The Jesus Mythology
Thor; Loki; Odin; Zeus; Chronos; Prometheus; Atlas; Diana; Ares; Hades; Hercules; Isis, Osiris: these are all cool Marvel and DC comic superheroes (or villains) with powers that defy the laws of physics. Some fly or move really fast. Some have super strength or amazing combat abilities.
Although I love these comics and the characters I don’t for one minute believe they exist, or ever existed, and nor does anyone else any more… but that wasn’t always the case.
As recently as 300 AD people seriously worshipped Greek or Roman gods in temples and with prayers in the same way millions worship Jesus or Allah today. If you lived in ancient Egypt and did not believe in Ra you would have been seen as a heretic, or crazy – certainly misguided and ignorant. The same would be true for anyone living in Greece in 400 BC and not believing in Zeus etc. And yet, all these “gods”, once revered, and sacrificed to, and worshipped, and died for, have been relegated to cute comic book characters. Anyone today who claimed to still believe in the existence and deity of Hercules would be considered as much a fool as a member of the flat earth society.
How is it then that in the year 2011 billions of people still worship mythical man-made super heroes like Jesus, Krishna or Mohammed? How is it that we believe these beings are real, and all powerful, and control our lives? Is it not evident that they too will become, and are becoming, cute stories that need to be seen for what they really are? Are we supposed to believe that the best evidence the creator of all things could supply for his deity was to walk on water or turn it into wine? Really? That’s it? That makes someone God? Clearly that puts David Copperfield in as a serious contender for creator of the universe!
Already the convoluted Christian story is moving into the realm of comic fiction where it belongs. I’ve just downloaded a comic called Jesus vs. the Vampires, and although I haven’t read it yet I’m sure it’ll be great fun and that Jesus H. Christ will kick a few vampire asses, while walking on water and sipping a good vintage wine, like some sort of robed and bearded demon hunting Van Helsing character. The nativity scene with the wise men and sheep we see all over the place during Christmas is simply the Christian addition to the jumble of kitschy traditions we’ve borrowed from a bunch of ancient cultures we now call heathen.
We need to stand back from our little cultures and families and church communities and see the big picture – Isis, Zeus, Odin and Jesus are simply stories we used to give our lives meaning when we understood nothing about how the universe really worked. Look around you – I mean really look to see: people’s limbs are not growing back; people are not walking on water; gods are not interacting with the general populace. Pretending that it’s true doesn’t make it true. It never has. There never was an Odin. There never was a Hercules. There never was a Jehovah. If there is a God we know nothing at all about it, and it has no interest in our affairs at all, unless that interest is completely academic.
The world will evolve when we understand the difference between fiction and reality and we stop acting on directives issued in works of fiction. We don’t obey the words of Sauron or Gandalf, neither do we plead to Dr. Spock or Wonder Woman to affect our job interview or heal our child of a fever. Instead we prepare for our interview and give our child panado or antibiotics because these things are real and we understand why they work.
Ah, I see my download’s complete. Go Jesus! Do a Chuck Norris on that Vampire ass!! And since when do Vampires sparkle? Your holy shine will put an end to that rubbish! Woohoo, the two finger gesture of God and he turns into ash – yowzers! I hope there’s a Jesus vs. Green Lantern coming soon…
