Biblical Stuff

            So I’ve been watching The History Channel’s presentation of “The Bible” and I have to say I’m less and less pleased with it; at least the Old Testament portion anyway. I have always been aware of Old Testament God’s penchant for destroying cities and turning people’s wives into pillars of salt and such, that isn’t what has been getting to me about it.

            It’s all the murdering and killing done in the name of God. So far The History Channel has re-enacted a lot of the early Bible scenes in which the Israelites are searching for the Promised Land and along the way have killed a lot of damn people. I am aware that history is rife with the subjugation of the weak or the conquest of the wealthy. I am not naïve regarding the want for land or riches, access to trade routes and the sea or the struggle at times for the most basic of needs. I just find it hard to accept that it was all done with God’s blessing, and in some cases, encouragement. 

            God is a curious motivator. He tells us he loves us and then tells us to go kill those people because they have displeased him. I’m no fool and the machinations of a deity can always be manipulated by unscrupulous military leaders and kings who tell the people that it’s, “God’s will that we smite the tribe of heathens over the hill”, and if we happen to get a little rich along the way, well, God wants us to be happy. So, chop-chop.

            I know that history has always been written by the winners and as winners they can put any spin they want on the past. I just am uncomfortable with a loving God authorizing the death of so many through the voices of so few. I guess I am a New Testament God kind of guy, the one who sent his son to preach love, peace and tolerance of all creeds and kinds. That’s much more up my alley.

            As a moral code I find the New Testament much more pleasing; the whole, do unto others as you would have done upon you, he without sin should cast the first stone, turn the other cheek, meek will inherit the Earth, and so on and so forth. I just find that message, the one where all are welcome and have a chance at salvation, frankly, cooler.  I’m just not a cheerleader for the Old Testament.

            The other thing that really bothers me about The History Channel’s “The Bible” is the strange legitimacy it seems to be giving to the Crazy Christian factions. Hard core, born again, Evangelical, Bible belt types make me very nervous. They hear the words of God but not the message. That makes me nervous. Any group that takes the Bible as a literal text without questioning the authenticity of some of the passages makes me afraid. If we are made in God’s image, then it is our God given nature to question the world we see around us. The Bible, in my humble opinion, at least the New Testament, is a guidebook for treating others with respect and love. It should not be taken as a literal description of history, nor should the Quran, or the Mythology of the Greeks or Romans.  

I hope the History Channel’s version will begin to balance it out with a little actual scientific history.