The Greatest Sin of All


Throughout history human beings lived in communities bound by 'sacred law'. Taboo, tradition, things allowed and proscribed, things clean and unclean. And always, 'received from the God';  from higher authority.

You see exactly the same thing today.  A businessman wears a suit, a necktie.  Is there a practical reason?  Of course not.  But even so, he would be 'wrong' without it.  It is a rule, and it would be a violation of taboo to be without it.  Who wrote this rule?  Well, nobody wrote it, but it is always assumed by the person wearing the tie that 'those in higher authority' require it.  It is how 'we' distinguish ourselves.

(We do not believe in our Gods anymore, but that's OK;  they still believe in us.)

And maybe as a social tool these laws are not such a bad thing.  As long as it is understood, they are simply social conventions.

But then two thousand some odd years ago, along comes some fool who just has to screw the whole thing up.

Enter Jesus;  messiach, christos, claimant to the Davidian throne, wheat god extraordinaire.

What is Jesus' message, really?

Throughout the history of the Israelites, it has been common to attribute grave misfortune and indignity to a failure to sufficiently observe the taboos.  It isn't that God has failed to protect us;  no, he is punishing us.  God is pissed.  We have not been sufficiently stringent in our observations of sacred law.  There has been a golden calf sighting.  We haven't been sufficiently swift in stoning adulterers.  Somebody has been flatulent in the presence of the Holy of Holies.

The sacred laws are sufficiently complex and sufficiently counterintuitive that we find ourselves inevitably in violation of them somewhere.  And that, of course, is the beauty of the system.  The response of the tribe to misfortune is a panicked embrace of increased puritanism (the flagellants who appeared during the bubonic plague epidemics are an excellent example of this, though of a different era).

So, it is precisely those observances which we find ourselves in violation of that we concentrate on.  Obviously, there are the ones that really piss God off.  The more difficult an observance is, the more it will be raised in priority during a puritanist phase.

It's wonderfully elegant;  like a knot which grows tighter the more one struggles to escape it.

And with apologies to Nietzsche, this is not purely a characteristic of the Israelites.  Every culture responds to the Fearful by an increase of puritanism.  The McCarthy trials are a good example, or the "War on Drugs".  

What distinguishes the Israelites from the Greeks or the Romans is mostly that they had a very difficult history, where the Romans (for example) were a very successful culture;  so naturally we find the Israelites very strict in adhering to their observances and the Romans relatively relaxed.  (It might seem appropriate then that the romans adopted Christianity at a time when their empire was collapsing).

These religious laws, although perhaps arbitrary-seeming when viewed in isolation, when they are viewed in their social context begin to make sense.  They are social laws.  If that is firmly understood many Judaeo-Christian laws make sense.  "You shall not kill".  Why shouldn't a human being kill another human being?  As an individual, sometimes it might be to my advantage.  But society would collapse if murder weren't considered wrong.  "You shall not fuck your neighbor's wife".  Note that, while fucking in general seems frowned upon, the laws are most emphasized and most explicit in targeting somebody else's wife.  Again, clearly, it is the threat to the social fabric which is emphasized.  It is insane to claim that there is any reason that an individual and a neighbor should not explore one another erotically if they feel so inclined:  it is the threat to the social fabric which makes this problematic.

Even where taboo and sacred law seem completely arbitrary and silly, (e.g. "You shall not work on Sunday";  I mean, a day of rest makes sense, but why Sunday?  Certainly the day attributed by the Greeks and Romans to the sun bears no relation to the Jewish Sabbath after all the changes to the calender) like the necktie it is a rallying point for the society.  However arbitrary the law, the salient point is, it  indicates membership to the society.

And this is healthy.  The society responds to threat by rallying together as a society.  This is survival behavior, this is good.

Sacred law, taboo, is social hygiene.  It is the fence which separates the naturally occurring desires of the individual from society.  It is because many of the desires of the individual are contrary to the greater good of society, that these laws exist.

So, periodically through history, a prophet arose amongst the Israelites through which God roundly chastised the people for being a generation of swine.  Usually at a time of crisis.  "Do better, and perhaps I'll help you next time".  And the people rally;  the community is strengthened.

Yhvh's covenant with the benni Ibrahm was to protect and preserve them as a race, and he has been an exceptionally successful old sky-God, by that criterion.  His periodic appearances in the mouths of prophets ("This is YHVH who speaks") have been perfectly-timed;  and of course good timing is the hallmark of any successful performer.

In any event...now I hope I have established my context sufficiently to address my original question:  what is Jesus' message, really?

In form Jesus is the same as the other prophets;  he arises at a time of threat to the social fabric (in this case, Roman occupation) to allow Yhvh to yell at the people through his mouth for failing to be sufficiently strict in their ritual observances.

But the message of Jesus is different.  Jesus tells us it isn't enough to be observing, you must INTERNALIZE the taboos.

It isn't enough to not kill, you must not want to kill.  It isn't good enough to not fuck your neighbor's wife, you must not want to fuck your neighbor's wife.

It isn't enough to obey the law, if you have even wanted to break it you have already transgressed.

If you are the purest virgin in the world, and you have experienced perfectly natural sexual arousal at the sight of a beautiful woman, you have already sinned!

If you are the gentlest lamb in the world, and you have experienced the perfectly natural survival response of being angry at someone who is abusing you, you have already sinned!

Precisely those instincts most natural to a human being, must now not only be repressed for the greater good of society, they must not exist in the first place!

This is a formula for self-destruction;  that this formula is symbolized by the cross on which Jesus grotesquely and cheerfully committed suicide, seems to me wonderfully and morbidly appropriate.

Or another beautiful example of this message taken to it's logical extension is Origen, who castrated himself (cf. Matthew 19:12), that a good Christian would seek to remove 'evil' from himself with a knife is perfectly consistent with Jesus' message!  Jesus is very clear and explicit on this, again and again.

How else could somebody possibly respond to being told that they must not experience even the desire (however fleeting) to break the law?  Slice out those evil desire!  Chop up your left hand!  Beat those desires out with a whip!  Mortify yourself;  go a year without bathing!  Beg the Romans to kill you!

This is the message of Jesus.

The message of Jesus is the greatest sin in human history.

(Fun with gematria/notarichon:  'the Law', Hebrew Torah, the initial being Tau, which means 'cross';  on the cross, Jesus changes the law from a 'fence' to an absolute to which you sacrifice yourself.  "Eloi, eloi, lamah Sabacthani?"  Did you realize it, at the last minute?  You were too damned late.  Too late...)

I don't really intend to comment solely on an ancient religion;  we are still, in many ways, a Christian society.  Christian moral psychology is our root.  

Look at our criminal justice system.  We believe in rehabilitating criminals.  What exactly does that mean?  We believe that we can make criminals not want to commit crimes anymore:  therefore, we consider it cruel and unnecessary to attempt to punish criminals, to inflict pain on them.  We feel we must help them find it in their hearts to not want to commit crime, rather than inflicting pain on them proportional to the pain they have caused.  This is certainly evident in death-penalty debates.