Christianity
and Judaism are mutually exclusive monotheistic religions, which means a person
cannot belong to both religions at the same time. In addition to that, some
Christian and Jewish religious institutions do not agree about what important
beliefs mean within their own religions. Those “polarizing beliefs”
are “the elephants in the room” – beliefs that most people usually
avoid talking about.
However,
there is another reason that people ignore these “elephants.” They are “Institutional
Truths” (see my
previous email for more info about this), which means they are backed
by the authority of powerful institutions.
Challenges to an Institutional
Truth is viewed as a direct challenge
to the institution’s
claim that it is an authorized representative of God!
For
most people, emotions are much more involved in belief discussions than logic
or reason.
That is another reason people choose to “ignore the elephants.” The
bottom line is people have not had “a peaceful way” to talk about conflicting
beliefs.
I
created the Meme Model to make belief discussions more
transparent -- a new way “to see beliefs.” “Memes”
are “pieces of information” in neural circuits of the brain and all beliefs are
memes. Institutional Truths are complex meme structures constructed of four
types of information.
●
Identity Meme – Name
●
Supporting Memes – Names of things related to the Identity
Meme.
●
Action Memes – Things the Identity Meme does.
Authority
and Anchors
– Anchors link the Identity Meme to specific times and places. Authority
identifies Institutions that are linked to the Identity Meme.
Below
are Meme Models for stories I have discussed in previous emails.
_________________________
The Creator of the
Heavens and Earth in Enuma Elish
●
Identity Meme: Marduk
●
Supporting Memes: A God ○ Born ○ Not Immortal ○ Male ○
King ○ Creator
●
Action Memes: Rules over other Gods ○ Uses Violence to Create and
Rule ○ Actions driven by complaints of Gods
●
Authority & Anchors: (Date [2000 –
300 BCE] – Place [Babylon]) Kings of Babylon, Kings of Persia
○ Priests and Scribes of the Temple of Marduk
_________________________
The Creator of the
Heavens and Earth in Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a
●
Identity Meme: Unnamed
●
Supporting Memes: A God ○ A RUACH (spirit, breath, wind) ○ Origin
Unknown ○ Not Mortal ○ Creator ○ King
●
Action Memes: Creates through speech and acts that are TOV ○ Follows
a plan and creates in an orderly way ○ Values human life ○ Created humans in
Its Image ○ Empowers humans to be Its representatives and exercise power as Co-Shepherds
over all life on Earth.
●
Authority Memes: (Date [5th
century BCE] – Place [Jerusalem Temple]) King of Persia ○ Priests
and Scribes of the Temple of Yahweh.
_________________________
Yahweh The God Genesis 2:4b
– 3:24
●
Identity Meme: Yahweh
●
Supporting Memes: A God ○ Origin Unknown ○ Not Mortal ○
Creator ○ Planter ○ King ○ Judge
●
Action Memes: Created a man from dust of the ground ○ Planter
of a garden in Eden ○ Giver of a commandment ○ Maker of animals ○ Maker of a woman
from the rib of the man ○ Judge of human actions
●
Authority Memes: (Date [5th
century BCE] – Place [Jerusalem Temple]) King of Persia ○ Priests
and Scribes of the Temple of Yahweh
_________________________
Three
models created from information of three different stories. Differences in the models
were used to teach ancient Jewish audiences important lessons about their God, themselves,
and their relationships to each other. Meme Models may be used to create
transparency in any Institutional Truth – religious, political, or economic!
Meme Models will soon become some of your most valuable possessions.
Thank
you for reading this and please share it with others.
Shalom,
Jim
Myers
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