The man who created god. (An extraordinary businessmsn for his time.)

A man created god.

   Q. Yes way? No way?

                                           
                                                      A. Yes way.

If and when some of us ever think of the people who lived about three thousand years ago in Palestine and the immediate surrounding area, we probably have a tendency to imagine them as being an uneducated and backward civilization. In terms of education the answer is yes but in terms of backwardness it’s a straight no. The only difference between them and us is knowledge and understanding of the surrounding world. 

Their way of living was much comparable to ours. A daily routine existed and they had their drunks and thieves and lazy members of society as we do. There were small businesses at the village market that only required the work of their owner in order to function properly and there were larger ones such as wine and beer making, animal hide tanning, olive growing and olive oil extracting that had to hire workers in order to reach success.

There were intelligent and resourceful businessmen present in every day life but were there super, extraordinary businessmen among them capable of foreseeing the potentially “highly successful” results of their endeavors? I’m talking here about remarkable men comparable to Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, men who had the skills to forge the manner in which people think and behave and who were capable of enough foresight and displayed the required skills to develop a business to the point were it would become recognized and considered as a super business. The answer to my question is yes; one.

There was, in that area, at that particular time, one man who was able to recognize that the population, in general, needed to have something or someone to hang on to in order to function properly in its daily life. That same population also believed in some sort of after life and could not imagine that after one dies that it’s all over for him. That same guy also noticed that not only rich men were willing and ready to sacrifice an animal to some god of their choice but that the poorest of people were doing the same thing as well, although it only might have been a chicken and that the sacrifice of that animal meant that their children would go without food for a day or two. His conclusion was that all walks of life wanted to believe and were ready and happy to give, no matter as to what their financial status was. 

It was at that moment that a light came on in his head and that he decided to invent one, single, imaginary god whom he credited with the creation of the earth and humanity, and whom you could join and live with, for eternity, in your afterlife. Wasn’t that enough to make everybody happy? You bet it was! He developed his idea, established rules of living for his future followers and that there should be a member contribution towards his movement and hit the road carrying his soapbox under his arm. And bring gold into the kitty, he did! Thousands of ounces of it but not only did he create a religion to which millions now adhere to and contribute millions to, he successfully infiltrated the king’s dictatorship and managed to have it considered as a tax-exempt business. I humbly and cheerfully lift my hat off to that man for his genius. 

The man and his religion did so well that he eventually decided to build a large temple in order to gather all of his followers in one place at convenient times. The more often that he gathered them and the more people that there were to those gatherings equaled to only one, expected result; more money was put in the kitty.

He, and eventually the high priests who followed him, was able to raise so much gold that king Nebuchadnezzar II decided some five hundred years BC to invade Jerusalem in order to steal the treasure before destroying the temple. In the year seventy A.D., the Romans who needed lots of money in order to build the Coliseum, did exactly the same thing. 

When you read the word “treasure” you know damn well that that word means big, big amounts of money (gold). So for all of you who still think that sex runs the world, I think that it’s time for you to believe that religious money does.

Whether you agree with or have an objection to my blog, leave a comment. I’m open to favorable or unfavorable criticism and what you write might enlighten other readers or myself. Thank you.

© 2011 Jean-Paul Gosselin

Take this with you.

Several years ago, the Catholic Church required women to wear a head covering in order to enter the sanctuary. One Sunday a lady arrived without her head covering. The priest informed her that she couldn’t enter without it.

A few moments later, the lady re-appeared wearing her blouse tied to her head. The shocked priest said: "Madam, I cannot allow you to enter this holy place without your wearing a blouse."

"But Father, I have a divine right," she claimed.

 "Yes, I see. And your left one isn't bad either, but you still must wear a blouse to enter *this* church!" he insisted.

Have a swell day, stay relaxed, have a beer and don’t forget: keep smiling. Life is good. Buena la vida. La vie est belle.