Views from the Abyss #56: 2001—A Space Bible

The Bible, or the Word of God as it’s also known, is (should its PR be believed) the whole truth as written by the great I Am. But given how what we understand as 'truth' is crippled by our own limited human ability to conceptualise, and that the presentation of the almighty is anthropomorphised to an absurd degree throughout, it would make sense that 'truth' as we understand it probably differs from the somewhat broader meaning of truth as defined by an omnipotent deity who, in all fairness, is probably a better judge of such things.

Instead, the Bible represents truth in terms of what we need to hear to reach the next stage of our development as a civilisation. It serves a similar purpose, one could say, to the obelisk in the novel and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

In more savage times, the early covenants of the Old Testament made perfect sense, much as Sharia Law still does in some societies today. "You stupid; God scary; follow simple rules or lose testicles/life". It was a 'truth' people needed to hear to tame their wilder instincts. Instil the fear of god into a society of savages and give them simple rules to live by, and you have yourself a primitive but effective social contract.

This pattern repeats itself numerous times throughout the Old Testament, the rules becoming increasingly sophisticated with each iteration, and each assisting civilisation in reaching its next step of development.

Until finally (so far), along comes Jesus and the New Testament. Gone are the rules, and in place we have virtues. Adherence to the virtues is godly and pleasing, ignoring them less so, but there are sufficient consequences either way (both personally and socially) right here on earth that God need not get involved. He is no longer in the driving seat—we are. In fact, he's not even in the car. He's up there, in outer space, waiting for us to call to let him know we arrived at our destination safely. He still worries, and so does your mum—call her sometimes!

Jesus not only preached these virtues, but he lived them also, by all accounts. To say he was centuries ahead of his time is an understatement—he was around 18 centuries ahead; he was a crude template for the enlightenment. The people were not ready for it, but that was exactly the point. The New Testament was the 'truth' we needed to hear to advance to that next level.

Anybody that claims religion is irrelevant in the modern world is like the people who use their smartphones to post to social media about the evils of capitalism, or the women who stand up in front of millions of people and proclaim without irony—and to thunderous applause—that women are oppressed. Religion wasn’t the cause of problems, it was the solution, and it’s little surprise that everything has gone to shit since it’s been thrown to the sidelines.