MP:
Why jeahovah only destroyed the baalists and not the other pagan Asherahs is never explained.
King -> MP:
My point is, you seem to fall for the lie that Asherah was "pagan". Nope, that attempt to categorize her origins is a late development of Judaism, hundreds of years after the fact, an attempted re-write of Hebrew history....
MP-> King
I was attmpting to be sarcastic. Basically the Hebrew religion is an early example of the Catholic (aka universal church) or Corporate mergers. Big fish swallow little fish. IN the case of Jehovah over time the Yahwehists created their holy book with the primary motivation of creating a Jewish religion, fo the nation. Overtime they adopted elements and worshippers of other Gods and then pretended El was really Jah. We see the same also with El Shaddai the god of Abraham in Exodus 3.
The reality is Baal was an enemy because that temple was in direct competition in Israel and Judah proper, even though the OT likes to pretend that Jehovah destroyed all the locals and temples on more than one occassion. Like today religion was big business. The Yahwehists wanted the sacrifices, money, labour and ability to get the masses to do stuff for them by simply threatining Jehovah upon them.
The jews knew Yahweh was the same as Baal, which is they sometimes they went to his temple amongst the many others. It really didnt matter to them but that infuriated the Yahwests priests, just like the WTS hates all other xian een though they are all of the same book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serapis
The land of Egypt, the praises of which you have been recounting to me, my dear Servianus, I have found to be wholly light-minded, unstable, and blown about by every breath of rumour. There those who worship Serapis are, in fact, Christians, and those who call themselves bishops of Christ are, in fact, devotees of Serapis. There is no chief of the Jewish synagogue , no Samaritan , no Christian presbyter , who is not an astrologer , a soothsayer , or an anointer. Even the Patriarch himself, when he comes to Egypt, is forced by some to worship Serapis, by others to worship Christ. [6]
Interestingly in Jesus time the Jews and their priests worshipped another syntehtic God Separis when they visited Egypt.