Okay, I have checked out what 'Tabula rasa' means.
First - rosa, as in my previous mail is wrong in its spelling! Rosa in Latin means rose!
Then my little understanding of the statement - 'a blank sheet to an artist is like a tabula rasa for the Exiles'!
Wallah! According to Wikipeidia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasa):
Tabula rasa in Latin means : blank slate.
It refers to the epistemological thesis that individual human beings are born with no built-in mental content, in a word, "blank", and that their entire resource of knowledge is built up gradually from their experiences and sensory perceptions of the outside world:-
In Western philosophy, traces of the idea that came to be called the tabula rasa appear as early as the writings of Aristotle, in the Western canon, his treatise Περι Ψυχης (De Anima or On the Soul). In the 13th century, St. Thomas Aquinas brought the Aristotelian and Avicennian notions to the forefront of Christian thought. In fact, our modern idea of the theory is mostly attributed to John Locke's expression of the idea in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding in the 17th century. As understood by Locke, tabula rasa meant that the mind of the individual was born "blank", and it also emphasized the individual's freedom to author his or her own soul. Each individual was free to define the content of his or her character - but his or her basic identity as a member of the human species cannot be so altered.
Look at the names and associations of the Christian fathers! Irony is : I thought I have moved on in life! I am brought back to the same 'clean slate' issue again. Oh well, every now and then , we are reminded that the Lord has his plan for us! This is scary! I can't run away from Him, as in having 'two life' - a compartmentalised one in the secular and another - a dabble in theology.
Three decades ago, when I read psychology as a major, I have always claimed to be a behaviourist, verses a Freudian psychologist. A behaviourist believes that all humans are born with a clean slate. Yes, our attitudes and behaviours are very much influenced by our parents, peers and society we live in. Over the years, I have also learnt that Taoism taught that man comes into this life with only 30% that is God-given. The rest of the 70% are what we make of it. Yes, we have a choice. A choice to 'get out of the rut', we are born with and in. According to the Bible, even God gives us a choice!
Back to the question - why is the Exile a tabula rasa for the Israelites? Well, they have sinned so badly that they need to be physically removed from their old ways? Like the artists with a blank sheet of paper before him, the Israelities Disaporas have a clean slate before them, starting anew, as slaves of the Babylonians, no longer the 'choice' children of God! Hard and painful, though deserving, lesson from God indeed!
So we study History to learn of the mistakes of our forefathers! Yup we learn the history! Do we avoid making the same mistakes? No, I really don't believe that we, as a human race, have. This is the cynical, secular chils speaking!
Then again, I must not forget the parable of the Wheat and the Tares! Daily, as an individual, I must not forget to consciously choose to be a Wheat; otherwise I will be burnt as a Tare!
Phew! What a thought!
