Wednesday, April 13, 2005

My Name is Jealous

It's called monotheism, but it looks like downsizing to me.

Dear Internet Diary,

Commandment One:
Thou shalt worship no other god (For the Lord is a jealous god).

My first thought is, how can an all-powerful, all-knowing god be jealous? Does it mean that the god is human, or does it mean that there are many other gods than him? American christians sure don't care.

This should be the first indication to lawmakers and political grandstanders that the imaginary document "Ten Commandments" is not the basis of American law. Compare to the first amendment to the constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Perhaps what they mean is that American law used the Ten Commandments as a basis in that it is the opposite of American liberties. It's not surprising that Americans might ignore or forget these facts. A recent poll shows American teenagers would prefer we do away with the first amendment, because it "goes too far." The pollsters did not ask teenagers if they thought they should make the First Comandment into law. Would America outlaw the worship of gods other than the Jewish one? If you're an American, you'd better hope they don't put it to a vote.

But thanks for listening, diary.

7 comments:

Aaron Kinney said...

If we can make a God jealous due to our actions, then we have power over that God.

So do Christians think we have power over their God? Probably not. So how can we make him jealous?

Doublethink again.

Aaron Kinney said...

Hey Hellbound Alleee,

Would you be so kind as to add my new blog to your links list? I already added your blog to my links list.

The blog is http://killtheafterlife.
blogspot.com

Hellbound Alleee said...

Sure, Aaron.

Is god jealous of other gods, or is he jealous of us?

Anyway, Jealousy is a low emotion, and one that we should always strive to rid ourselves of. It's an emotion for an insecure person.

Aaron Kinney said...

Thanx!

Is God jealous of other Gods, or is he jealous of us?

Good question. I think he might be both. Or maybe, he is jealous of the attention that we could give to other gods.

I hate jealousy. Its nothing but destructive poison. It enslaves a person and gives power to that which one is jealous of.

breakerslion said...

"Jealous" might be a bad translation of a hebrew word. You would have to ask a Rabbi or a Rabbe about this, I'm not sure. There has certainly been a lot of editing of this "perfect book, written by God", all along the way. The only way I have ever been able to see what this reveals about the alleged deity's supposed relationship to its human creations is this way: Jehova is a gigantic child with an ant farm and a magnifying glass.

Hellbound Alleee said...

The Hebrew word, "gama" means jealous as we know it. Some books use a close word that means "Zealous." However, looking through a lot of religious explanations, they mean jealous as anyone would think of the word. In "Hippocampus Extensions," they say:

"We too have strayed away from the Lord God—perhaps not to follow Baal, Allah, or Buddha—but to turn to other idols. We chase after the gods of this age: a better job, a better house, a better holiday. Anything we put above God—our parents, our wife, our husband, our children—is an idol. We must heed the Bible's warning and worship the Lord God alone above all things, for the Lord is a jealous God, and his jealousy will provoke him to act:"

They also suggest that a jealous husband is not weak. He is acting naturally. Naturally human. Yet again, their god is only human. Apparently, it is not an unmoving, immutable God after all. It can be provoked. If this is not beneath a God, I don't know what is.

breakerslion said...

Thank you.

I am never certain of conceptual words like "jealous" that don't seem to fit or make sense. Languages are full of things that are lost in translation. For example, the Romans had a special word for "moving toward", and Spanish differentiates between "to look", and "to look for". In this case, it appears that the whole concept is properly translated and completely illogical.