Knowledge is Bad

The book keeps saying so. Like here:

^42:14 ... they were not divided until after knowledge had come to them.

How do Mohammedans explain that? Daralislamlive.crap sez,

Chapter 42, The Consultation

'The chapter concentrates on the importance of unity and the dangers of being divided. ... This is why we find ... “And they were not divided after knowledge had come to them.” So differences in opinion are allowed but being divided is prohibited.'

See what they did there? The original says 'until after', not 'after'. That's right—they just leave that word out. Problem solved. You can use this technique to remove all kinds of obstacles, like in the ten commandments: Thou shalt kill. Thou shalt covet. Thou shalt commit adultery. Whooo, hooo, divine sanction!!! Crime spree here I come!

This knowledge hating isn't just here, either, it's all through god's books.

^45:17 it was only after knowledge had been granted to them that they fell into schisms,
^41:45 Had it not been for a Word that went forth before from thy Lord, (their differences) would have been settled between them:
^3:19. and the people of the Book did not differ until knowledge (of this revelation) had come to them,
^10:92 So they did not differ until they came to have knowledge.

This goes way back before the koran. Before the torah. To ancient Sumerian stories about the Tree of Life, symbol of the Mother Goddess, the source of fruit that gives life. Bad fruit gives not so much life. Really good fruit would give immortality, like a god has, say the head honcho, Anu (There's no s).

The Abraham cults don't care much about immortal life. Or even life at all. For them the difference between gods and people is that gods know what's good and evil, and people don't. When they tell the story god makes another tree, one that when you eat the fruit you “become as a god, knowing good from evil”. There's no tree to make you honest, though, and god isn't. He lies to people that they'll die if they eat the god-fruit. (I'm quoting Genesis here, y'unnerstand)

The Sumerian symbol of wisdom, the talking snake, is still in the story. Being smart, he knows what's going on, and not being a prick, he tells the one of the people.

“You won't die, that's just a line Anu uses, trying to keep the slaves stupid.”

She believes this other god, Ningishida, 'Lord of the Good Tree', and eats the fruit that makes her “as a wise god”. Before, when she was ignorant, she fell for Anu's scam, didn't eat, stayed stupid. Now that her “eyes are opened” and she is “as a god” and knows what's good and what's not, you'd expect her to do what was good, wouldn't you? And by golly she does. She has the other person eat the fruit too. Now they're both “as gods,” and “know good from evil”. Yay!

Happy all around ? Not quite. Anu comes back, pissed, and tells the snake god that “the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:” and now they'll probably eat the immortality fruit too, and they'll be JUST AS GOOD AS US. OH NOES!!! So he kicks them out.

Amazingly enough, the moral of this story is not that god's a lying dick. It's that the snake, who is not only smart but helpful, is the bad guy; and that doing something that gives you god-like wisdom is a sin worse than a fart in a rimjob. Remember--

STAY STUPID, FOR GOD'S SAKE.