May 27– From “Education of The Human Race” by GE Lessing (1780) translated by FW Robertson

 Education, do you need it?

May 27– From “Education of The Human Race” by GE Lessing (1780) translated by FW Robertson

Summary: You need to God.

Commentary: As is often the case with the more religious sections of T5FSOB, I can't tell if Elliot is supporting batshit insane ramblings, or if he's posting them so you can go "wow, these people are fucking nuts," and do some disguised apostasy. This is some crazy guy on the street corner stuff, complete with random capitals, contractions, etc. 

But daily experience could not possibly be permitted to confirm this belief, or else it would have been all over, for ever, with people who had this experience, so far as all recognition and reception was concerned of the truth as yet unfamiliar to them. For if the pious were absolutely happy, and it also of course was a necessary part of his happiness that his satisfaction should be broken by no uneasy thoughts of death, and that he should die old, and satisfied with life to the full: how could he yearn after another life? and how could he reflect upon a thing after which he did not yearn? But if the pious did not reflect thereupon, who then should reflect? The transgressor? he who felt the punishments of his misdeeds, and if he cursed this life, must have so gladly renounced that other existence?

God can't make life too good, or make it too obvious he exists. Instead you need to be miserable and confused so you'll worship him and want to go to heaven.

I think the thing that really sticks out about the Abrahamic religions to me is how horrible their supposedly perfect god is, compared to other religions whose gods are accepted to be flawed. Zeus is an asshole, but the worst thing he'll do (unless you go out of your way to piss him off, and even then he'll "only" kill you) is turn into an armadillo or something and rape you. Yahweh will structure the entire universe as some sort of Rube Goldberg-esque gaslighting ponzi scheme, just so you'll suck up to him in hopes of going to the good afterlife (that you can't be sure exists) instead of the bad afterlife (which is infinitely bad forever). It's like comparing some asshole drug lord to (someone actually worse than) Hitler.