005 [audio]

[farfairersoul]

...Do you people actually believe this?

Makers, and I thought the Mar and Precursor legends were overbearing.

[Pauses to clear his throat quietly.]

"There an angel of the Lord appeared to him from a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. 'This is strange!' he said to himself."

[Pause.]

...No, really?

[

Comments

[fred_cassidy]

Any culture's mythology sounds ludicrous from the outside. Myths of any sort provide societal coherence and a manner of identifying outsiders.

For an outsider, the importance of any particular mythology is that it reveals what the culture believes about itself.

[farfairersoul]

I am fairly certain that, regardless of which side of the glass one stands on, the idea of a god lighting a bush on fire to get the attention of a mortal is idiotic. And following the leadership of someone who will run headlong into that fire is equally foolish.

Yes, I chose his words on purpose.

[fred_cassidy]

The precursors of the Israelites were nomadic desert herdsmen. Their tribal deity was a sun and war god--

Dammit, this thing doesn't have a Hebrew text function. I don't want it to translate!

--ah, anyway, a god whose name is probably best Anglicized as "Yahweh." It makes perfect mythological sense that such a deity would appear in flames. And there's not a lot else to burn in a desert but bushes.

lol way to be confusing

[farfairersoul]

I assume you use the term "precursors" in its improper form. Otherwise it brings to mind some rather contradictory mental images.

Not that it particularly avoids that in the intended use.

[He's trying to figure out what the hell kind of god is based on the sun. That's just stupid. (This, coming from a man whose entire species was made by talking orange ferret-things.)]

Oh hey Nashi, have all my characters! 8Db

[yousoundblue]

That was at least 3000 years ago; you can't hold counterfactual beliefs against primitive societies. They didn't know any better.

Are they in their original packaging?

[farfairersoul]

I was under the impression that a great deal of people still hold faith in this set of beliefs.

Lika sure is. >_>

[yousoundblue]

Not in my universe.

[And Lika's universe is, of course, the best of all possible worlds. Just ask her.]

Sweet, she'll be worth more on eBay.

[farfairersoul]

[I'm sure Razer would disagree with you on that, cupcake.]

If you do not mind my asking, how many people from your universe are there on this lovely oceanbound excuse for a prison?

[heavyweaponsbot]

If you stay away from the source of the fire, how are you to learn the cause?

[farfairersoul]

Common sense dictates that moving headlong into a fire is stupid.

I can't account for people who lack this particular gift, obviously, but they are hardly the kind of person I would want to place any kind of religious faith in.

[heavyweaponsbot]

Depends. I am not made of flammable material. Poking around in a flaming substance would have little effect on me, or my kind. So... common sense would be different.

[farfairersoul]

[Flatly.]

...That would change things a bit, yes.

[farfairersoul]

"Saint" is a new term. Heaven and hell are relative, and extremely vague. Our "demons" have perfectly logical explanations regarding their existence, and I have yet to put much stock in the "sin" argument. Or been faced with much religious doctrine to support it.

I am beginning to understand that the gods responsible for my world's creation are significantly less invasive than you roundears are accustomed to.

[farfairersoul]

[Light laugh.]

Makers, no, we have evil. More than our fair share, given that we have been at war for longer than anyone in the world has been alive. But we have--or had--monsters and twisted gods to fill in that niche quite nicely.

Not to mention the Precursors obviously don't care. If they gave a damn about what we did with ourselves, I doubt much of this last era's major events would have taken place at all.

in this post, a bird misses the point

[seagullmun]

Someone going to a fire isn't that weird. What if he was cold? Or needed to cook something? People cook all sorts of stuff over fires. Sometimes people come to the beach hours before the sun goes down just to claim a spot where they can start a fire- and then they just watch it for hours. You don't really understand fire, do you?

[Lenny is used to pyrophobics, but they're usually birds. Maybe this guy isn't so bright.]

and so a man-elf-thing stabs him with it

[farfairersoul]

He was not cold. He was not interested in cooking. He was not in a position to sit in front of a fire and contemplate the universe.

He was herding some sort of animal--I think--

[Razer has no clue what a sheep or a goat is, so he's not sure.]

--saw something on fire, and said "How strange. I think I'll go toward it instead of gathering up my beasts and telling my wife and family that the field is on fire."

And apparently he was supposed to be some sort of great leader.

enjoy your dead bird, then

[seagullmun]

Woah woah, wait up- I thought you said one bush was burning, not a whole field. Sounds to me like the story keeps changing.

well I am kinda hungry...

[farfairersoul]

[This is Razer, coming to a conclusion.]

You are an idiot, aren't you?