JUST THE FACTS, MA’AM!

A friend turned me on to this video recently.

Sadly, for an episode titled the ‘Naked Truth’ it contained so many errors, I couldn’t finish it.

A perfect example of how NOT to debunk xtianity.

It begins with the usual: how religion has proven itself to be violent and savage, even up to the present climes. No argument. It spends a small amount of time pointing out how we use the pyramid, the cornerstone of said pyramid being the top, Yesu Christo claiming himself the ‘cornerstone’ of the faith, etc. However, upon looking up the word ‘cornerstone’, answers.com gives us this: “Ceremonial building block, dated or otherwise inscribed, usually placed in an outer wall of a building to commemorate its dedication. Often the stone is hollowed out to contain newspapers, photographs, or other documents reflecting current customs, with a view to their historical use when the building is remodeled or demolished. Originally placed at a corner, the stone may today be placed elsewhere on the facade.” Hmmm…said video claimed the cornerstone was the apex of the pyramid. Incorrect.

Then the video gives a very poor translation of the word ‘Dalai Lama’, claiming of all things, that Lama is some sort of transposition of the word ‘sheep’, when nothing could be farther from the truth. (Confusing a Lhama with a sheep, when it is in fact a closer cousin of the camel, shows a complete lack of biological acumen).
“Dalai" means "ocean" in Mongolian, and "Lama" (bla ma) is the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru", and so may mean "teacher" or "monk." Incorrect again.

It also claims that the ‘waters of chaos’ constitutes the ‘Argha-noa’, thereby providing the ‘ark of Noah’ with some historical background. Alas, this is incorrect as well: my google search only came up with ten (or so) hits, all of these in direct relation to this film. Again, no citations.

It then shifts focus to a now-debunked book (which it doesn’t cite, but which I recognized the content of), one The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors, of which the Wiki entry states:” The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors, or Christianity Before Christ was an 1875 book written by 19th century lecturer and sceptic Kersey Graves. It alleges that Jesus was a mythical figure, largely based on earlier tales of saviours who had been crucified.
Much of the mythology in the book contradicts established facts about various mythologies mentioned, and several of the beliefs alleged to coincide with Christianity post-date Christianity's advent.
It has been noted that Graves derived "many of the most important facts collated in this work" from the comprehensive 1833 work, the Anacalypsis, by Sir Godfrey Higgins.”

Now, while I’m a big proponent of the parallelization of Eastern mythologies and texts with the Judeo-xtian literature, I’m also a big fan of research, facts, and the truth, naked or clothed. There’s no doubt in my mind that the ancient Israelites did indeed do copious borrowing from surrounding cultures, but by no means does that give us artistic license to go about cobbling up pet theories based on the slimmest of clues. For instance: my longtime research into Buddhism has never revealed the ‘story’ of him being born of a virgin, any more than my reading of the Bhagavad-gita has led to the discovery of Krishna being born of one, either.

(Here’s an item that bears mentioning: I recall coming across this statement some years ago, which I found interesting, in the Upanishads – Man does not live by breath alone, but by him in whom is the power of breath.” – Written some centuries precedent to the alleged ‘blessed event’.)

While there is no doubt in my mind, that the concept of the Immaculate Deception was borrowed from Hellenistic traditions, the ancient Hebrews used their own inhibitions to give it a unique spin.

It was, however, the change of focus from the community to the individual (Hellenistic) that gave rise to the ‘personalized’ Messiah as opposed to the communal one. Ergo, some convenient retrofitting had to be done, and quickly too. But that subject is outside the scope of this analysis.

Facts, people, facts! Let’s not give the theists more ammo than they already have.

Or, as Friday on Dragnet used to say: “Just the facts, ma’am.”

That’s my nickel’s worth, anyways.