Reading through the stories of the bible in the with my son, the stories of the two books of kings were really interesting because it showed a long view of history we lack today.
Even Moses made mistakes, and upset God, and while he was blessed to lead his people out of the desert, he never got a chance to set foot in the promised land as punishment for his sins.
Many of the kings ruled justly, but decided to turn from God, and lived according to another way. Despite this, many of those kings decided to repent and accept their mistakes and change later in life, but while God decided not to destroy those Kings during their lifetime, but instead chose to take the leadership of Israel from their sons and give it to someone else, or have their sons divided so that Israel would no longer be unified.
It doesn't matter if you're theistic or an atheist if instead of looking at those stories as literal historical fact, you look at the stories as ancient wisdom passed down through generations meant to warn us to stay on a certain path or face the consequences.
Our contemporary view of history is much shorter. We've forcibly chosen to forget most of the stories of our past, both true and allegorical, that could help act as a lodestone to set our course through life based on the long history of man through many cycles of success and failure.
But even as we are doomed as a civilization to lose our way at times, there are also eras where we will find our way again, but it might take generations to do so. In the meantime, we personally need to pay close attention to how we manage ourselves, and carefully mind our business, and work with our hands and try to live in such a way that we're not too dependent on the civilization that has lost its way. The old morality didn't come from nothing -- it came about as advice on how to live in a world made up of cities and states, where you couldn't just rely on instinct any longer. The kings who lost their way weren't punished in their own lifetime, but in their children's lifetimes, and the kings who never strayed not only faced rewards in their own lifetime, but their kids were set up to become the future kings.
There was a big moment when I was writing The Graysonian Ethic that really made me feel small, but important at the same time. It was realizing that every single person who led up to my existence was a winner in a sense that they survived and reproduced. Many humans never survived long enough to have kids, and many of those kids would never have kids, but my parents, and grandparents, and great grandparents, going all the way back in a line of succession too far for us to imagine did succeed. It made me feel small because I was just the latest inheritor of wealth I can't even recognise because I was born with it -- instincts that help me succeed, that keep me alive, that help me prevent failure -- but I'm just carrying a torch for a short time I have on this earth before I must pass the inheritance on to my kids, and they in turn must pass that inheritance on, while building on that inheritance by teaching my son right from wrong.
Even Moses made mistakes, and upset God, and while he was blessed to lead his people out of the desert, he never got a chance to set foot in the promised land as punishment for his sins.
Many of the kings ruled justly, but decided to turn from God, and lived according to another way. Despite this, many of those kings decided to repent and accept their mistakes and change later in life, but while God decided not to destroy those Kings during their lifetime, but instead chose to take the leadership of Israel from their sons and give it to someone else, or have their sons divided so that Israel would no longer be unified.
It doesn't matter if you're theistic or an atheist if instead of looking at those stories as literal historical fact, you look at the stories as ancient wisdom passed down through generations meant to warn us to stay on a certain path or face the consequences.
Our contemporary view of history is much shorter. We've forcibly chosen to forget most of the stories of our past, both true and allegorical, that could help act as a lodestone to set our course through life based on the long history of man through many cycles of success and failure.
But even as we are doomed as a civilization to lose our way at times, there are also eras where we will find our way again, but it might take generations to do so. In the meantime, we personally need to pay close attention to how we manage ourselves, and carefully mind our business, and work with our hands and try to live in such a way that we're not too dependent on the civilization that has lost its way. The old morality didn't come from nothing -- it came about as advice on how to live in a world made up of cities and states, where you couldn't just rely on instinct any longer. The kings who lost their way weren't punished in their own lifetime, but in their children's lifetimes, and the kings who never strayed not only faced rewards in their own lifetime, but their kids were set up to become the future kings.
There was a big moment when I was writing The Graysonian Ethic that really made me feel small, but important at the same time. It was realizing that every single person who led up to my existence was a winner in a sense that they survived and reproduced. Many humans never survived long enough to have kids, and many of those kids would never have kids, but my parents, and grandparents, and great grandparents, going all the way back in a line of succession too far for us to imagine did succeed. It made me feel small because I was just the latest inheritor of wealth I can't even recognise because I was born with it -- instincts that help me succeed, that keep me alive, that help me prevent failure -- but I'm just carrying a torch for a short time I have on this earth before I must pass the inheritance on to my kids, and they in turn must pass that inheritance on, while building on that inheritance by teaching my son right from wrong.
There's a lot of different stories with lots of different lessons, but from an atheistic perspective you can see a few recurring themes emerge.
One is to act in a moral way and that there are rewards for acting morally and punishments for acting immorally.
Related to that, those rewards and punishments may not happen right away, and the punishment for acting in an immoral manner may manifest in future generations.
Another is that even though times will be tough sometimes, you need to have faith that doing the right thing will pay off in the end.
Some of the recurring moral themes are justice, loyalty, humility, courage in the face of adversity, and wisdom.
A good example of the stories that mean a lot from an atheist perspective is the story of Mephibosheth. King David swore to Jonathan that he would support his kin for generations in recognition of their friendship. Mephibosheth was a cripple, and he was a direct descendant of Saul, who hated him, but he kept his oath and treated Mephibosheth like his own son, always having a seat for him at his own table. That sort of story of keeping to your vows and loyalty to your friends would be accepted as a good moral tale anywhere in the world.
One is to act in a moral way and that there are rewards for acting morally and punishments for acting immorally.
Related to that, those rewards and punishments may not happen right away, and the punishment for acting in an immoral manner may manifest in future generations.
Another is that even though times will be tough sometimes, you need to have faith that doing the right thing will pay off in the end.
Some of the recurring moral themes are justice, loyalty, humility, courage in the face of adversity, and wisdom.
A good example of the stories that mean a lot from an atheist perspective is the story of Mephibosheth. King David swore to Jonathan that he would support his kin for generations in recognition of their friendship. Mephibosheth was a cripple, and he was a direct descendant of Saul, who hated him, but he kept his oath and treated Mephibosheth like his own son, always having a seat for him at his own table. That sort of story of keeping to your vows and loyalty to your friends would be accepted as a good moral tale anywhere in the world.
In general, you can change the way you read it from being theistic to atheistic just by reading each story as an allegory for following the prescribed morality, and seeing it through the lens of a being God who is above the kings in terms of hierarchy ends up being an allegory saying that morality is more important than whoever happens to be in charge at the time.
In grounded terms, Moses left a privileged upbringing in Egypt (and slavery was a major institution at the time, it didn't go away when Moses left Egypt and I'm sure the Israelites would have practiced it once they settled, so our modern interpretation of the story through the lens of abhorring slavery probably isn't quite accurate) for wandering the desert for 40 years and barely subsisting off of water from rocks and manna, making a major sacrifice for a long time to build a better future for his people. He had to figure out how to rule his people so they would be moral people, and it was challenging. They were off looking for a promised land where they could settle, which is a universal theme that's particularly relevant today as people search for a place to belong.
The story speaks to human dignity, where the God of the Israelites saved a bunch of slaves from a king, which is contrary to many of the moral systems of the era which would have been highly aristocratic and would have considered those of a higher social station to be more human. Instead, even these slaves are treated as humans worthy of basic dignity.
There's lots of stories where the people are losing faith, and they start to waver, and sometimes the people who lost faith faced big punishments, such as when the earth opened up and swallowed up many of the people who opposed Moses, the prophet of God (and thus the deliverer of morality to the people). Again, you can interpret this directly as big man God doing stuff, or you can interpret it as allegory that losing faith in acting in a moral manner will result in cataclysmic consequences.
I found some parallels between the story of Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt and wandering the desert and my struggles going to college. I didn't get fancy scholarships or big fat student loans, especially at first. I had to work for years at a terrible job to save enough for tuition and living expenses, I had to take a huge risk and leave the home of my parents to live in a strange city and I didn't have that much money so I had to work really hard in school, and then sometimes I'd work Saturday for 16 hours, and Sunday for 12 hours and then go back to school Monday morning bright and early. I was sacrificing a lot, and I was working really hard, and it took a powerful faith that I was doing the right thing to keep doing it. I'd ride home many miles in the cold on my bicycle from work, and I'd pass by one street where prostitutes would hang out trying to get work, and then I'd pass by the main streets in the city where at that time of night the bars would have huge lines to get in, and all this represented a lifestyle I was completely cut off from because everything I had was being dedicated to this future I didn't have any guarantees I would get, but if I gave up, if I pulled a NEET and stopped going to class and spend my book money on booze and women and spent my time playing video games then losing faith like that would mean the earth would open up and swallow me whole because I'd have no future.
In the end I found success, but if I get arrogant and start to believe my success came because of my inherent superiority then I'll inevitably fail because what really helped me get to where I am today is by acting with moral virtue over a long time, of keeping my promises and maintaining my commitments, of making sacrifices and continuing to do so. I feel like this has parallels in the end of the story of Moses, where he got arrogant and didn't give proper due to the thing he had faith in that had helped him get so far, and the price of his hubris was ultimately never being allowed to set foot in the promised land.
In grounded terms, Moses left a privileged upbringing in Egypt (and slavery was a major institution at the time, it didn't go away when Moses left Egypt and I'm sure the Israelites would have practiced it once they settled, so our modern interpretation of the story through the lens of abhorring slavery probably isn't quite accurate) for wandering the desert for 40 years and barely subsisting off of water from rocks and manna, making a major sacrifice for a long time to build a better future for his people. He had to figure out how to rule his people so they would be moral people, and it was challenging. They were off looking for a promised land where they could settle, which is a universal theme that's particularly relevant today as people search for a place to belong.
The story speaks to human dignity, where the God of the Israelites saved a bunch of slaves from a king, which is contrary to many of the moral systems of the era which would have been highly aristocratic and would have considered those of a higher social station to be more human. Instead, even these slaves are treated as humans worthy of basic dignity.
There's lots of stories where the people are losing faith, and they start to waver, and sometimes the people who lost faith faced big punishments, such as when the earth opened up and swallowed up many of the people who opposed Moses, the prophet of God (and thus the deliverer of morality to the people). Again, you can interpret this directly as big man God doing stuff, or you can interpret it as allegory that losing faith in acting in a moral manner will result in cataclysmic consequences.
I found some parallels between the story of Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt and wandering the desert and my struggles going to college. I didn't get fancy scholarships or big fat student loans, especially at first. I had to work for years at a terrible job to save enough for tuition and living expenses, I had to take a huge risk and leave the home of my parents to live in a strange city and I didn't have that much money so I had to work really hard in school, and then sometimes I'd work Saturday for 16 hours, and Sunday for 12 hours and then go back to school Monday morning bright and early. I was sacrificing a lot, and I was working really hard, and it took a powerful faith that I was doing the right thing to keep doing it. I'd ride home many miles in the cold on my bicycle from work, and I'd pass by one street where prostitutes would hang out trying to get work, and then I'd pass by the main streets in the city where at that time of night the bars would have huge lines to get in, and all this represented a lifestyle I was completely cut off from because everything I had was being dedicated to this future I didn't have any guarantees I would get, but if I gave up, if I pulled a NEET and stopped going to class and spend my book money on booze and women and spent my time playing video games then losing faith like that would mean the earth would open up and swallow me whole because I'd have no future.
In the end I found success, but if I get arrogant and start to believe my success came because of my inherent superiority then I'll inevitably fail because what really helped me get to where I am today is by acting with moral virtue over a long time, of keeping my promises and maintaining my commitments, of making sacrifices and continuing to do so. I feel like this has parallels in the end of the story of Moses, where he got arrogant and didn't give proper due to the thing he had faith in that had helped him get so far, and the price of his hubris was ultimately never being allowed to set foot in the promised land.
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