You're A Pagan

The simple truth is the 'people of the Book' (Jews, Christians, Muslims) are all pagans. There is little doubt of this. The two holiest days for Judaism (Yom Kippur and Pesach) were confiscated from Babylonian or Ugaritic (Canaanite) religious observances. Christians give up the secret with their two highest holidays/festivals. (Christmas and Easter) As for Islam, the one absolute necessity for any Muslim (in his lifetime) is to go to Mecca and circle the Kaaba seven times. The Kaaba (house of God) predates Islam by hundreds of years. Apparently removing it's 360 idols was all that was necessary to bring the shrine 'up to code.'

Doesn't it give you pause that God was reduced to co-opting PAGAN forms/practices of worship? Wouldn't the highest, holiest days of God (or Allah) be utterly unique and altogether different than those of pagans? Or are we to believe that the forms, practices, and rituals were fine, just directed toward the wrong deity? Is that what we are expected to believe?

Some are sure to say, well how about monotheism? That was the overriding difference between true worship and paganism. Sorry, the idea of monotheism originated in Persia and Egypt long before it occurred to the Hebrews. (see; Zoroastrianism and the Egyptian worship of Aten) So monotheism can't be considered original to the people of the book. No, the fact is, the only distinction between pagans and true believers is what they called their God. That's it. And if you research the subject, you'll see that the original Hebrew name for God was pagan. (El) It wasn't updated until Exodus 3:13-15. (repeated at Exodus 6:2-3)

If the Jewish religion is revealed to have pagan roots, it stands to reason that Christianity and Islam have to be pagan as well, yes? How can the leaf of a tree be inherently different than the branch, or the branch from the trunk? If the trunk is dependent on the root, how can you claim this part divine, this part demonic? Aren't they different manifestations--different aspects--of the same impulse, the same source?

Study the Ugarit tablets. See what you think.

Snagged 'Em!

Algeria showed up between 2:00AM and 4:00 AM last night. I won't pretend it doesn't bring some sense of satisfaction and amusement. However, the truth is, they came and went. (I can tell if a person looks at more than one page of the blog) Which means nothing of consequence happened. My ego got stroked and the ten largest countries by land mass have been 'secured.' But there wasn't a firing of the imagination or an interest in content. So, ultimately, it is a hollow victory. Which is worthwhile only in the context of seeing the ego and it's machinations. Let us use it as such.

"The ultimate aim of the ego is not to see something, but to be something."  ~Muhammad Iqbal