one big group seems like cheating. Or else everyone should just go to the same church. 

Part 3: Homosexuality and death by the scripture

Moving right along we have the issue of homosexuality, to which I found there to be about 69 verses (69, coincidence?) attributed to that, and they are all bad, such as 

Leviticus 20:10 God says:  If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

For the sake of this and its what I believe as well, I'll concede that God does not like homosexuals to any degree.

20:13 But scripture also says: And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

But then we have the definition of adultery as coming about in Matthew 5:28 "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." And Luke 16:18 "Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery." And then we have in Deuteronomy 22:22 where God states "If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. " that you should "take both of them to the gates of that town and stone them to death"

God is very into killing people, homosexuals and anybody who loos at a. Woman in lust or is involved in extramarital sex after a woman is divorced. KILL them ALL.

And although the USA is considered a Christian nation, I don't think its fair to call Lutherans Baptists or the Baptists Catholics, so that being the case I think 12:17 is applicable and we are all going to die at the hand of God.  "But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD." Baptists, Catholics, Atheists, even the Christian Atheists.

Then we have  Corinthians 6:9-10 "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

So thats not so bad, just not going to Heaven. Then we have in Galatians 5:19-21: "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Which is admittedly better than getting stoned to death, but I mean it's a pretty long list including fits of anger, jealousy, intoxication. 

So we have how God hates homosexuals  and cheaters, along with people who get angry, jealous or stoned (as in intoxicated not having rocks thrown at them God likes that)

Moving right along in 21:9-10 we see where it says If you make God angry, he'll burn you and your children to death. "Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. You will swallow them up in your wrath and burn them to death. " and "Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men." And even Moses weighs in on this one in 7:10 where he criticizes the Jews for not killing their disobedient children as required by Old Testament law. "For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. " and I mean, he really doesn't like children, and we see evidence of this where says to not stop beating your children just because they cry in 19:18 and then in 23:13-14 he's basically saying beat your children hard and often. Don't worry about hurting them. "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die." and "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." And there's a lot more, but you get my point (4:13 is a good one) in general that God is hard on children, to put it lightly. 

So God has a thing for not liking children, adulterers and homosexuals, and even your neighbors and the rest of your country for that matter, basically stone them all.

What gets me are the seclusionist statements that you see where in 14:33 If you want to be a disciple of Jesus, you must abandon everything, including your family "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

Its almost like to be a Christian you've got to be at one with having no family, beating your children if you do, while admonishing homosexuals as well as adulterers and even people who become intoxicated, get angry or jealous. That's pretty much everybody.

So thats my point. Sure a couple times (69 out of about 30,000 verses) scripture said kill the fags. But more than that, about 128 times scriptures says kill adulterers, 25 or so scripture says beat your children and just as many times it says to kill your children. And we haven't  even scratched the surface on how animals are to be slaughtered on the name of God, or other ways in which your fellow countryman are to be killed and the list just goes on. And they're all equal or more written about in scripture than the gay people. It seems fair that we just leave everybody be who they are and not kill.