Mel Gibson�s lill� flick is no more
controversial than any other fanatic fantasy fable is, was, or will be.

NOW, if you want to hear the f-a-c-t-s about how the �one god� concept was incorporated into culture,
here is the history

BTW: this would have made it too #1, on Mp3.com�s Poetry/Spoken-Word chart, if ole� Viggo Mortensen hadn�t of hogged the top and #2 position, for-(just about)-ever
http://www.ic-musicmedia.com/artist_pages/songpage.php?mp3id=83390

per above post:

I've come out of this type of generation ...where they think they are discovering something for the first time.
I've been into all the nooks and crannies of all the years that evolved... thru Vietnam, flower power, civil unrest, changing the world, Hendrix, and everything that all this includes... AND thru it all I learned one thing if anything:
I wouldn't go back for a million dollars. The old adage..." if I only knew then what I know now, how wonderful THAT would be"....applies loudly.

I thought it was pretty entertaining. There were some frightening moments that evoked Howard Dean's infamous Primal Scream.

However, as Nard says, "There is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Like Nard, I studied a lot of traditions (still do, actually). Rather than saying this is "the" history of the origin of monotheism, it would be more accurate to say that this is "one" account of "a" possible history of the founding of the idea of a monotheistic tradition. Besides, there is some debate whether or not this tradition represented a one-God-more-powerful-than-the-other-gods or whether it actually repesented a true monotheism.

But it was fun to watch, and represents some study and work.

Hey, Nard, did you go through that entire time and never LISTEN to or read anything
by anyone else? Because you didn't listen to my lill' ditties, now did you?
Well, here you go, you can read 'Part I'
now.
BTW: I wouldn't go there either, the 60s were AWFUL - the 1860s, the 1960s, the 2060s - it just comes with the DNA.
BTW (again): If you go to m� main artist page you can listen to m� parody [to the tune of "Here Comes Santa Clause] entitled "Jesus is a Fraud."

�

{NOTE: This [both] made it to #3 on Mp3.com�s Spoken Word/Poetry Chart}

*clap of thunder followed by a background ghostly robotic musical creation, by moi*

�Myriad moons ago, in the land of Pharaoh, there came to power a Being of wondrous propensities.
He was called Amenhotep IV. Amemhotep IV envisioned, and then implemented, a monumental and unsurpassed addition to culture. Amenhotep IV was the first to have a society introduced to the theology of a one-god religion. Yes, Amenhotep IV institutionalized monotheism, a religion of one god.
This was a true monotheism, not the polytheism that Judaism, Christianity and Islam, each usually having at least two gods ~ the one
all-benevolent, the other all-evil ~ have been for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Yes, Amenhotep proclaimed the Aten, the Sun God, as the only god in all the universe; he even changed his name to reflect this new devotional imagery.
No prosaic Pharaoh was he, the works of Egyptian art were advanced to a vastly, almost impressionist, beautiful form.

Of course when a vast change comes many resist it. After all, the feebleminded peasants were content to have had their religion spoonfeed to them by, less than astute, ancestors.
The established priests didn�t want one-god concepts cutting into their lucrative, wholly unholy, business.

Nevertheless, the Pharaohs were considered gods in their own right.
Ergo, any opposition to the new religion was wee and reserved. But the only people to sincerely embrace Amenhotep s religion were the upperclass, very well educated members of his governmental theocratic oligarchy. This was no small number, the ancient Egyptian government was a vast institution.

Not terribly long after Amenhotep's demise the priests and peasants of the polytheist deities were once again able to gain political power.
They began a systematic, and extremely well financed, program of wiping any trace of the reign of Amenhotep IV from the face of the Earth. His name, original as well as his new, were obliterated from temple, obelisk, monument and papyrus.
The polytheist re-writers of history were very efficient, but not 100% so. Monotheism�s followers were also persecuted.
To even utter the former Pharaoh�s name was a crime punishable by a sound thrashing or even death!
Thus, these believes in a single god, who used to end all prayers by speaking the new name Amenhotep had chosen, reverted back to ending their supernally aimed beseeching with the words - �Freed From Doubt by Amenhotep.�
But this was also seen as a blasphemous act by the ancient polytheistic spin-doctors. So, they needed to end their prayers, to their singular god, with another sound of solemn ratification. And that way soon became the word - - - AMEN�

*muiscal swell*
*different background music, somewhat springily, by lill� ole� me*

�Moreover, Those who descended from Amenhotep's followers, though many changes have been made to their religion over the long years, became know as... the Jews.�

*music now becomes the gospel classic �Amen� with lyrical redo by me*
[NOTE: I sing this using my, most excellent, Louie Armstrong impression]

Amen
Hotep
Amen hotep amen

Groovin� with his sweety
her name was Nefertiti

amen hotep amen

real style down by the Nile
a pile of p�t� crocodile

amen hotep hotep

{ fin }




[This message has been edited by TOR (edited 02-19-2004).]

[This message has been edited by TOR (edited 02-19-2004).]

You haven't written anything that I haven't heard in some form before... Gee, go back to the 'Beautiful Vision' people of the 50's. They were called Beatniks by society. They carried the same tune as you.
Show me something new....

Better yet. Let's get back to Bradbury. There are other boards for other topics. This is a Bradbury site.

Thanks, Mr. Dark....Where would sanity be without you at times like this...?

Just bought a ticket for the last night (February 28th) of Ray's play, 'Drunk and in Charge of a Bicycle'...
Onward................

I'm jealous. If you get to see Ray, tell him his virtual community sends thier love (even if he does disown us!).

Hey, Nard, you say you've heard it before - do have the names of the people you "Heard" it from. A book title, an article name, an ISBN? Do you?

BTW: Jesus was created by Ovid.
If you had listened, you'd know I said that - and NO ONE said that before moi.

TOR

You're probably a nice guy... Okay?
But ..."""I'm not going to continue to comment anymore."""

You have enough stuff out there to get your stories straight...or to get them bent out of shape. You have to start choosing wisely.

Also, like Mr. Dark mentioned, "THIS"...isn't the place to present your story. I brought Mel Gibson up and his work, because both Ray Bradbury and Mel Gibson worked together on a project recently that Mel dropped, and thus labored to finish this current work.

"Heard," but no names, titles, or ISBN, huh?

BTW: NO ONE (that I know of) ever equated Amenhotep IV�s followers as being the Jewish folk before moi done did do that.

"Heard," but no names, titles, or ISBN, huh?

Tor:

I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt . . . Please show me HOW this topic relates to Bradbury and an appreciation of his works. If you can give us a good tie-in, then I can see how this topic is of interest on this site. If not, I recommend you find sites on early Christianity, the history of mono-theism, Egyptology, etc., and carry this discussion to a place where it has relevance.

I'm struggling to see a Bradbury tie-in on this.

The Pa$$ion of the Chri$t

Wouldn't it be GREAT to have superheros in outer space, I would dig it;
it would be better than just superegos here on our salty ball of mud.

Now, much of the Pa$$ion is just that, $ .

However, there are different levels of Ovid's tale that are in & of themselves mostly suppression burstin� forth, i.e. Girls shouldn't chase guys in real life - Frankie, Elvis, The Beatles.

With the Je$u$ character one of the most evident mindscapes is splendiferously represented by my lill� Yahoo Group satire.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gallerygaysado/

Hey, Mr. Dark, I like Nard's Bardbury URLs he posted.

About Gibson's film, I post a few interesting web-sites: http://www.thelife.com

( movie-clips ) http://www.buzzplant.com/passion/ http://www.sharethelife.com http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/newsletter065.htm http://www.thepassiontoolbox.org/ http://www.passionofchrist.com/

BTW: I thought Bradbury had ceased to exist - I don't get out much - hooray!

TOR:

Jesus Christ Himself could come down and tell me he was not the son of man and I would tell Him He must be mistaken.