"Christianity and the other Middle Eastern religions were certainly alike in one respect: they all sweated over "sin." The ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead had a great judgment scene, Lessing had read somewhere. When you died, Thoth, the ibis-headed god, weighed your heart against the Feather of Truth. You confessed your sins before Osiris, the Lord of the Dead, and if you lied you were lunch for a crocodile-headed monster. Needless to say, this sternly moral scene was followed by other chapters that told you how to lie safely to the Forty-Two Judges of the Dead, how to con Osiris, how to fool old Croco-Smile, and how to sashay on into the Fields of the Blessed without anybody laying a hand, claw, or tentacle on you! Why did all the religions from that part of the world bother postulating an omnipotent, omniscient god who handed down iron-clad commandments—only to spend the rest of history figuring ways to bamboozle him? Must be something in the Middle Eastern psyche."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p. 368
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/M._A._R._Barker
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
M. A. R. Barker
Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman Barker (born Phillip Barker; November 2, 1929 – March 16, 2012) was an American linguist who was professor of Urdu and South Asian Studies and created one of the first roleplaying games, Empire of the Petal Throne. He wrote several fantasy/science fantasy novels based in his associated world setting of Tékumel.
12 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by M. A. R. Barker →
Related Quotes
"Socially and culturally, Tekumel is as complex – and as alien to modern thinking – as Byzantium, ancient Egypt, Tenoc…"
"I lived in India for many years, and I often encountered very intelligent, sophisticated people who had absolutely no…"
"We American males make fun of each other, using jibes and sarcasm to embellish our conversations and establish bonds.…"
"If man has direct, hot-line access to God through prayer - and if God is "Good" (i.e. on mankind’s side essentially) …"
"I cannot conceive of an ancient, classical, mediaeval, or 'legendary' world without some form of organised religion..…"
"Tolkien had this Britisher's sort of attitude that religion is something you do in church, and... It doesn't really d…"
"I once spent three months in Hong Kong long ago – compulsorily: I had lost my passport in Singapore, and the American…"
"What matters? What is worth establishing and maintaining? Survival. Only survival. Individual survival is first; then…"
"Ah, but what about persons in our society who are not members of our ethnos? I shall not mince words. We are not resp…"
"We will not tolerate either mongrelization or the proliferation of unwanted and unassimilable persons who can never f…"