Pt 1
Intolerance seems to be built into the first commandment which is a trait of monotheistic religions that followed since Akhnaton ,( the father of Tut),decreed the very same commandment "Thou shalt have no other god before me,"except he substituted the "Aten" in place of all the other gods in the temples of Egypt.He enforced his theocratic monotheism under the threat of death with the might of the Egyptian army of his era.His preoccupation developing a cult that allowed him to do what ever he wished morally and loot the considerable wealth from all the other temples (gods),almost brought down that entire Empire,in fact the Egyptian Pharonic blood line really stops at his son,Tutankhaten ,known to us as Tutankhamun.Tut changed his name or had his name changed by his uncle , the next king ,as a gesture of goodwill to bring back polytheism to Egypt .The worship of the"Aten" was outlawed on punishment of death by Horemheb , the Pharaoh after Aye( Tut's uncle)and continued by Rameses after Horemheb died.Later Judaism,Christianity, and finally Islam continued this same self supporting tradition of intolerance when they come to their powers with the threat of violence and death to all who opposed them , the non believers ,over the centuries.Theoretically, at least , people should be able to express varied opinions on Facebook. I haven't noticed the "Atheist wing" of Facebook ,not that I would wish to join in. I would rather be seen as one of the "Shepherd Kings"who were enemies of the Egyptians and feared because they didn't join together but worshiped different gods and had their own armies and supported individual agendas.That sounds like "Freedom" to me.
Pt 2 a further response..
"The Golden Rule"looks good on paper and spouting the party line will gather the tribe together for a chorus of "Amens"but the ancient Jewish tradition of arguing in the temple wasn't a rote memorization but a way of reasoning with the ideas of morality from the Torah and the old books ,their meanings brought forth clearer by discussion and commentary.My bringing up the topic of recorded ancient Egyptian history here may not fair well but what I cited was the birth of intolerance,the beginning of monotheism and theocracy.Monotheist have spun commentary on history to suggest that monotheism was a step up from polytheism in it's abstract personal omniscient,yet omnipresent god that abandoned idolatry,but polytheism intrinsically was tolerant of others. Now, when the first commandment is cited in each sect of the continuation of monotheism in the Hebraic tradition, each denomination or each monotheist tribe of Jews, Christians,or Muslims,is really pointing to their own personal gods,versions endorsed by their communities,supported by secular commentary on the basic writings as seen by the individually developed and separated tribes.Do the Muslim martyrs go to the same heaven as the Jewish and Christian martyrs?There are as many sects of Islam as there are Christian variations.Are there as many heavens?Their interpretations of the Koran vary from Jihad to Submissive peace but,again,it all looks good on paper.Off the paper and into the world, Muslims can drink,smoke,take drugs,kill,divorce,lie,and generally sin just as well as Jews and Christians.Do they go to the same hell?The answer depends on which church survives the"Rapture","Armegedon",or the final"Jihad".This moment,now is real, typing, thinking,reading,and communicating.Good or bad, this moment we are alive.The goodness of this moment is universally accepted across all religious denominations.It would be nice if the world could concentrate on this moment and accept the goodness of life and see the agreements and not the differences.
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