Author: Al
Posted: 2007-01-14 13:34:11
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Modern Idols – Moloch
Moloch is one of the few idols mentioned in Christian scriptures by name. Even so, exactly what he was, and exactly what he required of his worshipers is hotly debated. In popular imagination he is the god of Carthage to whom hundreds of babies were fed in order to invoke a blessing. Although the archaeological evidence is still uncertain, I side with those who think that the popular imagination is not far from the truth.
Moloch is a powerful and familiar analogy. His name is invoked whenever children are involved in our nefarious and unethical dealings. All too sadly, his name is invoked often. From child labor, to war, to day care, to stem cell research, we have all heard the name of Moloch a hundred times. I agree with most of these analogies, no matter how trite or polemic they seem. In this essay Moloch worship is indeed embryonic stem cell research.
Since this analogy is used quite often, I will not bore the reader with long explanations. Suffice to say, that we are destroying “embryos” in exchange for the promise to prolong our lives. We are robbing the chance of a single moment in the world so that we may add ten or twenty years to our own already long lives. This would be an obviously heinous crime if not for the already bleak chances of the sacrifices. That, compounded with the abstractions necessary to see these sacrifices as human lives means that most people are happy to turn a blind eye to the whole thing. They will gladly accept any rewards from the idol if they ever come, but they will never be in a position to sacrifice anything to him personally.
The thing that amazes me about the whole ordeal is that none of those trying to destroy Moloch bother to talk about Tanit. The sacrifices to Moloch are, after all, a small portion of those made to Tanit, and without her, the idol would starve. True, Moloch is far more grotesque than Tanit. His sacrifices are for what quite possibly is the chimera of extended life. Her sacrifices seek to create new life. Still, this concentration on the sensational idol whose defeat would really offer no net good troubles me deeply. I sincerely hope that Christian commentators are being sensationalist because they themselves have fallen into the trap of sensationalism. I fear that they are just being sensationalists for their own gain.
It is as though Christians have set up Moloch as our own idol. He is the stone that we gather around to throw pebbles at on our own twisted version of a hajj. We line up regularly and trample each other so that his symbolism can make us feel better. The great Satan exists, and we have not fallen for his tricks. Aren't we clever? Those who are crushed in our valiant crusade will surely be welcomed by God. After all, they fell attacking evil. Never mind that this stone merely represents evil. Never mind that we are throwing a stone at another stone. Why does this fact escape us? How is it that we never see that the thing we are attacking and our weapons are made of the same thing? We are attacking an idol by worshiping him.
The thing that we are forgetting, of course, is that you do not have to like an idol to worship it. You can threaten it, or beat it, if you prefer. Indeed, this is part of the natural progression in idol worship. There are many reasons to flog Moloch. From the purest, to find favor with God, to the vilest, to exploit the weak minded, all of these reasons are still idol worship. So long as we are content to pelt him with stones and chant our magical words at him he is an idol. It is easy to attack a pretend adversary. When you set out to go after the real Adversary, you must be smart. You must not be lazy. You must not mistake the first thing that you stumble upon for him. We have mistaken the stone for Satan. If and when it crumbles will we be so naïve as to think that we have vanquished the Adversary? Are we so arrogant as to think that we have the power to achieve the final victory that the Eternal has reserved for himself?
What would change if we destroyed Moloch and not Tanit? The priests of Moloch are simply vultures pecking at the refuse created by Tanit worship. Is it really better to hide a body from the vultures? Is the body less dead or more sacred in the ground? Does shooing away the vultures convict the murderer? Or, rather is that simply something we do to ease the pain?
We have to calm ourselves and think about this rationally. I know that Moloch is evil. I know that he is grotesque. But I also know that the purest evil comes in the most pleasing appearances. I also know that if we destroy Tanit that Moloch too will fall. Embryonic stem cell research depends upon the much deeper and veiled evil of in vitro fertilization. It is easy to fixate on the ugly, but remember, those who look like criminals never commit the most horrible crimes. See Moloch for what he is. Then think of him no more. |
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