Comments on Half-Satori: On Ideological Fundamentalism

I'm sure that part of the Bible can be read in any...

2009-10-19T02:25:18.509+02:00

I'm sure that part of the Bible can be read in any number of ways, your (common) reading as valid as the other one in the end.

The story of Adam and Eve certainly works as an allegory to explain human suffering, but it also is quite reminiscent of some of the Puranic lore and for example Indra getting his nerves wrecked over people trying to ascend to among the gods and take his seat, when you take God and his intentions as the focus, and if you go for a more literal reading of the story.

That part of the Bible is not about restriction of...

2009-10-19T00:48:41.936+02:00

That part of the Bible is not about restriction of knowledge, it's an allegory meant to teach about the relation between the reality of the human condition (disease, old age, pain, death) vis-a-vis an impotent Godhead. Why do we exist in the world of suffering and death if the absolute truth is that there is an impotent being who can change that?

Every religion tries to answer that basic conundrum. In the Hebrew tradition which you mention, the fault or cause of suffering is given over to humanity. By having Adam disobey God, God is forced to kick him and Eve out of paradise and into our world of suffering and death. Christians tend to take that section of the Bible literally and believe or teach that we suffer because of Adam's "original sin."

It's really a metaphor trying to explain human suffering. The "fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil" refers to knowing why there is good and evil in our world -- if God truly exists and is all-good. Shouldn't there just be good and no evil or suffering?

Therefore the Hebrews tried to reason that it wasn't God's fault, it was disobedience towards God which causes suffering or evil.

To clarify the closing sentence: Genesis 3.21: "T...

2009-10-16T09:23:25.044+02:00

To clarify the closing sentence:

Genesis 3.21: "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

This may well be the first documented incident of a religious establishment (God) seeking to restrict the boundaries of human knowledge to within acceptable parameters. Restricted knowledge comes with a price tag.