06-05-2015, 06:00 PM
Ransom Stoddard: You're not going to use the story, Mr. Scott?
Maxwell Scott: No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
(The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance)
In my younger days, I studied a lot of comparative religion and ancient history. You think there's a lot of controversy about the JFK assassination? Wander into the areas of Biblical archaeology or Egyptology and see what a minefield they are. All we know about ancient Carthage pretty much comes from the Romans, and that wasn't flattering. An early example of the winners writing the history books. People today are being oppressed and killed because of 3000-year-old myths about Palestine and Israel.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/...raper-text
"In no other part of the world does archaeology so closely resemble a contact sport. Eilat Mazar is one of the reasons why. Her announcement in 2005 that she believed she had unearthed the palace of King David amounted to a ringing defense of an old-school proposition under assault for more than a quarter centurynamely, that the Bible's depiction of the empire established under David and continued by his son Solomon is historically accurate. Mazar's claim has emboldened those Christians and Jews throughout the world who maintain that the Old Testament can and should be taken literally. Her purported discovery carries particular resonance in Israel, where the story of David and Solomon is interwoven with the Jews' historical claims to biblical Zion."
Because of the loss of ancient libraries like Alexandria, we have gaping holes in the record. So it became easier for people to believe the myths and legends. Just as there were once many Gospels of Jesus, and the Imperial-backed Roman Church picked four of them as the "official" Gospels, we have our official history and many alternate accounts. Sometimes the truth becomes unknowable.
With modern events like JFK/MLK/RFK, we actually have too much information, and a lot of it is irrelevant or false. I think I have a pretty good overall idea of what happened on 11/22/63, but many details are probably lost forever. A lot of questions may never be answered.
Maxwell Scott: No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
(The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance)
In my younger days, I studied a lot of comparative religion and ancient history. You think there's a lot of controversy about the JFK assassination? Wander into the areas of Biblical archaeology or Egyptology and see what a minefield they are. All we know about ancient Carthage pretty much comes from the Romans, and that wasn't flattering. An early example of the winners writing the history books. People today are being oppressed and killed because of 3000-year-old myths about Palestine and Israel.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/...raper-text
"In no other part of the world does archaeology so closely resemble a contact sport. Eilat Mazar is one of the reasons why. Her announcement in 2005 that she believed she had unearthed the palace of King David amounted to a ringing defense of an old-school proposition under assault for more than a quarter centurynamely, that the Bible's depiction of the empire established under David and continued by his son Solomon is historically accurate. Mazar's claim has emboldened those Christians and Jews throughout the world who maintain that the Old Testament can and should be taken literally. Her purported discovery carries particular resonance in Israel, where the story of David and Solomon is interwoven with the Jews' historical claims to biblical Zion."
Because of the loss of ancient libraries like Alexandria, we have gaping holes in the record. So it became easier for people to believe the myths and legends. Just as there were once many Gospels of Jesus, and the Imperial-backed Roman Church picked four of them as the "official" Gospels, we have our official history and many alternate accounts. Sometimes the truth becomes unknowable.
With modern events like JFK/MLK/RFK, we actually have too much information, and a lot of it is irrelevant or false. I think I have a pretty good overall idea of what happened on 11/22/63, but many details are probably lost forever. A lot of questions may never be answered.