Thoughts

Thoughts

Tora ✡ New Testament ✝ Quran ☪

  Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any Church, for the reason, that
if you think the Church is right you will not investigate, and if you think it wrong, the Church
will investigate you.

  I have often wondered how the three major religions continue to control so many lives. The
books of these religions; Tora, New Testament, Koran have very little historical value, all
undocumented, absurd, full of injustice, cruelty, violence, intolerance, contradictions, conflicts
with science and history, horrible family values, misogyny, insults to women and faith based;
classic fiction. All of these books tell a story of a God that is reprehensible, I can think of no
other writings as deplorable, that so many find as fact, the most distributed books, year after year.
All of these religions believe in Abrahams god. My first thought after hearing the story, how did
he come by this story of God. I found the answer to this on "got questions.com" a synopsis of this
question from a believer . I could not find a name attributed to the author. This seems to be
accurate from the text in the Tora (1st five books of the Old Testament).

  "Abraham is called the friend of God, the father of the Jews, and the father of the faithful.
He is honored by Jews, Muslims, and Christians as a great man, but what religion did he follow
before being called by Yahweh?

  Abraham was born and raised in Ur of the Chaldees, which is in modern Iraq, near
Nasiriyah in the southeastern part of the country. Joshua 24:2 says that Abraham and his father
worshiped idols. We can make some educated guesses about their religion by looking at the
history and religious artifacts from that period. NOTE: the following in parenthesis is from
jewfaq.org, under Judaism 101(According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was born under the
name Abram in the city of Ur in Babylonia in the year 1948 from Creation (circa 1800 BCE). He
was the son of Terach, an idol merchant, but from his early childhood, he questioned the faith of
his father and sought the truth. He came to believe that the entire universe was the work of a
single Creator, and he began to teach this belief to others.

  Abram tried to convince his father, Terach, of the folly of idol worship. One day, when
Abram was left alone to mind the store, he took a hammer and smashed all of the idols except
the largest one. He placed the hammer in the hand of the largest idol. When his father returned
and asked what happened, Abram said, "The idols got into a fight, and the big one smashed all
the other ones." His father said, "Don't be ridiculous. These idols have no life or power. They
can't do anything." Abram replied, "Then why do you worship them?"

  Eventually, the one true Creator that Abram had worshipped called to him, and made him
an offer: if Abram would leave his home and his family, then G-d would make him a great nation
and bless him. Abram accepted this offer, and the b'rit (covenant) between G-d and the Jewish
people was established. (Gen. 12).

  Ur of the Chaldees was an ancient city that flourished until about 300 BCE. The great
ziggurat of Ur was built by Ur-Nammu around 2100 BCE and was dedicated to Nanna, the
moon god. The moon was worshiped as the power that controlled the heavens and the life cycle
on earth. To the Chaldeans, the phases of the moon represented the natural cycle of birth,
growth, decay, and death and also set the measurement of their yearly calendar. Among the
pantheon of Mesopotamian gods, Nanna was supreme, because he was the source of fertility for
crops, herds, and families. Prayers and offerings were offered to the moon to invoke its blessing.

  When God called Abraham (then called Abram) in Genesis 12:1, He told Abraham to leave
his country, his kindred, and his father’s house. Everything familiar was to be left behind, and that
included his religion. We do not know what Abraham knew about the true God at that point, but
it is likely that he had received some instruction from his father, as each generation passed down
their history to the next. As a worshiper of other gods, Abraham must have been surprised to
receive a direct revelation from Yahweh. The moon god and other deities were distant objects of
worship, and they did not personally interact with men. Abraham obeyed God’s call, and, when
he arrived in the land of Canaan, he built an altar to Yahweh at Shechem (Genesis 12:7). The
text indicates that God’s appearance to Abraham was a deciding factor in his choosing to worship
Him. Hebrews 11:8 says that Abraham’s departure from Ur was an example of faith in action.

  Abraham continued to learn about this God he now worshiped, and in Genesis 14:22,
following the example of Melchizedek, Abraham calls Yahweh “the LORD, God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.” This statement shows that Abraham set Yahweh above and apart
from the moon god. His decision to worship God alone was settled in Genesis 17, when God
established the covenant of circumcision with him. God appeared to Abraham, saying, “I am
God Almighty, walk before me, and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). In verse 7 God said the
covenant He established with Abraham was to be everlasting and that He alone was to be God to
Abraham and his offspring. Abraham chose to follow God alone, and he demonstrated his
commitment by circumcising every male in his household.

Though Abraham forsook moon worship, the worship of heavenly objects became a
continual problem with his descendants. Many times in the Old Tora, God rebuked the children
of Abraham for their idolatry and renewed His call to worship Him alone. In Deuteronomy
17:2–5, God specified the punishment for idolatry—death by stoning. Moses described idolatry as
doing what is evil in the sight of God and transgressing His covenant. Much later, King Hoshea
of Israel was defeated and the people taken captive. Second Kings 17:16 says the defeat
happened because the people “bowed down to all the starry hosts.” In 2 Kings 23:4–5 King
Josiah of Judah led a revival of Yahweh worship and deposed the false priests who burned
incense to the sun, moon, and stars.

  God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, wants people to worship Him, not the things
He created. In Romans 1:18–20, we are told, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven
against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature
—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without
excuse.” When we worship creation instead of the Creator, we exchange the truth about God for
a lie (Romans 1:25) and reject what God has revealed about everything in life. God saved
Abraham out of idolatry, changed his name, and called him to follow Him. As a result of God’s
blessings to Abraham, the whole world is blessed (Genesis 18:18)." End.

Hebrews 11:8 says that Abraham’s departure from Ur was an example of faith in action.
"Faith", allegiance to duty or a person, loyalty, fidelity to one's promises, sincerity of intentions,
belief and trust in and loyalty to God, belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion, firm
belief in something for which there is no proof, complete trust, something that is believed
especially with strong conviction; especially, a system of religious beliefs (the Protestant faith),
without question (took everything he said on faith).

  With all this said about Abraham's God, why was it not Enos's God? Enos was the son of
Seth, Adam's grandson. "And to Seth, to him also, there was born a son; and he called his name
Enos: then began men to call the name of the Lord. Genesis 4:26 Now the question is, where did
Seth find a wife? Adam begot Seth, Seth begot Enos, Enos begot Mahalaleel, Mahalaleel begot
Jared, Jared begot Enoch, Enoch begot Methuselah, Methuselah begot Lamech, Lamech begot
Noah and we all know Noah begot Shem, Ham, Japheth. All of these men lived to be 800 plus
years old, the oldest being Methuselah, 969 years old. "And it came to pass, when men began to
multiply on the face of the earth, and the daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God
saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for he is also flesh: yet his days
shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were Giants in the earth in those days; and also
after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to
them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." Genesis 6: 1-4.

  Let's digest this. All of these men had many sons and daughters, the author picked this list
of offspring as the standouts, we have no other names of their children. Sons of God, did God
bring several of his sons to copulate with these daughters of man? After all they were of flesh just
like God and his sons. Obviously theses guys were big, referred to as Giants. These matings
created mighty men, men of renown. This is a great story, right?

  Get ready, man was a mistake, God didn't think this out. Makes you scratch your head, this
God of Enos or Abraham is suppose to be omnipotent and omnipresent, what happened here.
Must have had a relapse of memory from his creation plan, surely he wouldn't plan for what
happens next, or would he. "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented
the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD
said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast,
and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." Genesis
6: 5-7.

  I would have to say, the author of this text didn't give this God much patience. How about
a wave of the finger and make everything perfect, it's not like he didn't know all this, he created
man and planned what would happen. I suppose old Moses (the attributed author) wanted more
excitement. O' no, lets wipe everything out, kill everything. I'm thinking it was the mixture of
god's son's with mans daughters that corrupted all this flesh. Cats out of the bag, the wizard
behind the curtain is not who he says he is. Let us see where this author takes us.
Fortunately, for this story.......... "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are
the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked
with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt
before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold,
it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The
end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold,
I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in
the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt
make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and
the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish
it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third
stories shalt thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to
destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the
earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou,
and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh,
two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male
and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the
earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou
unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for
thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." Genesis
6: 8-22.
  This is exciting, flood the whole earth, drown every living thing. Can you imagine the stink
from all those bloated, rotting bodies. I wonder if God killed his sons, how did he escape? Maybe
he could fly. Let's see if Noah can build this boat, 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 30 feet high.
Seems a little small for two of every animal on the planet, what about the food, it would seem
animals would be eating other animals, lot of clean up. What about all the bugs, worms and
spiders? Did God fedX these animals from around the world. Can you imagine what Noah
though when he saw elephants, hippos, giraffes and tigers loaded on the ark. I suppose God
didn't intend on killing the fish, hard to drown them, of course, this could have been another
lapse of memory, make it up as you go. Obviously, this story is fiction, it just seems to me it
should be a little closer to reality. That's just me, I'm sure the author will pull all this together.
Who wrote this damn book?

  "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I
seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by
sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all
the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights;
and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And
Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. And Noah was six hundred years
old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife,
and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. Of clean beasts,
and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had
commanded Noah. And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon
the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of
the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of
heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame
day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and
the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark. They, and every beast after his kind, and all
the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind,
and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark,
two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and
female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. And the flood was
forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above
the earth. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went
upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the
high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters
prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of
fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and
every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And
every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and
cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the
earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters
prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days." Genesis 7: 1-24

  I'm thinking this boat is way over crowded, too small for two of every animal, now God is
telling Noah to load three males and seven females of the clean animals? What! Clean animals, I
suppose he had to run them through the car wash. Noah has seven days to get this boat loaded,
then it would rain for forty days and flood the entire earth above every mountain. That had to be
one more rain, more like pouring water from a heavenly bucket, big bucket. It just doesn't seem
possible to flood the entire earth in forty days.That much water falling would have sunk Noah's
little boat. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because
of the waters of the flood. Six hundred years old, really! Add the humans up on Noah's little
boat, eight. This is all the humans available to populate the earth after the flood.

  You will have to admit theses stories are Extraordinary, not possible in reality, a
phantasmagoric collage of days of old. For the record, this particular religion was in my house, in
my neighborhood and presented as absolute. This is no different than my friend, Z that grew
up in Morroco, Islam was in his house, in his neighborhood and presented as absolute. This is no
different than my friend Lam that grew up in Vietnam, Buddhism was in his house, in his
neighborhood and presented as absolute. Of the three of us Lam was the most centered,
accepting life with passion with no fear of all the ugliness Aziz and I were exposed to. My time in
Vietnam changed me in many ways, politically, religiously and the ability to be still, centered in
times of conflict all about. It caused me to reflect on my life's experiences. In deep meditation I
could see clearly the damages in my life from the very people I loved the most. I dove head first
into Buddhism, wonderful guidelines of life without extraordinary, horrific stories of an
narcissistic, self centered, hell and damnation authoritarian ruler of the universe. After my return
to the USA, I dove into religion, reading about, visiting where possible. Science of mind, Urania,
Hindu, Mormon, etc, etc, etc. To many religions to study, we have more than four thousand
twenty religions claiming they have the truth, the only way, someone is wrong. I concluded that
the invent of Abraham's God has been the most damaging to our planet and the inhabitants of
our wonderful, beautiful home. I humbly plea for the human race to review the use of
extraordinary, non provable, violent, damning, scary, controlling dogma. The force of life, the
beauty of life demand it. We as humans deserve our leaders both political and religious to set a
platform of inquiry before we destroy this, our beautiful blue globe. This revolution must start
with men and women like us, with the propagandist themselves demanding a review and
consolation of thought, freedom of thought, without fear of a damning overseer. The horrific
history of these religions tell the story. They have not made things better, they created divisions,
war, famine, control and on and on. We deserve better!

  Just a few thoughts, free, unfiltered explorations of life and love. Seek and you shall find….

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence “