Sunday, May 14, 2006

GOD is an illegal immigrant

A provocative title? Let me try to explain.

There is a great deal of discussion at the moment about "immigration" legal or non-legal. My first question is 'when does something become "legal"?

To understand why I made the title a 'statement' instead of a 'question', we first have to delve far back into history

(In the beginning was the word; and the word was "Ogd!", but something became lost in translations .. heh.)

At this point, bear in mind that my paternal grandfather was C of E, and paternal grandmother's families were staunch 'Protestants' - stretching far back into the hills of Scotland. My mother's family began in South Australia from an "illegal" immigrant. Apparently a great-great grandfather was a cabin boy who "jumped ship", changed his name, and disappeared into the bush as a shepherd. We think he came from somewhere in Scandinavia. My Father died six months after I was born, and was raised by my mother for five years.

However, I have also been indoctrinated from birth into the Judeo-Christian notion of "GOD" and have to, mostly, work from within that 'framework'. Viewing the world and its peoples from 'outside' of that framework is not an easy task.

The reason I capitalised 'god' is because my guess is that the Judeo-Christian-Muslim "God of our fathers" began as a philosophical idea put forward by a man named Zoroaster (Zarathustra) who lived in Persia some 1000 years BCE (before Christian era).

Roughly 3000 years ago HE proposed that there were two forces - one "good" (Ahura Mazda) and one "evil" ( ) battling for control over the world.

(In MY beginning, I was a random collection of atoms, congregating in the genes of my ancestors. At first, all was darkness, then light. My eyelids were closed, but slowly opened. I found that I could focus, then tried to make sense out of the chaos that I perceived.)

He also proposed that Ahura Mazda created 'man-gods' to act as "intermediaries" between humans and the 'supreme being'.

(won't go into detail, but you can find a very long essay detailing the basis of my premise here).

From there, the philosophy of a masculine, all powerful, omnipotent Deity travelled through what is now known as the "Middle East", across into northern India; taken to Rome by the Legions, adopted, adapted and transformed by various masculine (sometimes emasculated) priesthoods and Emperors - modified and codified through various 'prophets' to suit local conditions and political climates - especially Constantine of Rome - to split and solidify into what we NOW know as Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

(a very peculiar God indeed. One wonders what they are all squabbling about, since they all working under the same 'God'. Am not surprised that the Christian and Judaic god "cannot be named".. it would link them back to the "original" idea developed in Iran/ Persia.)

IF this God IS All-powerful, All-knowing and Omni-present; I can't help wondering why he/she/it did not know of, and/or was not known in what is now known as South and North America until the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 (CE).

Apparently he/she/it hitched a ride on one of the ships; carried in .. what? A purse? A piece of wood or, perhaps, A BOOK?

Similarly, this god was not known in Australia or New Zealand until the arrival of Captain Cook. Did this Persian god arrive hidden in the in the back pocket of Captain Cook?

(I am neither a scholarly historian nor theologian, and this post is not up for 'serious' discussion, so if anybody wants to 'nit-pick' about details, do it on your own blog).

Captain Arthur Phillip (a human being) set up a colony on the east coast of Australia - formerly known as "Terra Australis Incognito" ('unknown land to the south') in the year 1788 (CE), and tried to "negotiate" with the inhabitants who had been custodians of this ancient land for roughly 40,000 terrestrial years.

(but THEY had no knowledge of a persian or christian 'god')

Finding no 'formal' (read 'European', read "Christian", read "Roman") basis for 'negotiation'; He informed "head office" who, 'in absentia' formally declared "New South Wales" and all lands attached to it "Terra Nullius". ('empty land' - there are no people here. Several million people 'disappeared' by the stroke of a pen.)

The Persian God must have snuck into Australia 'illegally' and 'unannounced', in the back pocket of Arthur Phillip; without permission, and with him the Empire of the Roman gods of war, conquest, profligacy and waste continue to illegally invade without serious challenge.

(Yeshua of Galilee had a go at trying to counter it, and Aristophanes the Greek wrote a play, " Lysistrata" .
Along with every other instance of flora, fauna and "igneous" - human beings live on a fragile, lonely planet which I call "Mother" Earth. If Dexter pummels Mama much further without relief, if she feels her temperature rising; her lungs eaten by cancer, she may have to call on her Sinister hand for assistance.)


IF, as the Persian/Roman/Christians say, there is 'good' and 'evil' .
Answer me this question.

You are on a boat, somewhere in the ocean. In the distance you espy a large Island, never before seen. Through a telescope you see a mass of various vegetation. There are birds and animals proliferating. You discern that there are NO SIGNS OF HUMAN HABITATION..

Does the devil exist on that island?

We have, methinks, taken our eyes off the BALL GLOBE. It is time to tear our eyes away from the skies "from whence Salvation comes."

Look down, look around. Worship this planet. Love and nurture it. Give your "tithes" to the restoration of "Gaia". It is the only "platform" we have.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/roman_empire.htm
http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/religion.html
http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch15.htm (short history of the rise of Rome)

5 comments:

Anne Johnson said...

This is a superb essay, Davo. Bravo.

Three Score and Ten or more said...

We come from different paradigms so many of the questions you ask are questions that are answered for me. Having said that, reading this was a thoughtful useful moment in a somewhat frustrating day.

(you can read this if I ever solve the word verification, this one, sckeck looks reasonable enough that I may get there - - I wonder if they dumb them down a bit after the third try.)

John Myste said...

Eloquent, philosophical and superb.

Davoh said...

thankyou JM; this essay underpins all other quips and comments that i have made, and continue to make.

Aussie "backhanded" humour is difficult to understand for those who "take themselves seriously".

(PS, still think that yer a wanker .. buut, that might be a compliment of some sort .. heh)

John Myste said...

On behalf of myself and all wankers, I would like to say that we all need to exist and tolerance is never a bad thing. Of course, no one is obligated to tolerate if they find it uncomfortable. I hope one day to earn your acceptance as well, as I suspect a wanker is all I can be; but in the future I will try to make sure I am the best wanker I can be, and that I improve our reputation.

I am happy to know you sir. I hope we have a long mutually satisfying acquaintance.