Ok, so right now I have just started reading the Bible, and I'm reading the book of Genesis right now, so there's one part in Genesis where a group of people live in this tower called "Babel" and for some reason it says God scatterered everybody from this tower and moved them in different places in the world or something like that. So my question is: What was God's problem with this tower? Why did he feel the need to interfere?
According to the Bible, He was displeased with them because they attempted to build a tower tall enough to reach the heavens, which was the realm of the divine and humans were not to enter. There were so many of them and their technological expertise had grown to a point that they had the means to build such a tower, so God scattered them and their languages, rendering them unable to communicate, and most likely giving birth to the name Babel. (babble)
Basically it was their arrogance that pissed god off. They sought a way around god. They thought they could build the tower to Heaven and in doing so could circumvent god.
The punishment of hubris, quite often in totally disproportionate ways, is pretty common in myth. They give a clear sense that there are some things man just shouldn't do. The natural consequences of the act don't in themselves portray it as a terrible thing to do, so God has to step in and make it a bad thing to do. No explanation needed. So when an annoying kid is asking why people speak different languages and won't let up, the effect of the Babel myth is twofold: 1) it offers an explanation as to why people speak different languages, and 2) it makes it clear that God doesn't approve of inquisitive kids who won't shut up. I don't know, I'd be interested to know if any Biblical literalists genuinely believe that ancient civilisations had the architectural nous to be able to seriously worry God. The most detailed account of the Tower of Babel's dimensions, from The Book Of Jubliees, puts it at less than two miles, and... you know... we've been that far up since. We've learned each other's languages (or imposed them upon others). If the myth was to be taken literally, we should probably be expecting to have our tongues "confused" again pretty soon.
"Behold! The birds of the sky. They do not sow or reap, yet God feeds them." - My best friend, Jeebus. Man becomes arrogant and beliefs that he is somehow superior to nature and we end up wanting to conquer it. Eventually, our need to conquer nature just ends up conquering ourselves. NYC is just another Babel. Think about how much wealth merchants stole from others through their endeavors. We have world famines yet it's somehow ok to have a city that requires extraneous resources to keep up. It's selfish and greedy. Simple as that. (P.S. Who knew tribulations would suck this much, lol. Boy does it suck.)
Btw, Hoatzin, you really have gone into the deep end. I still love you. God bless you. I miss the old Hoatzin and would like to see him again.
The son is pissed off alright Shooting that arrow in the sky is symbolic to trying to conquer the sky itself. Trying to conquer God and the world. And, really, shooting an arrow in the air. That's so ridiculous. YAAA I CONQUERED THE SKY. woo hoo
