Judaism and Christianity have made the modern world.
Cir***cision strengthened parental commitment and was the mark of male
supremacy.
Under a structure of law and justice, there were many arbitrary rules and
restrictions. Justice extended to slaves and strangers.
Male dominance and justice gave Jewish women, who by definition could not
be
oppressors, great and stabilising influence.
A fortress, rock upon rock, designed in savage times to exclude outsiders
and control insiders. Because exclusion clashes with human nature and
justice, there is an emphasis on kindness to strangers.
All countries are sacred, but a small confederation of tribes at the
crossroads of empires needs to make theirs holy.
In very hard times, there was an idea of atonement through suffering and
the
mythological defeat of Egypt could no longer sustain. The Jewish god
became
the god of all the world. There was already a god of all the world in
Persia. Owning the god of all the world is a giant boost, but a problem
if
others take the claim seriously.
Jewish colonies in Rome and other places, on their best behaviour, must
have
impressed thoughtful observers.
An attractive religion of law justice and family, but rule, blood and land
bound was ripe for takeover.
Christianity was born in the modern world with Greek ideas and Roman
***ual
equality. There were no dietary restrictions and the contract was
painless and equal. There was instant acceptance and forgiveness,
irrespective of status or previous relation****ps. The centre was no
longer
the family, but the individual. There was little or no ritual requirement
and no whole-life commitment.
To balance these freedoms, there was an imaginative, omnipresent
Roman-style
hell for trivial offences and thought crime. One of the pleasures of the
saved was a seat in the stands to enjoy the tortures of the eternally
dammed.
The genitals are taboo in all branches of Judiaism and control was exerted
through great ***ual repression with the cult of the virgin mother and son
and the extension of the idea of abomination. Language sup****ts this; ***
is an abrupt ugly word that could be shouted to bully a dog, and
sss***ssss
hisses for itself.
To be the new chosen people, the old ones had to be dispossessed.
The central event and symbol of Christianity is not the resurrection, but
a
sickingly brutal execution, which has been preceded by torture, as the
result of an evil plot by vile jealous people. Together with the given
character of Jesus, this may arouse the self- righteous anger of the lynch
mob.
The emphasis on love gives total moral authority and therefore
justification. The god of love runs the most impressive eternal torture
chamber. Love is special and personal but when it is perverted to
expected
and general (i.e. god and country) it becomes a monster. There are very
strict limits to the bad things we will do for profit or revenge, but love
knows neither limit nor reason.
The tolerant Romans were merely offended by Jewish contempt for their
gods,
but an intolerant, aggressively recruiting version of Judaism was seen as
a
threat to Rome's traditions and gods. Anybody could be a Christian and
they
thrived on martyrdom. Rome learned helpless rage and religious
intolerance,
the stage was set.
Islam, a product of tougher times than Christianity, but easier ones than
Judaism, required cir***cision and whole-life commitment but was less rule
bound than Judaism and less divisive than Christianity. Tolerance comes
from inner strength.
Individuality and pressure (internal or external) are a forcing-ground for
new ideas. Christian culture has been on the front line and paid the
price.
Judaism is a country of the mind; Christianity and Islam are empires of
the
mind, the successor states to the Roman empire.
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