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An Israeli religious scholar and professor of cognitive psychology is advancing the thesis that the Ten Commandments, the moral foundation of the religious faith that have guided billions and billions of people for thousands of years, were revealed that fateful night on Mt. Sinai because Moses was high. On what? (Wouldn't it have been awesome if it were Ecstasy? wouldn't that make for a great sequel to those hilarious "Religions of the World" T-shirts? Or better yet, one of those signs in bar bathrooms with like the "Zen guide to life" or whatever? I never remember the valuable things I learn from the posters in bar bathrooms. Except the thing about how you "forget 80% of what you learn every day." Anyway.) Anyway! Sooooo, Moses was high. The scholar, Benny Shanon, seems to think he experienced something like his own experiences on ayahuasca, the hallucinogenic brew indigenous to the Amazon beloved by such luminaries as Johnson & Johnson heiress Libet Johnson.

I am wont to believe him, having read the bestselling works of "Economic Hit Man" John Perkins, who clearly thought up his thesis of the world under the influence of ayahuasca. But what does it all mean?

That the Burning Bush was a hallucination, too? (Yes.) That religion is a fraud? (Duh!) That the moral codes we take for granted, chalking up to an amorphous mix of socialization and/or evolutionary biology and/or something resembling an innate human conscience was concocted under the influence of hallucinogens? THAT RELIGION IS LITERALLY THE OPIATE OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TOO POOR FOR ACTUAL OPIATES???? Why yes! I mean, yeah yeah mood-altering substances bear responsibility for much of the world's bar violence/opportunistic adultery/convenience store theft. But, don't all the truly bad things happen at the hands of sober people and/or people newly off their meds? Yes they do. Is it to early for a drink? No it is not.

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Helixx said:

For some things I think you are right, and I do think that there were hallucinogens involved in the bible.  But from growing up in a christian household and for myself struggling to believe in a higher power, I hold the possibility open for him to have interacted with God on some level.

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SirTripAlot said:

This is complete bullshit.


Can the study be able to produce:

Evidence of plant usage by Moses, by either finding residue on artifacts (or whatever) or text references to the preparation, storage, or usage of said substance?


No he cant...this is a pipe dream of one man, with no empirical evidence to back it up.

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Well, cognitive psychologists can't offer much hard proof on anything, so maybe we should just disregard everything they say.

SirTripAlot said:

This is complete bullshit.


Can the study be able to produce:

Evidence of plant usage by Moses, by either finding residue on artifacts (or whatever) or text references to the preparation, storage, or usage of said substance?


No he cant...this is a pipe dream of one man, with no empirical evidence to back it up.

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poke smot! said:Maybe he also found something containing DMT, who knows?

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RasJah said:

Religion is a sham. Based upon celestial observations. At least that's what I learnt from a movie. THE movie.

www.zeitgeistmovie.com

Watch. Then, pm me to join the revolution.

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The first section of Zeitgeist is based entirely on made-up data by new-age sources who, themselves, have no source for their own claims.
While there is supposedly an "Egyptologist" in Zeitgeist's sources (who is the originator of the ideas in Part 1 of Zeitgeist), Gerald Massey, in reality he was not a professional Egyptologist, but someone who merely picked up a personal interest in Egyptian mythology at age 42, and became self-taught in reading hieroglyphics. He was also a practicing Druid.


Here is the big fallacy of Zeitgeist Part 1:

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However, if one takes the time to read the sources provided, they will find that what is being presented is based on documented evidence.

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The sources provided aren't themselves based on any documented evidence, but are essentially new-age junk literature.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead is itself at odds with Zeitgeist every step of the way.
When Zeitgeist's disclaimer suggests that you research the issue for yourself, what it actually means is "read the new-age books we prescribe," not "verify the authenticity and source of our sources." Doing so reveals there to be no integrity in Zeitgeist's part 1.


- Isis (Horus' mother) was not a virgin. Isis was married to Orisis, and it's assumed their marriage is consummated. Nothing in the Book of the Dead is said to suggest otherwise. Additionally, Isis sews together Osiris' murdered and dismembered body and proceeds to have sex with his body, resulting in the birth of Horus. Nothing resembling virginity there, or immaculate conception.
- Horus' mother's name is Isis, not Meri, not Isis-Meri. The Isis-Meri claim was invented by Acharya S, who is not an egyptologist, and based all of her conjectures off of Gerald Massey's work. Also, no source for her claim was cited. (Meri means beloved - Egypt's ancient name is Ta-Meri, meaning beloved land)
- Seb is not Horus' dad, Osiris is Horus' dad. Seb is Osiris' dad.
- 2 people born in a place where the color blue is present wouldn't make them comparable, much like an "inconvenient place" doesn't. Being born in a cave vs born in a manger doesn't make for any comparison. Horus was also born in a swamp, not a cave. The unfounded cave claim comes from Acharya S., author of new-age book The Christ Conspiracy.
- Horus was not heralded by an angel or star. This claim once again comes from Acharya S.
-Jesus was not born Dec 25th. Christmas' date did not come until 800 AD, and the date was chosen by the Catholic church to overrule pagan celebrations at the same time, not because it was Jesus' perceived birthday. Christmas' original date was January 6th.
- Seth (or Set) tried to kill Horus, not Herut.
- Jesus wasn't visited by 3 wise men, that number's a creation of pop culture.
- Horus was never baptized, nor is there a baptist mentioned in any of the Horus stories. This claim originated with Acharya S, who wrote the book The Christ Conspiracy, which is based on claims by Gerald Massey, who is the person all Horus = Jesus people copy these claims from.
- Horus didn't have disciples. he had 4 (as opposed to 12) demi-god followers, but they weren't disciples.
- Horus never walked on water or raised the dead

There is a lot more wrong with the first chapter of the movie, but you get the point.

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By the way, there was some staunch atheist forum I came across where Zeitgeist's Part 1 was thoroughly dismantled as bullshit, and Acharya S. herself showed up to protest but failed to provide any sources reinforcing her claims, and even had the source she did provide be debunked. Humourous.

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