I recently read in Discover magazine that scientists have found a way to turn on and off memory cells in our brain. They say that this is good news for people with post traumatic stress disorder, which I was diagnosed with a few years ago. This, to me, brings up the ethical question of what did the traumatic events in my life, and the lives of others, add to society as a whole? What did those experiences mean and was our suffering worth it in the end? If in the future science can just remove our bad experiences with a scalpel does that mean that all our bad experiences were just what happened before bad experiences were done away with entirely? This type of ethical dilema is what can drive a person to atheism. When such senseless destruction occurs it becomes impossible to believe in a God that cares. Until, that destruction is explained to satisfaction that it had a meaning. What comes first? Love or violence?
I believe the Bible, and it's influences, to be an answer to that question. I also believe that the Bible is a primitive science book describing human behaviour and traits. Something we now know to be coded in a highly evolved living language called DNA. The Bible is about the cause and effect of the human mind and is a key pillar in the great ethnosphere of the universe.
What the Bible is at it's core is scientific art. The word art is very important because being such demands the reader take as many angles as necessary to digest the material. It's a book written by the people and for the people. An ancient mostly secret bill of human rights. I invite you to take a look at this peice of art by an artist named John Pitre:
^ To understand this picture you must take a good long look at it. You will first come up with some possible situations, motivations and intentions and they will likely evolve over time. There is a good chance you might understand exactly what the artist was trying to express without reading his words about it. However, if you sat and had some tea with him he would not be opposed to a personal interpretation from someone who had nothing to do with it's creation process. Such is with the Bible and it's writers. Many people for thousands of years have provided verbal or written commentary to it's words. What we see today in modern Bible's is a thoroughly combed desert. The book did not even have chapters and verses when they were written down. The books were created to be like huge paintings that would take years to understand. This was likely because they became products and a competitive market arose. This is why the stories are so epic and have twists and turns. It reminds me of a scene in a movie:
The Grandson: A book?
Grandpa: That's right. When I was your age, television was called books. And this is a special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today I'm gonna read it to you.
The Grandson: Has it got any sports in it?
Grandpa: Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...
The Grandson: Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake.
Grandpa: Oh, well, thank you very much, very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming.
This scene is a good way to open not only the Princess Bride, but the Bible. This blog will contain my thoughts on the Bible and it's possible ancient genetic themes. All posters of all types are welcome to discuss the topic of the Bible in general.
-Sab