C “THE WATERS OF BABYLON”

Do Now Which situation would you prefer?: To never know whether there truly is a higher power (a god or deity) and to have blind faith, or to know that a higher power most certainly did exist, but that higher power is dead/defunct? Explain your answer.

Ancient Babylon A rich culture Had systems of law Possessed their own religious practices Created writing on astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and nature

So…What’s Up with the Title? Some background: In 587 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried the leading citizens of the Kingdom of Judah as prisoners to Babylon The Babylonians request that the Jews sing for them because their singing was well-known and could be heard for miles around when they were at home in Jerusalem

Allusion to Psalms This song is very much a song of longing. Now that we’ve read it, consider the following in your notebook. When you are done, turn and talk to a neighbor: Logically, why would the Jews desire such violence for the Babylonians? Does it surprise you? What do the Jews long for in Psalm 137? How might “The Waters of Babylon’s” narrator, John, relate to the Jewish people in this psalm? What does he long for at the end of the story?

The Fall of Babylon

The Fall of Babylon, a Once-Great Land Consider the following: The Israelites were conquered by the Babylonians The Babylonians were conquered by the Persians The Persians were conquered by the Greeks The Greeks were conquered by the Romans The Romans were conquered by the Huns The Huns were conquered by the Moors The Moors were conquered by the Spanish The Spanish were conquered by the French The French were conquered by the British The British Empire collapsed after World War II America and The Soviet Union competed for world domination. The Soviet Union Collapsed America? What is Benet forecasting for us? Why set this post-apocolyptic society in New York?

What’chyu Talkin’ Bout, Benet? I told and he listened. After that, I wished to tell all the people but he showed me otherwise. He said, "Truth is a hard deer to hunt. If you eat too much truth at once, you may die of the truth. It was not idly that our fathers forbade the Dead Places." He was right -- it is better the truth should come little by little. I have learned that, being a priest. Perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast. What do you think Benet means by “they ate knowledge too fast”? Are there times where we have soaked up knowledge and used knowledge poorly?

No, Really. What’chyu Talkin’ Bout? Nevertheless, we make a beginning. it is not for the metal alone we go to the Dead Places now -- there are the books and the writings. They are hard to learn. And the magic tools are broken -- but we can look at them and wonder. At least, we make a beginning. And, when I am chief priest we shall go beyond the great river. We shall go to the Place of the Gods -- the place newyork -- not one man but a company. We shall look for the images of the gods and find the god ASHING and the others -- the gods Lincoln and Biltmore and Moses. But they were men who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men. I remember the dead man's face. They were men who were here before us. We must build again. Do you think it is wise for John’s society to rebuild based on the old teachings of humans? Is it possible that humanity’s fate will be different the second time around?