I now answer with several reasons in addition to, “I feel like it.”
It started when Wombat made a comment about the fictional Babelfish on Strange Questions from a Strange Mind That prompted me to reread the Old Testament story of the Tower of Babel, which in turn led me to think that any god figure which destroys the unity and collaboration of mankind and dooms it to misunderstanding and war is more bad (or insane) than good.
So, I was moved by those chance events to write “Nice Guy, Jehovah” (May 25). Of course I was aware that the Babel legend, like much else in the Bible, existed long before the Hebrew tribe incorporated it into their biblical books, but I wasn’t writing a history of mythology. I was writing a satirical piece on Jehovah as presented to me in my culture. During my Protestant childhood I was indoctrinated with large doses of the Old Testament and told that it was absolute truth dictated by God to His prophets. That is a major reason that the Jewish scriptures – and not some other scriptures – have become my target.
I am not being blasphemous because, for me, the Old Testament Jehovah is not God, but rather the anthropomorphic creation of an ancient, aggressive tribe. And so when I make fun of Jehovah and the Old Testament stories I am not making fun of God, but instead of a figment whose attributes and pronouncements served the political and other self-interests of a particular tribe – as by making the tribe Yahweh’s chosen people and elevating Yahweh above all other gods for good measure. Judaism as developed in the Old Testament is politics raised to a cosmic level.
I have no inclination to satirize the Eastern religions and spiritual philosophies as embodied, for example, in Taoism or the Sanskrit scriptures because they are entirely different from tribal myths and appeal to me as enlightened and profound philosophy. A sage once said that all religions could be a path to God, but only if their message is one of love and compassion. A far cry from Yahweh’s territorial conquests and bloody smiting and “eye for an eye” revenge.
A particular reason for “picking on” the Old Testament with a clear conscience is its use to this day as a supposed justification for the brutal colonization and daily rape of Palestine by European and American Zionist Jews. The Old Testament is supposed to be their real estate deed to property which has belonged to other people for at least the last 2000 years. Where would all those Christian “I love Israel” and “God Loves Israel” bumper stickers be without the Old Testament myths? And when honest Jewish historians and archeologists undermine the Old Testament mythology, as they frequently do these days, a loud wail of disapproval goes up from the Zionists because archaeological evidence and historical truth are being put above Israel’s political interests as represented in the Old Testament’s false history.
I believe that a myth should be critiqued differently when it is asserted to be literally true – particularly when it is put forth as proof of divine approval or disapproval of certain human actions – than when a myth is recognized to be a myth. Myths are rich in meanings beyond words but run aground and beg for ridicule if taken literally, especially if used to support the supremacy or rightness of one group above another.
