Britney’s Choice, Part I: Original Sin

Saturday, February 24, 2007 – www.divinecosmos.com

Thanks to this morning’s dream, I was given greater insight into why the story of Britney’s “meltdown” is so important to the mass consciousness – important enough that her name was the number-one most-requested search term on Yahoo this week. More than American Idol. More than Anna Nicole Smith. Heck, even more than the Internal Revenue Service. 

It all ties back in with the story of a woman in a garden, making a big, big mistake…

In Part I of this two-part series, we’ll go back to the Bible – not because I am a Bible-thumper, but simply because many beliefs have been hard-wired into our subconscious mind as a result of the core Judeo-Christian mythos. At times I have referred to this as the “subconscious Judeo-Christian overlay” that we all have, to some degree, whether we realize it or not – including people who would consciously say they don’t care.

These ancient stories still hold powerful sway over our thoughts and attitudes, as it has become part of the collective body of unquestioned, subconscious “groupthink” knowledge that we all hold, almost instinctively. Remember, the theme has been “learning to think for yourself,” and breaking out of these outworn collective thought patterns. Before you can let go of it, you have to first identify what is in there.

The first man was Adam, put down in the Garden of Eden, which was an unspoiled paradise. He could go anywhere, do anything he wanted, except eat from one tree – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This supposedly held knowledge that only God was supposed to have – it was never intended for Adam. God then took a piece of Adam’s rib, and from it created Eve, the first woman.

In the meantime, there was also a negative force – “Satan” if you will – which took the form of a serpent in the garden. The serpent’s main objective was to get Adam and Eve to deny and disobey God, however he could. His only real option for success was to get them to do the one thing they were told not to do – namely eat an apple from the Tree. He had to think really hard, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, and come up with a plan.

Eve was the one the serpent successfully tempted first – not Adam. As a result, our entire Western civilization, in the religious sense, has a built-in subconscious bias against women, because Eve – a woman – was the one who blew it. She bit into the apple, much to the serpent’s delight, and was the first to gain the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is where the “Fall of Man” allegedly first happened.

[From http://www.mccullagh.org/image/9/eve-and-apple.html ] 

Eve messed it up for the rest of us, for all time, and she is still being blamed for it. So are the rest of us, in the conventional religious model! Fundamentalist religions still say you are condemned to burn in hell, for all eternity, because of this “original sin” Eve committed! Doesn’t sound fair, does it?

(Didn’t God ever take into account that something like this might happen? Did he really think we would be good little children and never fall for it, given our innate curiosity? Why not simply put the tree somewhere else, where we can’t reach it? Surround it with an unbreakable sphere of glass. Put it under the sea, too far down to swim. Put it on an island inside a volcano and surround it with molten lava. Grow it on top of a loose, rocky cliff that is impossible to climb without falling down, or up on a cloud only the birds can reach. Anything! Be creative! After all, you are All Knowing and All Powerful, right?)

So here we are, condemned to burn for all eternity because God set us up. He hung the succulent bait right out in front of us, dared us not to touch it, did nothing to stop the serpent from talking Woman into it, and then punished us for all eternity when she inevitably caved in. And it’s all her fault! Damn her! Literally!

Furthermore, in the conventional Fundamentalist model, God only gave you one way out – and ONLY one way – from burning for all eternity, thanks to Eve’s original screw-up.

Even better, God doesn’t trust or respect you enough to deal with you directly. Like the big boss of a corporation, God is only willing to work with a middle-man, who ranks a lot higher than you do, even though your own immortal soul is at stake. God keeps all his deals “in the family”, and you’re not a part of it. The middle-man is his son – the ONLY son he had – and the heir to the family throne.

So now this other guy, God’s only son, has to go and cut a deal with the Big Boss on your behalf, or else you’re screwed.

Was God willing to accept and forgive you? No.

Did he say, “OK, well I see your point, son, we’ll let ‘em slide this time”? No.

Did God say, “How about we make each of them responsible for their own karma?” No.

God said “let’s make a deal”. He wanted payment in full, no questions. “Son, you’re going to have to buy me off,” he said, like a big mafia boss.

[For illustrative pop-culture visuals only. The characters do NOT fit otherwise.] 

“How much ya need?” the son might have said. “I can get everyone else in the company to work hard, earn up the dough and pay you back.”

“No, that ain’t gonna cut it,” God said. “I want YOU to pay me. Forget about them. I don’t want anything from them. This is your responsibility now.”

“Well, jeez. All right. I guess you leave me no choice…. So how much cash is it going to take, Boss?”

“Cash? Who said anything about cash? I want blood, boy. Your blood.”

“Well, that’s pretty morbid, wouldn’t you say?”

“You tell me. Deal or no deal.”

“All right. I know you’re a reasonable guy, so we should be able to work something out.”

“Good,” he laughed. “Good.”

“Well all right then, how much blood will it be? A drop or two? I’ve got a needle here, I can prick my finger…”

“No way. A lot more than that.”

“Fair enough. How about a few pints? I could go down to the blood bank tomorrow…”

“No, you’re not hearing me, boy.”

“What?”

“All of it. I want all your blood.”

“OK, I’m right here. It’s all right here! Inside me.”

“No. Outside.”  

“You’re kidding!”

“Absolutely not. I’m serious. Dead serious.

Otherwise, forget it. No deal. They all burn. I don’t care. It’s your decision, boy.”  

 

Good Lord! Thanks a lot, Woman! This is a fine mess you’ve gotten God’s son – an otherwise innocent guy – into. You screwed up, and bit the apple God left right out there waiting for you, baiting you, tempting you. Now the young kid has to buy off the Boss Man with blood. His own blood.

This is exactly what Fundamentalists actually say! Find a tract, or go to a sermon, and you’ll hear that Jesus “paid a blood ransom for your sins”, even though this ‘original sin’ was something you had absolutely no control over.

Furthermore, you’ll never directly get to meet Jesus either – at least not while you’re alive. You are simply told to trust that this secret deal already went down, the blood-money is still good two thousand years later, everything’s cool, don’t sweat it. You’ll be fine… we promise.

The next step, of course, is that unless you accept that particular denomination’s way of worshipping Jesus, without question, you’re still screwed. Every different church you go to tells you that their way is the only right way. They can’t all be right if they think like this, but naturally every one of them assumes that they hold the winning lottery ticket.

The positive side of this “hush money” being paid is that in a single day, you can “accept the Lord”, get baptized, and then do whatever you want – no additional spiritual work is required. They tell you that you are a sinner, and you will continue sinning, but as long as you keep going to Church and paying a good tithe, Jesus worked this back-room deal with God so you get a free boarding pass.

This might all seem horribly blasphemous, and just a hundred years ago or less, I could get stoned – and not in the ‘fun’ way – for discussing this.

However, when we come back tomorrow, we’re going to see how this is still affecting the behavior of modern women, like Britney Spears, without them even realizing it. More importantly, it sheds light on how the masses react when someone like Britney finally hits bottom.

I already know you think this old story has no bearing on your life, your attitude, your thinking process or your decisions. I’m not so sure. Once I reveal the secret, you might be surprised. And you just might become free!

I was pretty shocked to be asked to share this with you, but the dream was quite specific….

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW…