Hitler seems to be a demoniac, so it is interesting to see what he says and how he says it. So the demoniac Hitler says,
"I'll make these damned parsons feel the power of the state in a way they would have never believed possible. For the moment, I am just keeping my eye upon them: if I ever have the slightest suspicion that they are getting dangerous, I will shoot the lot of them. This filthy reptile raises its head whenever there is a sign of weakness in the State, and therefore it must be stamped on. We have no sort of use for a fairy story invented by the Jews."
(quoted from Hitler's 'Table Talks' in
A. Bullock, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny)
He is invoking the reptiles, etc., an ancient prejudice. That symbol is the reason I bring this quote up.
It is interesting to note that Jesus actually compares himself to a reptile, at least in a certain way. "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up...." John 3:14 It seems odd to have that symbol there, since it was symbolic of evil. I think it is a way of saying that he became evil for his gardeners. That is what is being said by the symbol to those he loves, those he will save. Perhaps as a man will kill to protect his wife from being raped, so must evil be used against Evil, and then it is Good. It is good that he kills the rapist or that the Messiah crushes the head of Evil. These are just symbols or analogies for Cosmic issues or some paradoxes between Good and Evil. For how can it be good to kill and destroy, etc.? The prissy Christian does not seem to believe that it can be, not even in the words. Speak the truth in love, etc....and then begin to hide behind loooove in all things.
Yet there is the symbol of the reptile invoked even to Christians, saying that they must be wise as serpents. "Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16
The dove is a symbol of peace and it is pretty clear that it is feminine. Jesus never does compare himself to a dove, although one does come down from they sky after his baptism, like one Noah sends out after the waters break, as well. Once the waters break, like at the Red Sea, a new day is born.....or born again.
Jesus does make a whip and beat up some dove sellers and he mentions the unforgivable sin. The intolerance of that! The ones who try to speak love into truth will want to avoid such. The symbolism continues with baptism by the Holy Ghost. And so on. So that's a bit of that symbolism. But back to the reptile as a symbol,
"On one hand there was the creative sun, light, beauty, gold; the gods, white garments, happiness, perfume, nectar and ambrosia; and right, good, and truth. On the other was darkness, clouds, filth, evil, wrong, falsehood, noxious odors, and reptiles."
(The Mythology of Dark and Fair: Psychiatric Use of Folklore
By Eric Berne
The Journal of American Folklore,Vol. 72,
No. 283. (Jan. - Mar., 1959), pp. 1-13)
One hand is right and the other is what is left. I'm joking around, a little. The problem with joking around with things that contain truth or basic intuitions is that you can't back off as if the truth is not true. The Left fairly consistently wants to see things from "the other side," etc. Yep, if only they could see things from the right side. Hehe, that's always fun....but back to the reptile as symbol again,
Jesus also calls some people a "brood of vipers," because it is, on the whole, a negative symbol. The only way it is good and not evil is by redemption. Redemption by transcendence is like the exact opposite of Sadean philosophy, in which there is no redeeming transcendence at all. (Ironically, I remember one movie reviewer saying that the Passion of the Christ was "sadistic." In fact, it is the polar opposite. They might disagree with it but calling it specifically sadistic demonstrates a high level of ignorance as to the philosophy of Sade and Christ.)
It would probably be interesting to look at how the Founding Fathers used ancient symbolism.
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