The Power of the Five Books of Moses
The more closely I read the Tanakh (the Pentateuch, Hebrew Bible, or Five Books of Moses), the more clearly I see the power agenda behind it. (Let's remember that these books are the foundation of the three Abrahamic religions.) Without this perspective, it is hard to understand what these books are really about; the catalog of stories, divine punishments, and commandments simply makes no sense. Why would a perfect, all-powerful, and benevolent deity do such horrible things while making such unreasonable demands on a group of "chosen" people? In fact, why is there a chosen people at all? Why is the message, whatever it is, not intended for a universal audience? We can arrive at a better answer if we think of the Israelites as a cult in which most people are subservient and from which a minority, an elite or priestly class, benefits. Cults are always vulnerable to defection and disintegration as members of the subservient majority, especially in a rising generation, begin