left biblioblography: Up In Smoke: Another Fable Goes Up In Flames

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Up In Smoke: Another Fable Goes Up In Flames

John_Martin_-_Sodom_and_Gomorrah

Cross posted at God Is For Suckers!

“If God doesn't destroy Hollywood Boulevard, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology” - Jay Leno

The phrase "Sodom and Gomorrah" tends to invoke images of the sky opening up and the socio-psycho-sexual wrath of the Judaic deity, over sexual excesses.

For many centuries, most scholars counted the twin cities as fictional. Well, it's believed they may have apparently found them.

Of course, the religious amongst us will bounce up and down and applaud, and engage in furious debate about all the standard 'interpretations - say, like the old saw that it was about hospitality vs. homosexual practices (in fact, I've heard various commentary about the sexual practices in the Middle East of that time frame: it seems the Israelites were just a...wee bit overzealous about cracking down on them), in fact, there's an entirely rational explanation for the 'firing up' of these two townships, to wit:

"From the research of geologist Frederick G. Clapp, who visited the area in 1929 and 1934, it was discovered that there are fault lines along the east and west sides of the Dead Sea. The Cities of the Plain would lie at the edge of the valley of Jordan along the eastern fault line. Also, earthquakes are common to the area. In Clapp's research, asphalt and petroleum accompanied by natural gas were found in the area. From Genesis 14:10, it is evident that the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. This tar is naturally occurring asphalt (Gen 11:3; Exodus 2:3). With the assistance of the imagination, the destruction of the Cities of the Plain can be recreated. Bryant Wood speculates that, "these combustible materials could have been forced from the earth by subterranean pressure brought about by an earthquake resulting from the shifting of the bounding faults. If these combustibles were ignited by lightning or some other agency as they came spewing forth from the ground, it would indeed result in a holocaust such as described in Genesis 19." One would expect to find wide spread burning in the area. From the 1973 report by Rast and Schaub there is evidence of widespread burning in the case of three of the cities. At Numeira, a pit was dug which cut through a seven foot thick layer of dark ash and at Feifa, much the same evidence of destruction by fire could be found (Gen 19:28)."

And, from here:

"This bitumen could also possibly have provided a hint as to a catalyst in the conflagration which occurred in this plain. Bitumen, or slime pits, result from an underground petroleum reserve oozing through to the surface. And all oil reserves have natural gas associated with them, which also can seep into the air. All of this is speculation, but the region yields the elements and evidences of an extremely cataclysmic occurrence. One in which a lake was formed, blocking the river from its continued flow and which devastated the entire plain to the extent that nothing grows there."

And one more, from our old pal, Wikipedia:

Bab edh-Dhra (bāb al-dhrā' ) is the site of an Early Bronze Age city, located near the Dead Sea, in Wadi Araba, forwarded as a candidate for the location of Biblical Sodom.

Bitumen and petroleum deposits have been found in the area, which contain sulfur and natural gas (as such deposits normally do), and one theory suggests that a pocket of natural gas led to the incineration of the city.

So somebody's camel could've just kicked over a lantern (wee reference to the old Chicago fire legend, there), or been sparkin' up a hookah, or a variety of other possible missteps, combined with a preponderance of flammable substances, and boom-shakalaka-BOOM!

There you have it. No hand from on high lit the conflagration(s). No fiery breath from an angry god. A simple matter of people picking the wrong place to live. And getting burned for it. (I won't even go into the thing where Lot's daughters bumped uglies with their daddy, to 'preserve his seed'. Yeesh - that's more pornographic than any kiddie's tale needs to be, ya ask me.)

Attributing natural disasters to a supernatural force would be vastly amusing, if they weren't so sad and pitiful.

Till the next post, then.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The foolishness of mankind never ceases to amaze me and it never ceases to exist.
Foolish thinking, and idiotic concepts of explaining the unexplainable never cease to amaze me just because hollywood says something or a lot of so called scientific minds who are atheist themselves of course would come against it.
Just as they can't explain how a man who had nothing more than the clothes on his back became the most renound man in history.

Oh what am I saying of course not, because they themselves are blinded or are willingly blind to a universe that some cosmic gas egg crushed and BOOM we're all here. You call it the big bang, I call it a load of dung you try to make people swallow.

I forget though its okay to shove the garbage of a bunch of hellbound dogs who smirk, scoff, and mock GOD but are more than willing to bow down to a human who can't even keep their marriage together, drinks all day, and most of them have to be high to get anywhere with themselves or family.

I read those articles that they claim to try and put a city where it was not, the folly that you idiotic atheist keep hitting is this, why did it happen at the very time that it did in coalation with the historical of events of Lot and Abraham? Oh yeah because GOD told Abraham what he was going to do. Of course you'd ride it off as Abraham got lucky.

Just like people say they didn't cross the red sea but that it was a shallow part they crossed. well HALLELUJAH!!! because that means my GOD drown pharoah's army in shallow water, he's more powerful than people thought then.

Science, Science, Science all this proof people want is funny to me and the real believers of the true and living GOD JESUS himself. Because the knowledge gained by you people and scientist have made them so smart that they're dumb.

These are probably the same scientist who claim to found the missing link between man and beast and oh yeah I remember it turned out to be the bones of a 70 something year old woman who had frozen to death. Or the same people that say evolve and believe in evolution that says, the blackman evolved little and were still undeveloped in their ways so much so they are still evolving at a slow compacity.

Lemme tell you all something, you can accept this so called websites plunges of stupidity and idioacy and buy into the we came from apes garbage, because I tell you right now have you ever seen an ape and have you ever seen an ape drink its own pee? That may be your grandma's and grandpa's but mine was Adam and Eve.

Yet in all this GOD still loves the atheist, the buddhist, the islamic, etc because he created them and still wants them to change and follow him. I speak forcefully because I'm tired of people being jelly backs to the ways of the world. I got the HOLY GHOST in me the spirit of CHRIST and no man is going to tell me my GOD can't do something just because another man says so.

I came to peace with that along time ago, but I'm apart of the unsilent majority and may the LORD deal with you in his way and shut this website of Satan down. You already believe a delusion but maybe you're okay with that. JESUS bless.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah and by the way if evolving means seeking man's wisdom for universal answers then that's not evolution and putting aside a universal supreme God for a carnal foolish man. I'd rather rely on a supreme GOD, than a man who can die from choking on a chicken bone, a car wreck, heart attack etc.

Oh yeah and names on this post last time didn't think about it.

Krystalline Apostate said...

Oh, steven, thanks for the laughs. I was pretty much ROFLMAO for most of that diatribe.
There's no Satan, there's no god, there's no justice, there's just us.
I'd advise spending more time reading & learning critical thinking skills, rather than taking hits on your bong.
Because I've heard better arguments from stoners.