what we can learn from noah
A short time after the all-knowing god of the Jews and creator of all, God, had created humanity, he realised he’d made a mistake:
“The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.” Genesis 6:6
So he decided to murder every living creature. But the all-knowing and perfect god God had forgotten about Noah, who was a decent human being and therefore, it must be assumed, his only successful creation. He told Noah to build a big boat, put some animals in it, and then the god God went about slaughtering every other living creature with a big flood.
When the god God had finished drowning almost all of humanity and the animal kingdom, rather than creating more flawed human beings, he relied on Noah and his sons to re-populate the whole planet.
“Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” Genesis 9:1
From this story, many Christians conclude that the god God, the invisible deity they speak to in their heads, is:
- a benevolent being and ethical decision-maker (WRONG – see slaughter/mass murder)
- an all-knowing or all-powerful being (WRONG – see big mistake)
- a perfect being (WRONG – regret for actions, and forgetfulness/oversight regarding Noah)
- against the use of contraception (WRONG – no mention of condoms there)
From this story, most rational people conclude that, like the rest of the Bible, it is a piece of imaginative story-telling that sits nicely alongside myths from every culture around the world. And it’s a story that makes a pretty picture book for children, especially if you want them to be introduced to the concept of genocide from an early age.
What do you think?
What an incredible shot! It looks superb blown up. That has ”Award Winning” written all over it.
Right…now let me go back and read the post.
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Thank you! I was inspired by a dragonfly from that blog I just sent you a link to, to dig through some of my earlier shots in Argentina. I forgot about this one. It does make me wish I had a half decent camera though because the different in detail is telling.
http://mike585.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/common-hemp-nettle-skeleton/
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Not much. It is a crappy story, plagiarized from Gilgamesh, and if this is brought to the attention of more kids they would soon turn on their Christian parents trying to pass this nonsense off and yell, “Busted”
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Aw, think of all the pretty toys that have been made on the back of it. All those little wooden boats with animals.
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As far as stories go, Utnapishtim is far a better character than the Hebrew knock-off.
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It’s so tiring having to research all your comments! 🙂 But what a coincidence that another deity wiped out humanity in a similar fashion – and there’s a dove in the story too! Are you going to do a post on Gilgamesh?
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Ark mentioned it first, or don’t you bother with his comments? 😉
Nah, none in the works, but i’ve always liked the way Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh “Sorry lad, you’re good and all that, but you ain’t ever going to be immortal.”
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I like the names. And you’re right, I usually just skim-read Ark’s comments for insults and compliments – I didn’t know he wrote serious factual stuff. 🙂
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I like to blur my eyes with his posts and comments and just try and see pretty black and white images magically appear in the text blocks 🙂
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You’re so cheeky!
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“Skim Ark’s comments….” LOL…
I reckon the reason the Hebrews made up their own story is they couldn’t pronounce Utnapishtim
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Ha, yes your comment forced me to attempt to pronounce it.
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Or indeed Ziusudra, the Sumerian inspiration for Utnapishtim.
You missed out the bit about Noah getting drunk, and Ham seeing his bollocks, which Christians used to argue that Africans should be enslaved.
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Sigh, now I’ll have to google more unpronounceable names! 🙂 I forgot about that part of the story. What do you think of the story of Noah?
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I am interested in why we tell children that story; and also Samson and Delilah, the woman using her sex to overcome the enemy, and the man so overwhelmed with lust that he betrayed his God. I may post on it. Ziusudra and Utnapishtim are basically the same story from the Gilgamesh epic, I understand.
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It is an odd angle, isn’t it? Turning horrific or adult-themed stories into child-friendly cartoons to give religion a friendly face. I hope you do do a post on it.
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As photos go, great shot!
About the post, you had me laughing at the first paragraph!
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Are you anyone else’s best blogging buddy or just mine? 🙂
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Pingback: Noah | Clare Flourish
Absolutely gorgeous. I’m tweeting it btw ^+^
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Thank you! It’s stunning bug and rather photogenic flower.
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