We all know what a mistake is and, without doubt, each of us has made many of them in our lifetime. Simply put, a mistake is a judgement or action we make which proves to be incorrect. Collectively, our society makes millions of mistakes daily — some trivial — many with fatal consequences. In the United States alone, over 35,000 people are killed in motor vehicle accidents annually. Most of those are caused by a mistake in judgement, attention, lack of skill, recklessness, etc. Many, however, seem unavoidable — deer or other animal, tire blowouts, other impaired drivers, etc.
As kids in elementary school, when we were naughty, our teachers frequently punished us by giving us ‘work-back’ problems to do. If you’re not familiar with a work-back problem, it goes like this: you are given a number (the larger the number, the more difficult) which you must multiply by the number 2 and then multiply the products successively through the number nine. You will then have a very large number as the final product. You must then begin dividing that number by the number 2 and successively divide each dividend through the number 9. The ending number must be the same as the beginning number. Seldom could one complete a single work-back problem without making a mistake which necessitated starting over —real punishment with no way to cheat —one rapidly learns to behave in class—helps with arithmetic and attention to detail also.
Such mistakes can be very useful for teaching us the value of proper behavior and thereby helps us become better citizens. Fatal mistakes, however, only bring lasting consequences of loss, grief, remorse etc. Seldom ever, is a fatal mistake beneficial to anyone except possibly as an example to others to help them avoid such activity.
Based on my definition of the essence of God as ‘a Perfect Rational Being’, I believe the most consequential mistake ever made in the history of the universe was by Moses because it has affected the entire Abrahamic world of religion ever since. You will recall that as the Israelites were wandering in the desert after their escape from Egypt, they became distrustful of both Moses and their God and began living a life of dereliction. The bible tells us that, as a result of their denial, of him, God gave Moses a set of Ten Commandments by which they were to live. The Israelites, in turn, scorned Moses and continued their ‘merry way’. That angered Moses, so he went back up the mountain and God gave him another set. Only this time Moses presented them with an edict of ‘dire consequences’ if they disobeyed God.
Now, all that sounds well and good if one believes he can talk to God and get direst answers —I don’t accept that at all and here is why. God is Perfect in all respects. For such activity to happen God would be required to change his Perfect Nature, in which case, he would no longer be perfect. Furthermore, instantly, nothing in this universe would or could be trusted to perform as expected. All the Perfect Rationality that exists in this universe would be lost and changed forever. There would be mass chaos among all the building blocks of the universe — very likely, it would implode immediately.
So, I believe, without doubt, that Moses used those threats in the name of God for the purpose of controlling his subjects. That might have been acceptable had it been a one-time event. However, it became a well-used ploy for control and extorsion of wealth by the Jewish hierarchy. Worse yet, it has pervaded the entire Abrahamic offshoots even to this day. And how and why am I allowed to say such? It’s pretty simple.
God, being perfect, cannot possibly be offended. Neither can he be pleased nor helped. Therefore, God knows no sin. Human abuses against each other are of no concern to God because God’s Perfection allows for no concern. The fatal mistake which Moses made has persisted four thousand years or so and has accounted for way more distress and pain in humanity than all human misdeeds against each other combined. The guilt trip blanket which Mosaic Law threw over humanity has become the cornerstone of monumental egregiousness. Physical pain is real but usually temporary. Emotional (mental) pain is worse because seldom does it go away. Furthermore, it frequently becomes so great as to make one despair and take his own life to escape it. Statistics show that from the years 2000 to 2020, more than 800,000 people died from suicide in the USA — that’s an average of 40,000 per year.
Yes, we need good civil law just as in Moses’ time, but definitely, we need not attempt to enforce it by threats from God. We need to be teaching everyone that God loves us unconditionally, that we need to love and accept God unconditionally. We need to teach love and acceptance of each other while knowing full well that each of us is different—we must accept each other’s differences —that’s what love is.
Two thousand years ago, a man named Jesus walked this earth. He observed exactly what we observe today —the guilt trip imposed by religion for purposes of control and financial gain by its perpetrators. I have no doubt that Jesus became so incensed by the injustice he observed that he vowed to himself and to God that he would liberate the world of that evil. He would do so by educating people about God’s love and how they should love God in return and love their neighbors as themselves. He had hoped to educate his followers so they could continue to spread that good word worldwide in his absence —he knew he would be killed. To this day, it seems to me that Jesus was a complete failure.
Those who formulated a new religion using his name completely ignored his teaching of love. They perpetuated the myth of a vengeful but merciful God who demanded sacrifice and reparation for our misdeeds. In reality, they perpetuated a new version of the Jewish sacrificial religion. And look what has happened. That Church became so corrupt as to cause major splits between Rome and its Eastern counterparts. Later the corruption became so bad as to cause an outright revolt, and innumerable ‘churches of protest’ came into being, and they’re still popping op. So now we have worldwide over 33,000 such churches and sects claiming to be the correct version of Jesus’ teachings. But you guessed it, universally, they all still attempt to impale us with an angry God. I am unaware of any one of them which is not still attempting to exercise control over us while simultaneously striving to ‘grow’ their empire. It truly breaks my heart to say so, but I know it to be true.
Jesus intended to be our liberator, not our savior —we were never lost in the first place. Jesus knew that God loved us each unconditionally. He knew that God resided in us and all his creation, not apart from it as the Jews were teaching. Jesus also knew that each of us was a distinct individual because each of our entire life’s experiences were different. God made it to be that way so each of us could have an individual identity similar to others but distinctly different from any other. God cannot possibly reject anything he has allowed to come into being and in which he resides.
I am fully aware that what I just said is totally contrary to what any of us have been taught, but I will say it again. The biggest ‘fatal mistake’ the universe has ever known was Moses frightening his subjects into control with threats from a mythical god. I’m not suggesting nor implying that Moses gained monetarily from those threats, but I am suggesting that those who followed Moses in command certainly did and still do even as I write.
My little book, Wilderness Cry outlines this philosophy succinctly, and its sequels, Peace in Spirituality and Provocative Catholic, expand it dramatically. Growing Up in Fancy Farm Kentucky will give you an inkling into the author’s upbring — both humorous and historic. All available Amazon-Kindle and from me handg@comcast.net
Buddhaism Christianity Eternity Faith Future of Christianity God God's Will gods Hilary L Hunt MD Hinduism HolyGhost Holy Spirit Islam Islam Christianity Jesus Judaism Judaism Buddhism Money Philosophy Power Religion religions salvation Science The Trinity
Buddhaism Christianity Eternity Faith Future of Christianity God God's Will gods Hilary L Hunt MD Hinduism HolyGhost Holy Spirit Islam Islam Christianity Jesus Judaism Judaism Buddhism Money Philosophy Power Religion religions salvation Science The Trinity
WILDERNESS CRY by Hilary L Hunt MD 