|
Twice Told Tales
North Miami Beach, FL May 21, 2002
A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.
TWICE TOLD TALES AND REUSED CHARACTERS
I once worked at a summer camp when a visitor who was the camp
Director there before me gave me a piece of advice that I heard repeated
over the years and I think is true. He told me that all camps are the same.
Just the names on the shirt are different. In other words, there is nothing
new under the sun. It has all been said and experienced before.
At this Morning at Temple Sinai a group of 30 heard a review of
the book, Who Wrote the Bible by Richard Elliot Friedman. The information
shared by a very good speaker brought together many of the bits and pieces I
have gleaned over the years about this question, "Who Wrote the Bible?"
True believers are quite sure that text of the five books of Moses and the
more historical books that followed were the revealed word of God. There may
be more fights over the authorship of these books than over any other.
This "Revelation" is a problem for thinkers. Osama bin Laden
knows (it was revealed to him) that the Will of Allah would be carried out
by people trained by his Al Queda organization. Thus, he could believe in
really unbelievable things - that airplanes could be crashed into our towers
(that outrivaled the Tower of Babel) and bring them down.
We have stories of heroes and heroines. There are the stories of
their great loves. We have the notion of the serpent coming into the Garden
of Eden and spoiling that world for them. Down through history we have the
heroic figure of Gilgamesh from ancient Sumer being repeated in the person
of the MAN ON HORSEBACK coming with sword in hand to smite our enemies. He,
of course, wears shining armor and a white hat at times while his enemies
wear black. We could also carry this notion over to devilish red versus
shining white wings of angels. The statues to leaders who preferred being
portrayed on horseback go back to the ancient Greeks who set the standard
for Roman leaders who organized the world to suit their view of it.
Whether it be new versions of destruction of civilizations or the
sheriff riding in on a white horse to rescue the helpless widow and orphan
it has all been told before. Carol's Evaluation: 9.5 out of 10.
|
 |
|