Yahweh - The Abrahamic Christian God ***
The tragedy that our civilization experienced at the hands of the Christians should have come as no surprise, for the followers of Yahweh had a history of religious bigotry and mass-murder which began over 1200 years before they came to power in Rome. Let us return to that more distant past for a few moments, and consider the background of the god known as Yahweh.
The land of Canaan consisted of what is now Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and western Iraq. The Kurgan invasion of that area occurred before the advent of recorded history, however by about 2500 BCE, we know that the primary deity in the region was El , a promiscuous, jealous and violent god of the sky.
Post-invasion Canaanite culture developed in much the same way as it did in the other Kurgan territories... the introduction of their war-god soon lead to an ever-expanding polytheism, and organized religion transitioned more and more into a mechanism of social and political control. Persecution over religion, however, was virtually unknown. The Kurgan warlords were satisfied with attaining military control in the conquered areas, and as long as their particular war-god was accepted as the highest-ranking deity, they were unconcerned with any other religious beliefs that the indigenous people might have.
Following the Trojan War (ca. 1200 BCE) Canaan was left in ruins... it's major cities had been destroyed, and it's army had been virtually wiped out. This created an opportunity for a nearby tribe of nomadic bandits and raiders to invade and conquer the area. Egyptian records refer to them as the Shasu or the Habiru, but they later became known as the Hebrews.
The Hebrews worshipped a violent war-god known as Yahweh , who was apparently derived from the Sumerian deity Anu , another Kurgan war-god with very similar qualities. For several centuries, the Hebrews co-existed with the Canaanites and allowed them to practice their own religions. Over time, however, the Priests of Yahweh came to regard this as a threat to their power. They declared that the Canaanite religions were corrupting their people, and that only the worship of Yahweh should be permitted.
Persecution of the Canaanites began around 900 BCE, when the Hebrew King Asa destroyed all of their temples in Judah, and murdered all of the Priests and Priestesses. Next, around 840 BCE, King Jehu took matters a step furthur, by mass-murdering every non-Hebrew in Samaria, and destroying their temples... killing over 30,000 men, women and children. Ultimately, in 620 BCE, King Josiah completely outlawed all non-Hebrew religions throughout Canaan, destroyed all of their remaining temples, and murdered all of their Priests and Priestesses.
The Hebrews worshipped a violent war-god known as Yahweh , who was apparently derived from the Sumerian deity Anu , another Kurgan war-god with very similar qualities. For several centuries, the Hebrews co-existed with the Canaanites and allowed them to practice their own religions. Over time, however, the Priests of Yahweh came to regard this as a threat to their power. They declared that the Canaanite religions were corrupting their people, and that only the worship of Yahweh should be permitted.
Persecution of the Canaanites began around 900 BCE, when the Hebrew King Asa destroyed all of their temples in Judah, and murdered all of the Priests and Priestesses. Next, around 840 BCE, King Jehu took matters a step furthur, by mass-murdering every non-Hebrew in Samaria, and destroying their temples... killing over 30,000 men, women and children. Ultimately, in 620 BCE, King Josiah completely outlawed all non-Hebrew religions throughout Canaan, destroyed all of their remaining temples, and murdered all of their Priests and Priestesses.
The religious genocide of the Hebrews finally came to an end around 600 BCE, when the area was taken over by nations such as Babylon, and later Persia. Although it would be nearly 1000 years before western civilization would suffer another attempt to establish a religious monopoly by force, it would once again be the followers of Yahweh who would be responsible. This time they would call themselves Christians, but just as the Hebrews had done before, they would employ mass-murder to destroy all other religions... and on a far larger scale.
It should be obvious that no truly spiritual people would behave in such a way, and no genuine deity would condone such actions. It has sometimes been said that we cannot blame Yahweh for the mistakes of his followers, but in truth, there have been no mistakes made. The nature of Yahweh, as described in the old and new testaments, as well as our historical understanding of his character as a Kurgan war-god, clearly demonstrates that he is a jealous and violent deity. Naturally, anyone who worships such a deity will eventually come to emulate it.
From 300 CE to as recently as 1800 CE Christians continued to use torture and murder to force conversions, while stealing and extorting large amounts of wealth for themselves. These were not isolated acts by a few misguided followers or a rogue clergyman, but were in fact planned and orchestrated at the highest levels, in literally thousands of cases, by well-known Bishops and Popes. Although Christian scholars in the past did a good job of concealing these crimes, it seems that the manner in which their religion actually obtained it's wealth and power is finally becoming public knowledge.
I feel sorry for the many good-hearted but ignorant Christians in the world, because they will soon have a very shocking and bitter truth to face. However, if they do in fact wish to find true spirituality with a loving and benevolent deity, then they should realize that the Goddess is the only historically attested figure that actually fits that definition... and as modern followers of the Goddess, we will be ready to extend the hand of friendship to them, and help in whatever way we can.
Finally, we must recognize that another major world religion, Islam, also follows a violent war-god of very similar characteristics to Yahweh... and it has proven to be yet another source of hatred and violence. In addition, in Muslim countries all information is strictly controlled and manipulated by religious authorities. The coming of any enlightenment to Muslims, therefore, will probably take much longer than with Christians... and until that time, they will continue to represent a serious threat to world peace.
In our culture, the first source of human values is religion. Even before a child begins to watch television, enters school, or matures and joins the workforce, they learn basic values from the parents... and those values are usually drawn from religion. To worship a violent war-god, who punishes people for minor infractions and burns them in hell, instills a terrible attitude in our consciousness. These sorts of faulty paradigms, of domination and violent reprisal, have for centuries lead us into unnecessary wars, domestic violence, child abuse, and all manner of suffering. Only by going to the root of the problem, and replacing those faulty paradigms with values of peace and cooperation, can we hope to change the way people think and act, and restore a proper respect for life, nature, and the environment....
