Holy Moses! What a long strange trip it's been!

In a development that could change the way that western civilization looks at all that has evolved in history over the centuries, the concept of the ten commandments as the basis for all that we hold true and dear may be on some shaky ground.

An Israeli scholar, Benny Shanon who is a professor of cognitive philosophy at Hebrew University, says that his evidence gathering has led him to believe that Moses may have been on a rather nasty hallucinogenic trip when he claims to have received the famed tablets.

Shanon writing in the British research journal Time and Mind, suggests that naturally existing plants in the Sinai Peninsula have the same mind altering characteristics as those that are found in the Amazon jungles, his belief is that Moses and his followers were regular users of the narcotic which has led to what is known as ayahuasca inebriation. A condition where those that take the narcotic would see light, which would be accompanied by profound religious and spiritual feelings.

It's that condition that Shanon believes led Moses to receive the historic stone directions for society, which became the template for our current system of law and order. He also says that the frequent use of the narcotics could have been the basis of the burning bushes, parting of seas and other legendary events that marked the era.

Needless to say his vision of the past and those of the religious leaders of Orthodox Israel (let alone the Christian world) aren't quite on the same page, with religious leaders suggesting that they don't fear for the legend of Moses but rather for the future of science.

There's no doubt that Shanon's theories are going to be controversial, as he basically pulls the foundations of Western Society out from under the followers of the word, leaving them to ponder the days of Moses and just what was going on with everyone high up on that mountain, where it might seem that a bush wasn't the only thing burning.

ABC News--Moses Was High on Drugs, Israeli Researcher Says
The Guardian--Moses saw God 'because he was stoned - again'
Forbes--Moses: Let My People Get High?
Haaretz.com--Researcher: Moses was tripping at Mount Sinai
Washington Post--Moses, Exodus and Drugs