In one of Tim Mackie’s Bible project series he goes over the biblical pattern of the sea and how it’s represents chaos. The argument is centered around how when the world was just this dark empty deep waters it was not called good. It was not first called good until light separated the darkness and land emerged separating the waters. The episode is 21 for those that want to listen to it. In short this tale of the chaotic waters is that it’s dirty. I think that metaphor is even why in baptism the water represents us dying below the surface being washed of our sins as if we are leaving behind even more filth in the chaotic waters. That’s why revelation hyperlinks back to these myths and says in the restored heaven and earth there will be no sea. Not because anything is implying literally there is not a sea but that chaos should be over, though some also believes that’s hyperbolic. It’s beyond this convos point.
So it had me thinking of some ways I could possibly further tie into this thought of dirty water.
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The Atlantic slave trade is an obvious answer. It’s like a upside ark story where African Americans , and others, were herded like animals into a vessel of destruction and brought to a new land full of hatred, enslavement and censored bibles.
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There has been numerous wars fought over land. Often the land that could easily care for everyone who wanted to live there was snatched away from those that have been there for thousands of years. Only this time the evil fools we’re not spreading a pandemic by refusing to wear masks but instead they were handing out blankets. All because they wanted this land and the territories was often marked out by mark of water systems. Even to this day large rivers often are the boundaries. People murdered and murdered just to get the originals on the other side of the water. So some were brought over water to get here and others were forced to cross water to leave there new stolen land. As these people were crossing over the water they were probably thinking of all their dead loved ones and how it’s all being metaphorically swept away by this water. Their homes , their comfort, their loved ones are all being left on the other side of the river.
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After bringing people over across water and forcing people to go over rivers of water we eventually got to the point where we then decided we don’t want anymore people crossing over the river to come here. So begin Americas long war with Mexico. Some even coined a terrible racial slur centered around people having to cross water. What’s very disgusting is that we still see water coming into play again. We hear repeated accounts of good hearted volunteers routinely telling stories of people who hate other people on the other side of a river ( though I hear often it’s dried up ) to the point they sabotage hundreds of gallons of water. Some accounts even mention finding poor dead from dehydration immigrant women and kids because they could not stop throwing up from dirty poisoned water.
- We see another account of dirty water. Even worse than flint Michigan, there is a city right now where officials have said don’t drink the water, don’t even take a bath in the water because this predominantly black town’s water is well above the acceptable levels of lead in our drinking water. Something apparently that has been being complained about years to no avail.
- Not to keep bringing up minorities and water but it seems we often really like to use water as a way to harm them. Turns out that a handful of Americas camping and fishing destinations are man made lakes that just happened to flood predominantly black towns.
I can’t help but to find the irony that we as beings made up of a lot of water often turn out to be very dirty and that our lack of empathy for other humans , animals and our very planet is resulting in polar ice caps melting down and adding their rage and disgust to the oceans as it just rises and rises as if it just wants to do what god did and flood us all over again.