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Path: utzoo!lsuc!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!bch
From: bch@mcnc.UUCP (Byron C. Howes)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.religion,net.flame
Subject: Re: skulls and snakes
Message-ID: <961@mcnc.mcnc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 31-Oct-85 00:46:43 EST
Article-I.D.: mcnc.961
Posted: Thu Oct 31 00:46:43 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Nov-85 03:28:18 EST
References: <323@drutx.UUCP> <815@rlgvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: bch@mcnc.UUCP (Byron C. Howes)
Organization: North Carolina Educational Computing Service
Lines: 24
Xref: lsuc net.politics:1775 net.religion:536 net.flame:2158
Summary: 

In article <815@rlgvax.UUCP> raghu@rlgvax.UUCP (Raghu Raghunathan) writes:
>
>	This is another interesting difference between Hinduism and
>	Christianity. In Hinduism snakes are considered almost
>	sacred and a symbol of good fortune. In my village in
>	India it was considered a honor if a snake crawled into
>	someone's kitchen and partook of the food; and many village
>	temples have several snake nests around them that are protected.
>
>	Considering there are so many differences in beliefs between
>	religions it is no wonder that people of different faiths have
>	such a hard time putting up with each other.

The Snake, as a god or representation of knowledge and wisdom is far more
ancient that Christianity or Judaism.  Joseph Campbell implies that the
Judaic myth of the Garden of Eden is, in fact, a turning upside down of
a common myth about the snake/consort giving knowledge to man.  The purpose
of the rewrite was to discredit those who worshipped the snake/consort.
The myth of the guilded calf in Exodus was likewise an effort to discredit
a local deity.  
-- 

						Byron C. Howes
				      ...!{decvax,akgua}!mcnc!ecsvax!bch