Off-topic thread of the day 10

When Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai, he may have been high on a hallucinogenic plant, according to a new study by an Israeli psychology professor.

...

The thunder, lightning and blaring of a trumpet which the Book of Exodus says emanated from Mount Sinai could just have been the imaginings of a people in an "altered state of awareness," [Benny Shanon of Jerusalem's Hebrew University] hypothesized.

Lurking behind this story seems to be the assumption that if Moses was on hallucinogens, then he wasn't experiencing the divine. But what's the basis for that inference?

David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/drgrist.

Related Stories

Advertisement
Advertisement

  1. caniscandida Posted 10:19 am
    05 Mar 2008

    The really serious delusionis that the narratives in the Bible, certainly in Exodus, are actually describing anything that really happened.
    The great majority of biblical narrative texts are the creation of more or less brilliant and thoughtful literary artists.
    These things DID NOT HAPPEN.  And to pretend that they did, regardless of the circumstances, is anti-intellectual and inhumane.
    One of the greatest embarrassments in the history of modern popular science is the perennial pre-Christmastide discussion of the Star of Bethlehem, in otherwise wonderfully scientific planetariums.  But the Star is a bit of poetry!  Very nice poetry, to be sure, but it should not waste the time of scientists!
    And the most serious of the serious biblical delusions is the idea that God is really the same as the character "God" in the Bible.  In fact, God is -- thank God! -- not much like "God" at all.

    Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.

    Permalink

  2. ids's avatar

    ids Posted 1:04 pm
    05 Mar 2008

    faith in one's godwhat's the basis for that inference?

    Permalink

  3. amazingdrx Posted 1:25 pm
    05 Mar 2008

    MosesSmell the roses.  Hallucinagen..hallucination..
    The lord works in mysterious ways...
    His wonders to perceive.  Aum.

    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

    Permalink

  4. RHY Posted 1:46 pm
    05 Mar 2008

    Did the Red Sea Part?No "Wucking Fay!" Say archaeologists.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/world/africa/03exodus.h ...
    BTW, the "syndrome" is called the "Nile Denial."
    Here believes "Red Sea Denial" might have been more appropriate!

    Permalink

  5. amazingdrx Posted 1:53 pm
    05 Mar 2008

    10 commandmentsMight want to rethink this.  How about 10 suggestions, for a smooth trip?  Somebody send Tim leary this link, good thing he has broadband inter-dimensional internet, wherever he is.
    This will blow his mind.

    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

    Permalink

  6. Pompey Road Posted 1:12 am
    06 Mar 2008

    Magic MushroomsWow Man! Bad trip, you mean we caused the inquisition and the crusades and the destruction of the Maya and Inca peoples over this shit.
    Oh man! I just scored some good peyote and had a real good vision, Old Cris Columbus friggin boat sank....far out, Dude

    The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.

    Permalink

  7. Tia Ghose Posted 1:55 am
    06 Mar 2008

    it's always the drugs, isn't it?Ah, the old "I was high on drugs when I parted the red seas" explanation.  I think the magic mushroom (or at least magic fungus) explanation was also proposed to explain the Salem witch trials at one point: http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/history/ergot.htm.  

    Tia Ghose

    (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

    //
    var l=new Array();

    var output = '';

    l[0]='>';l[1]='a';l[2]='/';l[3]='';l[21]='\"';l[22]=' 103';l[23]=' 114';l[24]=' 111';l[25]=' 46';l[26]=' 116';l[27]=' 115';l[28]=' 105';l[29]=' 114';l[30]=' 103';l[31]=' 64';l[32]=' 101';l[33]=' 115';l[34]=' 111';l[35]=' 104';l[36]=' 103';l[37]=' 116';l[38]=':';l[39]='o';l[40]='t';l[41]='l';l[42]='i';l[43]='a';l[44]='m';l[45]='\"';l[46]='=';l[47]='f';l[48]='e';l[49]='r';l[50]='h';l[51]='a ';l[52]='

    Permalink

  8. amazingdrx Posted 2:39 am
    06 Mar 2008

    10 suggestionsHere I started it out..  6 more to go.
    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2008/3/5/3 ...


     No punk music while tripping.
     Don't hit on another guy's "lady", unless she really wants it.
     Does anyone really own anything?  Why be all stressed out over stealing, coveting, etc.?
    What is the true "lord's" name?  have you ever seen his ID?





    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

    Permalink

  9. Pompey Road Posted 5:28 am
    06 Mar 2008

    From the big guy/girlI gave you one rule--love one another

    You went on a bad hash power trip and made it into 10.
    I gave you one planet, told ya to take care of it. Didn't even charge you a deposit, look what the hell you did with the earth.
    No! Neither Pat Roberston, Osama or the Pope has me on speed dial. I left the neighborhood eons ago, before the sub prime crises and the market crashed.
    You guys are starting to piss me off and if you don't get your act together nobody gets beamed up.

    The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.

    Permalink

  10. RHY Posted 9:42 am
    06 Mar 2008

    hallucinatory stuff / brainwashingTia Ghose - it always has and will be about drugs (or brainwashing). Without them, how could anyone in their right mind believe the most violent book ever written (have lost the stats on how many time `slay' `slew,' `slain,' `smite' . . . are used ) as the work of 'almighty?'
    amazingdrx - Try, 'Thou shalt not bullsh*t thee!'

    Permalink

Add a Comment

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have an account, log in. If you don't have an account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.