Just A Thought ~ “MINE’S BETTER THAN YOURS”

"The manner in which the Israelites carried the ark of the covenant with them during their travels in the wilderness had a little of the flavor of carrying God with them. Otherwise, one suspects, they might have felt it necessary always to travel back to Sinai to commune with Him.

"In the religious thought of the day, there was no necessary feeling of antagonism towards the gods of other tribes, provided no actual war was going on and the enemy was not calling upon his god for help in your destruction (as you were calling upon yours for help in his). The situation might be much the same as in our own feeling for the flags of foreign nations. If we are at peace with a foreign nation, international usage requires that we treat its flag with decent respect even in our own land. It would be even more a matter of elementary courtesy to treat the flag of a foreign nation with respect while inside the borders of that nation.

"In later times, however, as a consciousness of the universality of Yahveh grew among the Israelites, and as the feeling deepened that there was only one God, not only for the Israelites but for the whole world ~ that there was one only God ~ the attitude of the Yahvists towards the gods of other tribes hardened. The foreign gods were not only potential enemies; they were not gods at all. At most, they were demons who imposed their worship on the ignorant, unenlightened, or wicked."

~ Isaac Asimov: Asimov's Guide to the Bible ~

And it has gone on ever since, causing so much trouble in the world. This pernicious belief must be challenged; proof of this God must be demanded and required; let’s pull its teeth!