John Brodix Merryman Jr.
2 min readMar 22, 2024

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What if Judaism is not actually the center of the universe?

The Bronze Age tribalism certainly had its uses, but there are reasons civilization has moved on.

The point of the New Testament is the Golden Rule; Matthew, 7/12, "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." Turn the other cheek.

Why? Karma. What goes round, comes round.

The problem with monotheism is that ideals are not absolutes. Truth, beauty, platonic forms are ideals. The creeds, codes, heroes, narratives at the core of every society are ideals. The universal, on the other hand, is the elemental. So a spiritual absolute would be the essence of sentience, from which life rises, not an ideal of wisdom and judgement, from which it fell. The light shining through and animating the film, than the stories playing out on it.

Rome adopted Christianity for the monotheism as the Empire was rising from the ashes of the Republic. The Big Guy Rules. Like Ancient Israel. It was a monarchy, remember?

Democracy and republicanism originated in pantheistic cultures. All the ideals, not just one.

When the West went back to democracy and republicanism, it required the separation of church and state, culture and civics.

Many of the problems in the world today seem to originate in Eastern Europe. That's where the pogroms and persecutions that gave rise to Zionism came from. That's where Nazism finds its most fertile ground. That's where many of the neocons driving American foreign policy through endless wars seem to come from.

When the Zionists decided to recreate Israel at the point of a gun, it was a disaster for the Jews across the Middle East and Northern Africa, as the Muslims retaliated by driving them out.

So be careful how much you let emotion dictate your actions. Don't ignore the parts of history you don't like. What goes round, comes round.

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John Brodix Merryman Jr.
John Brodix Merryman Jr.

Written by John Brodix Merryman Jr.

Having an affair with life. It's complicated.

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