Freethought Nation News and Commentary

Muslim states reject UN ban on violence against women as violating Islamic law

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 03:35:36 +0000

How can it continue to be maintained that Islam is peaceful and "good for women?" Not only does the Koran sanction discrimination and bigotry against women, as well as wife-beating, but Islamic or sharia law includes the right to marry females of any age and to have sex with girls as young as nine years old. Women are considered worth one-half of men, if that, and female sexuality is viewed as so perilous that women in fundamentalist areas and families must wear oppressive clothing. Moreover, around 140 million women and girls worldwide have their genitals hacked off or otherwise mutilated, the bulk of which female genital mutilation is justified in the name of Islam.

Now, Islamic states have rejected legislation by the United Nations Human Rights Council that would outlaw violence against women, including rape within a marital situation. It is claimed that not beating and raping women, therefore, is "un-Islamic," which means that beating and raping women is Islamic. Again, how will defenders of Islam keep up the charade of "peace" and benefit for females?

Below is the Kuwait News Ageny report on this latest disgrace involving the world's most misogynistic ideology. The highlighted paragraphs concern the "right" of men according to Islamic law to beat and rape their wives, as well as the ability of a rapist to escape prosecution by "marrying" his victim, whether or not she is willing. Also rejected were sections of the resolution that "subdued" the prosecution of rape victims for "moral crimes or slander." It need not be pointed out that the prosecution and imprisonment of rape victims is among the lowest forms of barbarism in the world. Yet, here these various Islamic states are acknowledging that such anti-woman savagery is part of Islam.

Will women's organizations finally pick up the ball on this issue, or will they continue to pretend dishonestly that this problem doesn't exist? Until we tackle the religious ideology driving this sexism, misogyny and gynophobia, we will never end the abuse of women and girls worldwide. Let us have no more irrational and immoral defenses and pandering that only allow for this suffering to continue.

Islamic states frown on Islam-opposing paragraphs of UNHCR violence against women resolution

GENEVA, June 14 (KUNA) -- Islamic member states of the United Nations Council for Human Rights (UNHCR) rejected on Friday paragraphs violating the Islamic law in the council's resolution on the elimination of all forms of violence against women, noting that the member states must make sure that their laws and national policies are consistent with the rejected demands.

The rejections include the paragraph, which gives women "the right to control matters concerning their sexual lives as well as their reproductive health without coercion, discrimination or violence." They also rejected the paragraph that allows performing judicial proceedings in cases of rape within marriage, the abolition of provisions that require the matching of certificates and allow the rapist to escape prosecution by marrying him to his victim as well as subduing victims of sexual violence to prosecution for moral crimes or slander.

The Islamic countries also frowned on the paragraph that urges abortion in the context of the provision of health care services to rape victims, rape avoidance and other forms of violence against women and girls.

This resolution calls on the states to demonstrate their commitment to the prevention of sexual violence through the enhancement of women's human rights, protection, equal participation in communities to men, in addition to taking necessary action to make sure that women are active in decision-making, including matters of peace processes, transitional justice, democratic transition and constitutional reform.

It also urges the states to increase measures taken to protect women and girls from all violence forms, including sexual violence by addressing issues related to their safety and security through several means such as awareness, involvement of local communities, enacting laws to prevent crime, as well as the provision of infrastructure, public transportation and health facilities, street lighting and improvement of urban planning. (end) ta.ba KUNA 141639 Jun 13NNNN

Dear Muslim: A message from an ex-Muslim

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:27:47 +0000

Thank you very much for all the kind words on my previous article here, "How Islam failed me." I hope the children of Allah will come to their senses and find humanity within their heart. You, the fighters of Allah, must do some soul searching. You must educate yourself. Islam glorifies death by calling many of its martyrs the "soldiers of Allah." Islam preaches superiority of the "we," and inferiority of the "other."

Dear Muslim, being born human comes with a precious gift: the gift to think and decide for yourself. Islam has robbed you of this gift from birth. Parents, aided by relatives and brainwashed by slaveholder imams and mullahs, colluded and did the thinking for you when you were still in no position to exercise your right. They branded you as Muslim, simply because you were born in a Muslim family. Cattle are branded, not humans. Cattle are owned by others. Humans are not. Having branded you "Muslim," those who robbed you of your gift of self-determination dared you to leave their bondage under the threat of death as apostate.

Dear Muslim, you have been intelligent enough to forsake failed Islamic lands for a better life elsewhere. Dar-ul-Aman has given refuge. Now that you are in a free society, you want to reclaim your stolen gift of liberty and freedom of choice. You want to shatter the shackles of Islam that has enchained you from birth. You want to take your place in the ranks of the supporters and promoters of liberty that democracy provides and Islam destroys.

Dear Muslim, you know full well that it is Islam's dysfunctional doctrine with its stone-age rule of the Shariah that is responsible for the abominable conditions of the Islamic countries.

Contrary to the preachers of hate – the Islamic clergy of vested interests – the "infidels" are not your enemies: they demonstrate their goodwill by giving you refuge; your deadly enemy is the interpretation of the doctrine of Islam that keeps you captive even in freedom.

Religion is a powerful force. And as is the case with any force, it can do work of the good or that of the evil. And when there is multiplicity of religions at loggerheads with one another the forces clash and any benefit that religion offers is offset by potentially huge costs.

Dear Muslim, you have taken a great step by coming to the Dar-ul-Aman in search of self-betterment. Now, you need to take the next step of purging your mind of the Psychosocial Virus of fundamentalist Islam you contracted unwillingly: you want to do all you can to give your children their gift of humanity by not doing to them what your parents did to you, so that they can, unencumbered by the dogma of hate, become emancipated human beings.

This "refuge," a nation of all nations called America, is indeed the harbinger of the not too far away world of the future. A future world where liberty rules supreme and fascisms of all forms, including Islamofascism, will be remembered as horrific impediments to humanity's ever-forward-march toward the goal of making this presently darksome village earth a reflection of heaven.

Best wishes,
Amil Imani

Let's end religious fanaticism and hatred!

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:55:36 +0000

Forcing children and other innocents into a religion, sect or cult, without educating them about options or giving them choices, represents CHILD ABUSE and FASCISM.

Adding death threats to the mix, as punishment for individuals leaving the religion, sect or cult, is just plain EVIL.

If you are a member of a religion/cult that teaches such behavior, please leave it NOW, in droves. Such spiritual enslavement and psychological terrorism need to be bankrupted once and for all. No more patronage, period.

"Come on, people now, smile on your brother/sister, everybody get together, and try to love one another right now!"

Moses versus Dionysus? Buddha and Jesus? Orpheus or Christ?

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Tue, 28 May 2013 15:18:47 +0000

In case you haven't gotten copies of the enclosed ebooks, be sure to take a look. At this slow time of the year, I am still in need of assistance for my Moses project. As one can imagine, in consideration of the massive amount literature written about the subject over the past 2,500 years or so, this task is quite daunting, and I want to make it the best possible resource.

Thus, I need more time, so if you would like to contribute to the cause once or ongoing by subscription, your effort would be greatly appreciated and rewarded by another Stellar House publication. There are several ways to contribute, including purchasing my ebooks. Here I've included a sampling of the three latest ones.

The Moses-Dionysus Connection

The Moses-Dionysus Connection is a 15-page ebook/PDF highlighting the commonalities between the Hebrew lawgiver and the Greek god, also known as Bacchus. This ebook represents an adaptation of the forthcoming book Did Moses Exist? The Myth of the Israelite Lawgiver.

Why have scholars since the early 17th century - many of them Christian theologians - composed studies of correspondences between Moses and Dionysus/Bacchus? What are these parallels, and where do they come from? What are some of the primary sources? Discover who was really drawn from the Nile and and tamed the Red Sea!

Buddhi sm's Relation to Christianity Reviewed

This review, commentary and study guide of Dr. Michael Lockwood's book Buddhism's Relation to Christianity is a 23-page ebook/PDF highlighting the primary source evidence that reveals parallels between the two world religions.

Why have scholars over the past several centuries recognized important similarities between Buddhism and Christianity, including between their alleged founders' lives?

What are these parallels, and where do they come from? What are some of the primary sources?

"…Jesus and his disciples are allegorical, non-historical characters mixed together with historical characters (such as Pilate and some Temple priests)… Jesus was an allegorical figure modeled on the founder of Buddhism and his fifth century BCE style of preaching: that of the homeless wandering monk…." Dr. Michael Lockwood

A Pre-Christian 'God' on a Cross?

You may know that the artifact examined in this ebook has been assailed as a "forgery," but is that assessment truly scientific? Or is it a rush to judgment and hasty conclusion based on bias and oversight?

Who is really depicted in the image below? Is the engraving a forgery? A Christian artifact? Or does it represent a pre-Christian figure hanging on a cross? This ebook is available with a monthly subscription of as little as $3.00!

If you already have these ebooks, check out other Stellar House works here:

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/

Or contribute a one-time donation here:

http://truthbeknown.com/help.htm

(Scroll down for one-time donation box.)

As always, your support and interest are greatly appreciated!

The Return of the Goddess radio program, 5/25-26

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Sat, 25 May 2013 16:07:45 +0000

For the next couple of days, my friend Miguel Conner is doing a re-broadcast of his radio program with the fabulous Barbara G. Walker, author of the amazing book Man Made God among other literary achievements.

To listen, go to the following URL:

http://www.aeonbytegnosticradio.com/

There you can click on the second highlighted link in the box, entitled, "The Return of the Goddess with Barbara Walker." Here is Miguel's writeup:

Our rebroadcast is The Fall & Rise of the Goddess. For thousands of years, the Patriarchal Gods and their minions have ruled most civilizations, either with an iron first or a subconscious lullaby. It has given the world ages of constant warfare, suppression of minorities and iron-fist dogmas. Yet the Information Age has not only given rise to humanism, it has also renewed the reverence for the seemingly-lost Divine Female Principle through the blossoming interest in Neo-Paganism, Kabbalah, Marian Catholicism, Gnosticism and other esoteric traditions. We explore how the once-balanced Divine lost half of its aspect and how it can fully regain it despite a time when the old Patriarchal systems fight even harder to keep their solar dominance. Our guest was Barbara Walker, author of Man Made God, The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets' and Restoring the Goddess.

Listen to this program with one of America's great freethinkers, who is also the author of the famous Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Over the decades, Barbara's work has been taught in a number of universities and colleges. It was my honor and privilege to edit and publish her wonderful essays in Man Made God.

To read more about MMG, see this link:

http://stellarhousepublishing.com/manmadegod.html

In my opinion, few authors in the English-speaking world have such a clear and unbiased view of religious history.

A Pre-Christian 'God' on a Cross?

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:12:48 +0000

While I am moving closer to the publication of my Moses book, I could use some assistance, so I'm offering a brand-new, 40-page ebook entitled, "A Pre-Christian 'God' on a Cross? My paper examines a famous artifact of a crucifix with the inscription "Orpheos Bakkikos."

A Pre-Christian 'God' on a Cross?

Contains over 40 images illustrating the main themes
Includes numerous primary sources, often with original text in Greek and Latin
Provides 119 footnotes and annotated citations
Includes a bibliography with some of the latest research
Contains an extensive table of contents with many subsections, for ease of reference
Includes image captions for the visually impaired

For more information, including a table of contents, please see:

A Pre-Christian 'God' on a Cross?

http://stellarhousepublishing.com/prechristiancrucifix.html

I am offering this 40-page ebook to those who get a monthly subscription to my work, for as little as $3. Although I can always use the help, you are free to cancel the subscription at any time and keep the ebook, so there's no "risk." (Requires a Paypal account.)

I hope you enjoy reading my new work, and I truly appreciate your interest and support.

"Yes, I want a copy of A Pre-Christian 'God' on a Cross?"

A leftist answers questions about Islam

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Fri, 10 May 2013 23:12:07 +0000

LMAO! Sounds about right.

Islam apologetics typically goes something like this:

1. Denial
2. Deflection
3. Insults
4. Threats
5. Violence

Oldest Maya solar observatory and parallels between Old and New World cultures

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:09:52 +0000

Please see my new Examiner article:

Oldest Maya solar observatory gives rise to new origin theory

This brief article touches upon a fascinating subject that includes as a central feature of the pre-Christian Mayan religion and mythology the cyclical death and resurrection of the solar maize/fertility god. As I say in my article and elsewhere, there are many parallels between Old and New World religion and mythology.

The reasons for the amazing correspondences are complex, but the chances that they derive from pre-Columbian diffusionism are actually slim to none. In my book The Christ Conspiracy, I delve into the idea of a global civilization in antiquity that spread these ideas. However, since the time of publication in 1999, science has made great strides on this question, from the perspective of DNA and disease studies in particular, as well as species migration studies, as with invasive plants and animals.

Because we simply have no hard scientific evidence of any sort of large-scale and sustained diffusionism of "Old World" ideas (or species) to the "New World," after the early migrations across the Bering Land Bridge and before Columbus, most of these parallels must have been developed as part of humankind's natural thought processes. This latter contention is logical, because the human brain in general operates the same way, wherever it may be found, just as do other species, even though they may possess variants. For example, birds and dogs may differ widely in looks and size, beak/muzzle shape, and so on, but they have the same basic body type, instincts and needs. The bottom line is that, if a human being can think of something once in one part of the world, straight "out of the blue," then another human being can have the same thought elsewhere, likewise "out of the blue" and independently.

The Sacred Mountain

Humanity possesses a basic archetype of how it views the world and cosmos, with seemingly unlimited expressions of the same, depending on where and when humans are thriving. Thus, the basic idea of a "sacred mountain" point of origin, where humanity first arose, can be found in many cultures globally, with a variety of portrayals. This sacred mountain idea occurs in peoples in the southern regions of Africa, such as the Pygmies, who claimed that the Mountains of the Moon were the point of human origins, a notion given credence by the fact that the range is one of the sources of the life-giving Nile. Moreover, as we know, some of the oldest hominid remains have been discovered in nearby Tanzania, at Olduvai/Oldupai Gorge.

This sacred-mountain point-of-origin concept may have been carried with humanity as it migrated out of Africa 70,000 years ago (as the current paradigm holds), with various groups localizing the mountain on Earth as they traveled. This theory would explain the numerous sacred mountains in global myths, as well as the terracing or shaping of hills and building of pyramids where no such natural features existed. Or the notion could have developed independently; in either case, the sacred mountain is arguably one of the oldest religious ideas in existence.

DNA and Disease Markers

As concerns pre-Columbian diffusionism, we do not have any disease markers indicating epidemics like those that occurred when the Europeans arrived, wiping out some 90% of the Native Americans. Genetic studies of whether or not there could have been some smaller scale contact and breeding, such as with Japanese sea drifters, seem to be contradictory, as some analyses claim one only migration, while others indicate up to nine. Currently, the mainstream academic paradigm favors the one-migration theory, with no genetic indication of post-Beringian mating between Old and New World peoples.

Yet, some of the religious and mythological parallels between the Old and New Worlds are very detailed, and, although most diffusionist "evidence" has been rebutted, stories of occasional discoveries of Phoenician or Roman artifacts in the Americas continue to intrigue, such that there seems to remain a small portal for limited contact between the two worlds, such as unintentional drifting with the currents.

For the most part, however, the parallels between the Old and New World religions and mythologies exist largely because of the observations of nature worship, such as the cycles of the sun, moon, planets and so on. This basic global archetype founded upon natural observations and insights subsequently was expanded upon with variations explained by the immediate environment, including local topographical features, animals, plants, weather systems and so on.

Harvest/New Year

In this same regard, natural cycles such as spring and fall, corresponding to the time of planting and harvesting, likewise find their way into many myths, with the advent of agriculture. In areas where agriculture is not developed or is limited, these myths would not play as central a role as they do in agricultural regions.

In this regard, in my book Did Moses Exist? I discuss how Israel as a people came to exist when tribal groups adopted agriculture, including the rituals and myths that accompany it, in this case those of the Canaanite/Ugaritic/Northwest Semitic peoples. Thus, the "Feast of the Tabernacles" is a fall harvest ritual, including the time of the vintage and serving as the beginning of the New Year in the arid and warmer region of the Levant. It was at this time that the ancient Levantine peoples expected the "early rains," which signaled the renewal of life.

Vine and Wine

In this same regard, with the spread of grapevine cultivation or viticulture, along with wine-making or viniculture, came the myths of the vine/wine god, later called Dionysus/Bacchus. This vine/wine cult was immensely popular wherever the highly useful grape and wine were cultivated and produced. Grapevine cultivation and wine production have been extremely important and lucrative around the Mediterranean for the past 3,000 to 5,000 years, if not longer. I will also be discussing this subject extensively in Did Moses Exist?, because the Bible is full of references to vines and wine, and the god Dionysus figures prominently in the comparative-religion studies of the Moses myth.

In any event, as we can see, the reason for parallels between disparate and far-flung peoples represents a complicated subject not easily solved by either diffusionism or strict isolationism.

New book about Bart Ehrman and the Christ myth!

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:46:50 +0000

The collaborative rebuttal of Bart Ehrman's book Did Jesus Exist? is now available both in Kindle and hard copy! This one-of-a-kind volume is entitled Bart Erhman and the Quest of the Historical Jesus of Nazareth: An Evaluation of Ehrman's Did Jesus Exist? (Cranford, NJ: American Atheist Press, 2012). The book includes the writings of several mythicists, to wit: me, Frank Zindler, Robert M. Price, Earl Doherty, Rene Salm, Richard Carrier and David Fitzgerald. To my knowledge, this book represents the first time articles of so many Jesus mythicists have been published together in one volume, specifically in defense of Christ-myth studies.

Most of the writing is by Frank Zindler, a past president of American Atheists who has written several mythicist articles and the book The Jesus the Jews Never Knew, among others. The present tome was edited by Zindler and Bob Price, who dedicated it to the great Thomas Paine, himself a student of the case for Jesus mythicism and evidently discussed it with American president Thomas Jefferson.

The book's contents are divided into five parts, covering Ehrman's tome in the first section, addressing in specific the problem of Nazareth in part 2, with the third part discussing "crucified messiahs," the fourth and fifth parts composed of lengthy articles addressing various other aspects of Jesus mythicism and Ehrman's work.

My first essay appears in the initial part, "Ehrman's Arguments Engaged." My paper represents a reprint of my writing at Freethought Nation, "The phallic 'Savior of the World' hidden in the Vatican," which bears reiteration for many reasons, including that the popular god Priapus shares several important characteristics in common with Christ, as I also discuss in a follow-up article entitled, "The phallic 'Savior of the World' at the Vatican revisited."

My other article in the Ehrman rebuttal book appears in section two, "The Problem of Nazareth," in which Zindler and Salm demonstrate that there is no evidence Nazareth existed as a "city" or inhabited place during the era when Jesus purportedly lived. My article in this part is entitled, "Was There a Historical 'Jesus of Nazareth?' The use of Midrash to create a biographical detail in the gospel story." In this paper, I show that there is no reason to assume that Nazareth was a real place, when from the Greek of the New Testament the designation is not "Jesus of Nazareth" but "Jesus the Nazarene," reflecting a pre-Christian sect of which the Old Testament hero Samson was said to be a member as well. This discussion strikes at the heart of the supposed "Jesus of Nazareth," who in reality finds no place either in such a town or in history. (See my books and articles for arguments about the "evidence" for Jesus in non-Christian writings from antiquity, such as "Does Josephus prove a historical Jesus?")

Introduction

I have not read the entire book, but I am quite happy to see that a couple of people have included some defense of my work, in particular Dr. Robert M. Price in his "Introduction." Beginning on p. xxi, Price writes:

Acharya S (pen name of D.M. Murdock) is one of the prime targets for Professor Ehrman's haughty derision. Her chief sin in Ehrman's eyes would appear to be her lack of diplomas on the wall, notwithstanding Acharya's extensive researches, including on-site investigations of archaeological materials, and her extensive documentation of her theories. She dares to plumb neglected and forgotten works by old writers, separating the wheat from the chaff where these old authors lacked the (more recent) knowledge that would have enabled them to tell the difference. Like a scribe who produces from her treasury goods old and new (Matt. 13:52), she has a knack for displaying intriguing data neglected by "mainstream" scholars who simply do not know what to make of them. Such items of evidence are rejected or ignored by scholars who have long since assembled the jigsaw in a particular way and find that these oddly shaped bits cannot be conveniently inserted. Acharya dissents: she sees the need to start over and to redo the puzzle. One such puzzle piece is the bizarre artifact inscribed with the caption "Savior of the World," a bust of a rooster-headed man whose beak is replaced by an erect penis! Was this thing an improbable caricature of Jesus Christ? An artist's conception of the fabled Antichrist? An idol of the god Priapus? Any way you cut it, the ancient world was full of oddities that imply a stranger, more complex picture than many would like to think. Well, Bart Ehrman not only knows not what to make of the dickhead deity (we could forgive him for that); he just wishes it away, declaring it a figment of Acharya's fevered imagination. Such libel only reveals a total disinclination to do a fraction of the research manifest on any singe page of Acharya's works. In fact, one inevitably thinks of Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods? In it he declares, "Without actually consulting Exodus, I seem to remember that the Ark was often surrounded by flashing sparks." Here Acharya obligingly does what she shouldn't have to do, providing (again!) the documentation for her account of "The Phallic Savior of the World in the Vatican Museum." Are Acharya's hypotheses and speculations debatable? That is no surprise when one ventures, and one suspects that is what Ehrman, safely ensconced in the cocoon of mainstream scholarship, really cannot brook.

Okay, that's a mouthful! First of all, let me say that I have a draft from last year when Ehrman's book first came out with some 60 pages of rebuttal, but I had to proceed to other projects. If enough people are interested, perhaps I will dust it off and lob it back at the doubter of the divine dickhead, who has libeled me (and others) several times in his book with the false charge of "fabrication," disproved handily in this one instance alone.

Credentials

Secondly, as concerns credentials, I received a degree in Classics, Greek Civilization, from Franklin & Marshall College, and subsequently attended the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece, for post-graduate studies. This education and experience are quite relevant, since I read ancient and modern Greek fairly well, and, as we know, the New Testament was composed in Greek, as was the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, both of which versions I study on a regular basis.

In this same regard, I also spent years in Greece doing both graduate and post-graduate studies that took me the length and breadth of the country, with a focus not only on ancient, classical Greek civilization but also on the nation's Christian period, dating back to the earliest centuries. In my studies, which included excavating at the site of Corinth, where St. Paul addressed the Corinthians, I gained a great deal of knowledge of the Mediterranean region and history, vital to the study of Christian origins. Because of my formal education, I possess a significant grasp of the milieu of the day and, as Bob Price graciously has acknowledged, an unusual ability to put together seemingly disparate and far-flung pieces of the puzzle.

Older Sources

It should be noted that in my use of "old writers," I am merely beginning the quest, a simple starting point. In my scholarship, I constantly cite the original, primary sources in their own languages, along with the most up-to-date research and discoveries in the works of credentialed authorities in relevant fields. It should also be noted that the older scholars possessed a broad knowledge that many specialists do not have today, which means they were able to look far afield and see the comparisons that form the basis of comparative religion and mythology studies dating back many centuries. These comparative religion studies, in fact, extend into the early Christian era, with the raising of parallels by Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Minucius and others.

In this present collaborative effort, I do not discuss my usual specialty, which is these very parallels between the Jesus figure and the deities and heroes of antiquity, around the Mediterranean and beyond. For these comparisons, which I included in my first published book The Christ Conspiracy (now in revision), I have spent the past decade digging up the primary sources in their original languages, working in ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Canaanite, Egyptian, Coptic, Sanskrit, Vedic and modern tongues such as German and French.

In dealing with the older scholars, one should keep in mind that their standard education included intense study of classical writers in their original languages, such as Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, Diodorus, Plutarch, Suetonius, Tacitus and the early Church fathers. In Europe and America over the past several centuries, in fact, it was de rigeur to be educated in these subjects, and often the scholars refer to these ancient sources as if everyone else will know exactly what they are talking about, without need for citation. As a classics major, I approached the material in the same way, not always realizing that not everyone else these days had studied these classical writers and would know the references. Hence, I have worked diligently to bring forth these sources, highlighting the relevant passages and including them in their original languages.

In this regard, my websites, forums and blogs are full of these citations - one can search freely this blog itself to bring up results across my websites. One can also find these various parallels and many other mythicist arguments in my books and ebooks, such as The Christ Conspiracy, Suns of God, Who Was Jesus?, Christ in Egypt, Jesus as the Sun throughout History and so on.

Sex Symbols

I find it somewhat amusing that it has been left to me, the sole female in this tome as well as prominently in the field of mythicism in general, to explore the subject of the priapus gallinaceus, the "dickhead deity," as Bob Price has so eloquently put it. Perhaps in erecting this issue, Erhman felt I would be intimidated by the display of manhood. Needless to say, I am not, and it is my pleasure to wave my own prowess around in return. The priapus gallinaceus represents an entire genre of fertility cult objects, the need for which in human culture and religion has extended back into the hoary mists of time. In Israel itself are discovered similar sacred sex and fertility cult artifacts, such as stone phalluses, and our religious iconography abounds in this imagery, along with the female genitalia, such as the yonic vesica piscis, which has been used even to frame Our Lord and His Holy Mother, among other divines and saints.

As Price hinted, there is much more to this subject of ancient "sacred sex" symbolism, which assuredly has been incorporated into Christianity and which I addressed in the first edition of Christ Con. In consideration of the abundance of sex symbolism within Christianity, it would not surprise us if this ancient ithyphallic genre indeed was applied at some point to the Christian soter tou cosmou or "savior of the world."

Priapus and Christianity

This contention becomes especially probable when we consider how many similarities there are between the Greco-Roman god Priapus and the Christian god, including, as I state elsewhere, the recognition of Priapus as "God the Father, first person of the Trinity, the 'Good One.'" Indeed, Priapus was called the "Good One," as was the Jewish tribal god Yahweh, as well as many other gods and goddesses in antiquity, including Jesus. (See my "Chrestos" series.)

Moreover, like so many other ancient deities, Priapus the Cock was significantly solar, an attribute he shares with Jesus, the "Sun of Righteousness." So popular was Priapus even into the "Christian" era that, in the Middle Ages, he became a Christian saint, under a number of monikers - causing us to wonder whether or not "St. Peter" is likewise a rehash of Priapus in significant part:

St. Foutin in the north of France in Languedoc and in the province of Lyons, St. Gilles in Brittany, St. Rene in Anjou, St. Regnaud in Burgundy, St. Guignole near Brest, St. Guerlichon in Bourges, St. Cosmo and St. Damiano in Isernia in Italy. Thus, the cult of Priapus was widespread throughout Europe... (Baird, 89)

In any event, there is much more to this fascinating subject, which one can peruse in the various links here. Suffice it to say, in implying that I fabricated or misrepresented this artifact, which in reality is part of an entire genre, is false and calumnious, as well as indicative of a lack of expertise and due diligence unbecoming a professional scholar of renown. For this one gaffe, Ehrman is also pilloried by Richard Carrier, in an unusual defense of my work, which I greatly appreciate. (In the present work, Carrier cannot resist making it known that he disagrees with other writers in this new mythicist book. If he is referring to me, it should be understood that in general he has not studied the massive volume of data I have worked hard to bring forth over the past decades.)

Since the Erhman rebuttal book was put together and edited by Frank Zindler and Robert Price, it is understandable that the bulk of it represents their writings, along with several lengthy contributions by Earl Doherty, who labored to rebut Ehrman's equally sloppy treatment of his work, producing dozens of articles. I would love to have had other of my rebuttals published, naturally, had I known the book was going to be so voluminous, comprising some 567 pages!

Criticisms

Which brings me to the problems with this volume. The issues with this book stem largely from the fact that we needed to get it done ASAP and, in the midst of the process, Frank Zindler's beloved wife of 48 years passed away, leaving him and his editor daughter bereft and distracted by grief. During this period of mourning, the book's files were lost and needed to be reconstructed. It is unfortunate that there exists no index or bibliography, although some of the articles such as my own possess separate bibliographies, and various citations are included in footnotes, so the reader is not left hanging.

Another criticism regards my carefully procured quotes in the Greek alphabet, which now have been transliterated using the Latin script. I understand this need for the lay public, but I do need to state that those transliterations are not original to my articles, which contained the Greek quotes.

Also, as a trivial quibble concerning the editing, single and double quotations are used haphazardly. In American usage, double quotations are for primary quotes, while single marks are employed within the initial citation. In British style, the opposite is the case. Also, as a publisher, I think the book could have been 6x9, reducing its bulk and cost, which likewise would be true with smaller top and bottom margins in the interior. Because of the issues with the files being lost, apparently, italicized text is sometimes extended beyond its original intention, which can be confusing.

All that being said, I truly appreciate the fact that Frank, his daughter and Bob took the time to put together this volume, especially in the midst of such tragedy and illness.

A Salient Historical Work

All in all, this volume constitutes a very significant contribution to the field of mythicist studies - and there does exist such a field, with an enormous body of literature dating back centuries. Before the book's publication, I was privy to see the exchange of emails between Zindler and Ehrman, in which it becomes clear that Ehrman is not an expert on mythicist studies - as we could tell likewise by his book DJE in the first place - and that he was not interested in knowing the data. This latter fact is a shame, because this scholarship is absolutely fascinating, and it reveals the origins of religious and mythological ideation dating back to remote antiquity. Whispers and threads of the much later Christ character and "Christian" doctrines can be found in religious sects and cults dating back to the first writing, as in the Sumerian, Babylonian, Ugaritic, Egyptian, Persian and Indian texts.

As concerns the Zindler-Ehrman correspondence, which Frank has published in this volume with permission from Ehrman, another thing that struck me was that Frank is an old-school mythicist well versed in this large body of centuries-old scholarship. It is unfortunate that there are so few of us left, but we hope to inspire many more to take a look. Zindler is also impressive in that he works in the original languages, such as Greek, and I feel a certain kindred spiritness with him in that regard.

The importance of this peer-reviewed book cannot be overemphasized. As Zindler says in his "Foreword" (xi):

The struggle here engaged is not just another scholarly quarrel. It is a contest between scholars who see the world through the lens of science and those who cannot yet cut themselves free from the anchors of religious and traditional authority. Until the publication in 2012 of Bart D. Ehrman's Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, scholars who have denied the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth have for the most part been answered only by religious apologists, not genuine historians or biblical scholars. Only occasionally during the twentieth century did secular scholars take critical notice of the growing Mythicist literature and present arguments against even the most uncertain and vulnerable parts of it. For the most part, the strategy of traditional scholars seems to have been, "If we ignore them, sooner or later they'll give up and go away."

That strategy worked very well, and notice of the so-called Mythicist position were taken neither in Academe nor in pulpit. Until the advent of the internet, Mythicist evidence and arguments against the Historical Jesus was largely excluded from the ordinary channels of scholarly communications.

Everything changed, however, when the Mythicist position was formally engaged by Professor Bart. D. Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Ehrman arguably is one of the most famous and professional respected New Testament scholars in America. In his Did Jesus Exist?, specific Mythicists are named and their works are cited and criticized. This is a milestone in the history of Historical-Jesus studies, and it lends hope that before too long a genuine Science of Christian Origins will be able to supplant Historical-Jesus Studies in the world of secular scholarship.

The present book provides an opportunity for Mythicists to reply to Professor Ehrman's criticisms in Did Jesus Exist?...

A milestone indeed, because the tome is a show of force, so to speak, that ignoring us has not made us go away. For those unfamiliar with mythicist scholarship, the doubting of the gospel story goes back many centuries, indicated in the polemics of the early Church fathers themselves. Hints of Jesus mythicism can be found from the 17th century AD/CE, in the critical schools of Europe, until the first massive mythicist work by Charles Dupuis, Origine de tous les cultes, was published in the late 18th century. The multivolume original of this opus originally was in French, and only a certain percentage of it has been rendered into English. Dupuis's erudition was extraordinary and peerless, drawing from as many ancient sources and commentaries as he could muster. One of Dupuis's pupils was Napoleon Bonaparte, while another was Count Volney, whose mythicist work was translated from the French by none other than Thomas Jefferson.

As concerns the addressing of this centuries-long period of mythicist scholarship by professional scholars, after Dupuis and Volney the din became loud indeed, with many other scholars more or less jumping on the critical bandwagon, including F.C. Baur, Bruno Bauer and David Strauss, the latter of whom lost his occupation merely for questioning the authenticity of various parts of the gospel story. The full-blown mythicist and daring renegade Rev. Dr. Robert Taylor took the bull by the horns so forcefully that he was tried and convicted in England for "blasphemy," serving two prison sentences in harsh conditions for preaching Jesus mythicism from the pulpit! Taylor's treatment was so egregious that a young Charles Darwin quaked in his boots at the thought of what might become of him for his own theories.

With such aggression against Jesus mythicists and gospel doubters, which succeeded the slaughter of the various inquisitions and witch burnings designed to compel Christianity upon the masses, it is understandable that mythicists were few and far between. Whenever they have surfaced, they have been abused relentlessly by vitriol and calumny, even by other supposed freethinkers and secularists. Nevertheless, the dissenting voices became so ear-shattering during the late 19th century to early 20th that several qualified scholars did engage them at that time, including Shirley Jackson Case and Sir Frederick Conybeare, with evident disdain. In fact, the backlash against mythicism was so hostile and involved so many scholars and clergymen that, like Darwin, advocates shrank back, fearful for their livelihoods if not their lives.

As Frank Zindler says, with the internet, the cat is out of the bag, and there are more Jesus mythicists alive than at any time in history, and we are able to communicate with each other all over the world, in multiple languages. Certain media have exposed this scholarship to hundreds of millions, unparalleled in history. For that freedom of thought and expression, we should thank our lucky stars we are alive at this moment in time. And this sentiment is doubled by the fact that we now possess for the first time in history to my knowledge an anthology of mythicist articles from some of the most prominent scholars of the subject. Let us hope that more interest will provoke actual study courses in universities and colleges globally.

If anyone is interested in following or participating in the discussion of this book, be sure to come visit our forum thread! Please also purchase the book, Bart Ehrman and the Quest of the Historical Jesus (ISBN-13: 978-1578840199), either in Kindle or hard copy, or ask your library to carry it. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm for this important research!

Surya the sun god

acharya_s@yahoo.com (Acharya S/D.M. Murdock) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 15:01:09 +0000

Meet Surya, sun god of India. Surya has been worshipped by Indians for at least 3,000 years, appearing in the ancient text the Rig Veda and many other writings since then. The name "Syria" derives from the same word and means "sun." Related Indian words for "sun" include sura and surja, from the radical sr, which in turn is associated with sl, sm and sn, as in sol, shemesh/shamash, Summi, summer, Sunne/Sonne and sun. The word is also related to the Persian hûr and Greek ἥλιος or Helios, the name of the sun god.

In the imagery of Surya and other solar deities, the god is depicted as riding in a chariot, driven by seven or four horses, representing respectively the days of the week and four seasons or cardinal points. One can see the god's solar nature in the golden sun disc and rays surrounding him.

Prior to the era in which deities were depicted anthropomorphically or as humans, the sun god would be portrayed as a circle with rays coming off of it, frequently a specific number based on various natural cycles, such as the seasons, months and so on. The image on the right has 24 visible rays, which would be equivalent to two years of 12 months each, among other possible connotations.

Father of the Virgin-Born Hero

In the Indian text the Mahabharata, composed between around the fifth century BCE to the fifth century AD/CE, according to conservative dating, Surya is depicted as the father of the virgin-born hero Karna. Karna's mother, Kunti, is kanya, a virgin, before magically being impregnated by Surya, and the text explicitly states she remains a virgin afterwards:

"...The Mahabharata here mentions clearly that Soorya [Surya] did not have sex with her, but impregnated her through his yogic power so that her maidenhood remained undamaged...."

Thus, in the story of Surya the sun god we have a tale of a divine hero born of a virgin mother and a god as father.

Surya is not the only sun god in India, as many other deities are solar in nature or possess solar attributes. Other Indian solar deities include Vishnu, Mitra and their avatars. Like these other gods, Surya continues to be worshipped to this day in India, as the god of the sun, to whom beautiful temples have been erected in numerous places, such as at Konark.

Ancient Solar Deities

Dating back thousands of years, many sun gods and goddess or deities/heroes with significant solar attributes can be found in cultures around the world, including:

Asclepius, Adonis, Amaterasu, Amun, Apollo, Ares/Mars, Arinna, Attis, Baal/Bel, Bacchus/Dionysus, Balder, Brahma, Buddha, Dumuzi, El/Il, Hades, Hathor, Helios, Hephaistos/Vulcan, Hercules, Hermes, Horus, Hu, Iao/Yahweh, Indra, Inti, Isis, Janus, Jason, Jesus, Krishna, Mithra, Molech, Moses, Neith, Odin, Orion, Orpheus, Osiris, Pan, Perseus, Quetzalcoatl, Ra, Samson, Saturn, Serapis, Shamash, Shapash, Shiva, Sol, Surya, Tammuz, Thor, Thoth, Viracocha, Vishnu, Zeus/Jupiter, Zoroaster and many more gods, goddesses, godmen, heroes and prophets.

These deities are symbolic, allegorical and mythical, not actual people, whether human or aliens. The misapprehension of symbolic divine figures as literal beings is at the root of religious fanaticism and many problems globally. The comprehension of these entities as solar or astrotheological, reflecting our shared world and common heritage, will go a long way in fostering peace and understanding globally.

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Contents

Introduction

Credentials

Older Sources

Sex Symbols

Priapus and Christianity

Criticisms

A Salient Historical Work

Further Reading

Surya the sun god

Father of the Virgin-Born Hero

Ancient Solar Deities

Further Reading