Religion, being one of my several notorious hang-ups, and legoes, the stuff that medieval castles and space stations of legend are made of, make this site (compliments of JHP) really entertaining. I am particularly amused by the cable-guide-style rating system for the juicier Biblical vignettes.
The story of the tower of Babel has always interested me (have you skimmed it? Go ahead. . ) with its highly suspect claims about the variation and subsequent dissemination of language and the eerily curious observation God makes that, "Now nothing they plan to do will be beyond them." But a couple things about this story have always stuck in my craw. Why would He want to sabotage the unity of men? I thought that's what He was supposed to be keeping the devil from doing. And furthermore, why would He see it omnisciently fit to intervene and subvert the efforts of the towerers at all? He easily could have sat back on His bilious wondrousness and watched them fail without lifting an immaculate finger, right?
Did God step in because they would have succeeded if left unchecked? Were they on to something that would threaten His infallibility? Was God afraid of man? Maybe it was just a lesson about arrogant undertakings. Maybe God does fear and hate man. These casual meddlings of God's are not uncommon in the old testament, so maybe God was just bored again. Maybe, and I mean maybe, this is just a silly piece of Judeo-Christian mythology that I really shouldn't worry about. There. I knew I could find an answer I can live with.