Genesis 11:4-9 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
Have you noticed that people who share language are more likely it seems to end up being allies in world politics and modern war. Just think about today. Who does America have an allies? English speaking England, English speaking Israel, and English speaking Australia.
And so my immediate thought was that allies are as old as babel. Those who speak alike war together.
But then I thought about the other side. Korean speaking north Korea, Persian Speaking Iran, and Spanish speaking Venezuela just to name a few.
So what of my theory?
Perhaps it goes back to a different place. Perhaps it goes back to Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael. It goes back to the difference between the people of YWHW (God) and all others.
It just so happens that the English speaking nations have been dominated by Jewish and Christian thoughts. And many of the others mentioned (with the possible exception of Venezuela) has been dominated by non-Christian religions, ultimately religions from either Babel, Ishmael, or later Esau.
And so the historical roots of modern alliances are religious. But yet, are those roots still there, or have they been pulled up over the years.
Interestingly, our enemy does seem to be anti-Christian at its core. Islam, Eastern Religion and Venezuela’s President Chavez’s mix your own religion all agree that traditional Judeo-Christian ways and the cultures built on them are the problem.
But yet we and our allies fight out of nationalistic pride and not religious conviction (with the possible exception of some Israelis). They are fighting a Holy War and we are fighting a national war.
And that is only right since we and our allies are not Jewish or Christian nations, but secular ones, even Israel.
But it is an odd war when the point of contention cannot even be agreed upon.
But finally I return to Babel. While modern alliances might not flow from there, I do wonder how they influence it. Is it possible our side has a “babel’ advantage that the enemy does not have? The fact that we share language and to some extent culture with our allies makes our planning no doubt easier. The accounts of mistranslation and cultural mishaps are numerous and no doubt wait for our enemy to slow them in their plotting.
So help me out here readers, comment away, what are the effects of Babel on Modern Day living?
Phil,
Good article. Interesting theory. Maybe this is a little different direction but I wonder if when we do tend to side with those who typically share a root or common language if that makes us slow to side with “the others” when we should? For instance, perhaps there were times when we should have sided with the Palestinians in their struggles against the Israelies. Or sided with those countries that have called upon the west for help but have been refused because there was no “national interest” involved. I’m not implying that we should have sided with “the others” all the time or even every time….but rather, does your theory (which is good) mean that as we live our lives in the modern day we don’t help those we are truly in need? And maybe what is worse, I agree that the US is not a christian nation, but there are many who forcefully claim it to be…yet despise our enemies….which seems to go against the very thing Jesus said (you know…about loving your enemies and stuff)…so they claim we are a Christian nation that loves God yet won’t help our neighbors whomever that neighbor may be (seems like I have heard a story about that somewhere). Anyway, good post….it made me think. Thanks
Tom, good points. Right, I was thinking of the advantages of Babel, but you note well the disadvantages. We do not wok together as a world often because of our great difference. And did you say, not help Israel. Oh boy, I won’t tell anyone at your former church you wrote such heresy. 😉
Even more locally also, how often do immigrant communities remain untouched by the gospel for decades because of the Babel gap between us?
Indeed perhaps we need to make a better attempt to bridge Babel not in order to rebuild the tower to the heaven, but to bring the blessings of the one who dwells there to all.