RE: fairy tales and lies
November 9, 2015 at 5:22 am
(This post was last modified: November 9, 2015 at 5:23 am by Wyrd of Gawd.)
(November 8, 2015 at 6:24 pm)Aroura Wrote: I think the idea that we are outgrowing fairy tale is interesting. Sorry if this derails your post (and I'm sorry you work in a church...:p). Feel free to rant away though!Many of the biblical stories are ridiculous if you don't understand their purpose. They are intended to show one of the Ten Commandments from Exodus chapter 34 in action and to remind the reader/listener of the basic rule, which is to believe and to obey without exception. In some of the stories the characters were real creeps but as long as they did what they were told to do without exception they were held in high esteem. If they disobeyed and refused to carry out what they had been told to do them they got dumped on.
Humans seem to thrive on story telling, and that is a great thing. I do notice that modern fairy tales are changing the narrative, and the whole way we view stories. Stories with one dimensional villains are not as widely liked, and heroes with some major flaws have become more popular. Black and white stories are not even fun for kids anymore.
I read old stories with my daughter, like Jack and the Beanstalk, and I think, what IS the moral of the story? Burgle and murder the guy who lives in a bigger house than you, and you will be rewarded? That's not a god message. Make deals with and have faith in shady strangers where-in they promise you a handful of "magic beans", if you just give them a valuable cow right now? (Can anyone say Televangelist). That's not a good message either.
Almost no stories in the Bible have much moral value to us today. I like how the new Noah tired to put a modern perspective on that old chestnut, and I think did pretty well. I can't wait until it is more widely accepted AS a fairy tale, so more of the stories can get make-overs.
For instance, in 1 Samuel chapter 15 Samuel appoints Saul as king of Israel at the Lord's direction. The Samuel tells Saul that the Lord wants him to slaughter the Amalekites, kill all of the men, women, infants and nursing children, and all of their ox, sheep, camels, and donkeys. Now Saul wasn't a complete bastard so he showed some mercy. That pissed the Lord off and he regretted that he had made Saul king and then plotted to have David overthrow him.
An interesting verse is 1 Samuel 15:15, in which Saul refers to the Lord as Samuel's God and not his. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?
search=1%20Samuel%2015:15&version=CEB;CEV;JUB;MEV;VOICE We know from history that the ancient emperors referred to themselves as God. So in this story Samuel was an envoy to the vassal king Saul, who didn't carry out his orders. Consequently he was kicked to the curb because he didn't obey.
