"Nothing ,,,will be unattainable for them"

by metatron 5 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  Those words, taken from Genesis 11:6 are quite remarkable. They suggest that Jehovah confused the languages at the Tower of Babel

  because, otherwise, the human race might obtain a God-like status. With unity of language and purpose, there would be no telling

  what humans would accomplish.

  Whether history or myth, this account suggests a certain truth. What would happen if mankind had unity of language and intent?

  You don't need to speculate anymore because you're going to witness it happening!

  Enter the Internet!

  Ultimately, the internet will be the agent that makes nearly all religions obsolete. While the Creator is unwilling to talk to anyone

  (except schizophrenics, apparently) the "magic box" on your desk will tell you endless recipes for good pot roast, the latest

  investment opportunities or offer you whatever fetish you care to obsess about ( I haven't actually googled "man having sex with

  goat on fire" as one comedian has suggested!)

  Consider Iran, in which the authorities neglected to suppress internet hookups - while beating women for wearing makeup.

  Result? There may be 15 million Iranians using the internet. If that doesn't scare the mullahs, they're a pack of fools.

  And the Watchtower? For the first time in their long march of lies and deception, they face a collective adversary they cannot

  defeat or overcome or uproot. They are faced with an unceasing effort to drain them out of existence - and can do nothing

  but keep hoping for an Armageddon that never arrives.

  And what's next? Eventually, good translation software that obliterates the divisions of language - although, as it is, the Internet

  and computer software are rapidly imposing English on the world, anyway. A lot of the research on slowing down the aging process

  is being accelerated by the Internet. And alternative health care? Who doesn't consult the internet for info on your illnesses or

  drug side effects? The conservative medical establishment is being roiled by internet induced change.

  We are still in the early stages of this technology. I can easily foresee street crime being crippled permanently by the proliferation

  of cameras in public venues.

  Once, I heard a joke:

  The biggest, mightiest computer was built. It contained the sum of all human knowledge and reasoning ability. The scientists who

  built it debated about what they should ask it first. They decided to ask it, "Is there a God?"

  and the computer replied.......

  "There is now!"

  My point exactly.

  metatron
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  Nathan Natas

  I always enjoy your posts, Metatron.

  You ask,

  What would happen if mankind had unity of language and intent?

  May I present . . .

  I have seen this film.

  Yes, it sucks, or sucketh, or whatever the esperants say for "It sucks."

  It is great for a laugh at your own expense, though.
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  jaguarbass

  Good post. Ive thought about this before also. I cant wait till it puts them charlatans out of business.
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  proplog2

  Whether they like it or not the Watchtower will be liberated by the internet. They too shall know the truth.
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  blondie

  Here are some WTS explanations of that from the past:

  *** w75 11/1 p. 666 God's Judgments Reveal His Personality ***

  Presenting the reasons for God's taking quick action against Babel's builders, the Bible says: "Look! They are one people and there is one language for them all, and this is what they start to do. Why, now there is nothing that they may have in mind to do that will be unattainable for them." (Gen. 11:6) These words show that the all-wise Creator foreknew that rebellious humans would stop at nothing to carry out their defiant schemes through organized and concerted efforts. As time would pass, one wrong thing after another would come to their mind. Then, by means of unified action, they would set themselves to accomplish their evil ends.

  Wisely, Jehovah God did something to thwart such unified action for bad. He confused the language of Babel's builders. No longer being able to understand one another, they stopped their building operation. From then onward, the language barrier hindered any successful banding together for wrong purposes.-Gen. 11:7.

  We today should be grateful to God for his taking action in confusing man's language. Think about what men have done in recent times, for example, in the development of weapons of mass destruction. Despite their being divided and working independently, they have built up an arsenal of weapons that could turn this earth into a desolate waste. It staggers the imagination to contemplate the greater extremes to which men might have gone had it not been for the divisions caused by the language barrier. Indeed, it was no exaggeration when, in connection with the building of Babel, God said of defiant humans: "There is nothing that they may have in mind to do that will be unattainable for them."

  *** w74 1/15 p. 41 How One Language Will Bring Unity to Mankind ***

  God's device of confusing their language protected mankind from the iron hand of imperial dictatorship. Jehovah said about this: "Look! They are one people and there is one language for them all, and this is what they start to do. Why, now there is nothing that they may have in mind to do that will be unattainable for them." So God miraculously caused them to speak new languages.-Gen. 11:5-8.

  For about four thousand years the language barrier that God established has remained. It has served to prevent large-scale regimentation-yes, widespread regimentation under one false religion, the religion that began in Babylon. Having a common language helps bad men to cooperate more easily in a bad thing.

  *** w64 5/15 p. 313 United Rebellion Against God Breaks Down ***

  To what length would they carry their organized efforts in this bad work? It would be only a start. They would ambitiously have one thing after another come to mind that would be attainable in a wrong way, in a wrong direction, by unified, organized effort. In Jehovah's statement regarding this we can appreciate how correctly he spoke in his ability to foresee the future. Right now, with the two great world blocs aligned against each other, the arms race between them has been carried up far higher than the temple tower there on the banks of the Euphrates, far higher than the water level of the deluge of Noah's day, yes, even into the higher altitudes of outer space, with the explosion of a thermonuclear device 250 miles above the surface of the earth, without regard to the effect it might have on the health and welfare of all mankind. So we can see that the ambitious organized start in a selfish way at the original Babylon was of no small consequence. Back there, Jehovah God, man's Creator, well knew it.

  Blondie
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  Narkissos

  I agree with metatron's analysis, but from the opposite perspective. I must confess I love Yhwh's devilish trick in the Babel story -- he really acts as a diabolos, a generator of division and difference. And locating the essence of difference in language was very insightful. The very fact that 21st-century computer software still cannot adequately translate a common text tends to show what a good job he did.

  Otoh, what I find fascinating is that the WT, as many dogmatical theologians, don't see the contradiction with their tireless attempt at building a uniform and consistent world vision, even using the linguistical metaphor of the "one (pure) language". Every attempt at unity at best results in one more difference...

  If "postmodernism" had a sacred canon I bet Genesis 11 would come close to first.

  On edit: I really don't see how the Internet can promote unity of any kind. What we see at the present stage is an explosion of (mis-)information, giving almost equal visibility to all theories and perspectives, with lilltle selection criteria other than the user's subjectivity. Perhaps it's just another Babelian trick of Yhwh after all?