Ancient History Sans Religion == Possible?

[Ethel Jean Saltz]

My BA was in Latin-American Culture and Civilization, G.W.U./'50. I'm
Jewish and learned a lot about Catholicism. In fact, at the moment of
reviewing my resources on this subject, I think the Spanish Language
is predominantly a Catholic-oriented language. I have two bibles to
prove this: the Bibles are edited for acceptance by the predominant
culture supported by the language. The fact that there are two
different titles is alone proof of what I've observed. The American
Bible Society publishes the same modern version of the Bible in
English and in Spanish.
GOOD NEWS BIBLE and DIOS HABLA HOY
I have both of them.

So, to study ancient history it is imperative to understand the
religious traditions of the majority and especially the ruling class,
the propertied folks. As a matter of fact, until the creation of the
USA/Constitution/Bill Of Rights not so long ago, relatively speaking,
this must be true of all history.

Now I'm Jewish and shouldn't I have the right to express the minority
viewpoint of ancient history through my mythological documents as
surely as the Greeks and the Egyptians are so fondly studied through
their mythological documents. Don't we all project on our GODs our own
culture and therefore studying these mythological documents gives us
true insight into how ancients thought and lived. Look at classical
art and see all those different pictures of religious characters from
the Judeo/Christian bible (because the Christian Bible IS in fact
Judeo/Christian). You learn a lot about how people dressed in the era
of the artist, what their utensils were, food, their pets, lots of
cultural stuff. How could it be otherwise. When will ancient history
be taught with the truth, that the priest class actually created
ancient history/culture/etc. Just look at the trail of missions in our
own side of the universe, the Western Continent. Just look at any art
exhibit about any culture.

However, there is a difference between studying and evangelizing. In
history, I think religion should be treated as mythology is treated. I
can be Jewish and still discuss the Old Testament as a complete
fabrication. Doesn't bother me one bit. My own spirituality does
derive from TaNaK/Old Testament, any one which I choose to read in any
language. However, I can calmly discuss the text as a pure document.
In fact, that's what the English version of my ABS Bible does so
exquisitely, GOOD NEWS BIBLE. It is literally "good news" because it
is simply a document of ancient religious thinking interspersed with
lots of scholarly research based on language knowledge and dates, firm
dates and lots of maps to show you what the world was like and how it
even changed back then.

You see when I see the word GOOD it means what Spinoza says to me in
ETHICS:
GOD=GOOD=TRUTH EVIL=IGNORANCE
So it is GOOD NEWS BIBLE for me, a GOOD DOCUMENT of ancient times in a
very important area of all history, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean
Sea.

Be-ahavah be-shalom, Queen Jean of Creekbend
Mac-Niet-Spin-Gal, 390 A.G. (after Galileo/1609)
Worlds Greatest Jewish Thinker - Spinoza-ETHICS
World's Greatest Songs - Psalms in Hebrew
World's Greatest Literature - TaNaK/Old Testament
mailto: nie...@airmail.net