What about them people trying to twist your biblical knowledge?

As a part-time devoted catholic and frequent church mass-goer who read bibles from time to time, I got a little disturbed by this recent theory coming from a man who took time to research and refute the legendary Moses, the prophet who wrote The 10 Commandments claimed to be inspired by the Voice of God.

I accidentally and initially learned about this new alternative theory when I was not supposedly listening to our regular-blaring-morning-AM-radio-show but caught my ears opened wide because the announcer suddenly brought it up on air. Although it caught my attention and caused my brain cells to run wild again, I dismissed the news, thinking it is too sensitive and complicated an issue for me to continue divulging on. But how can the thought be dismissed totally from my mind when here in my e-mail account was sprawled one of my daily subscribed Forbes newsletters containing the sensationalized news?

This recent alternative theory is not the first in the on-going crisis of religious-belief-twisting-attempts. Years back, there were others with related theory which expectedly prompted outrage from different concerned groups and citizens, especially from various religious sects and organizations. But I thought these issues were too complicated for me to continue opining with, so I am posting the new article that I am talking about so you can read it to your own burden pleasure and let your opinion run on it too. Sourced from Forbes.com, here is the article:

Moses: Let My People Get High?

LONDON -everyone thinks they know the story of Moses, the Biblical prophet who led the Hebrews out of Egypt over 3,000 years ago and into the Promised Land of Israel. But new research from Israel suggests that Moses's divinely-inspired visions, from the burning bush to the smoke and trumpet-blasts that shook Mount Sinai, were not so much holy as hallucinogenic.

A new study by Israeli professor Benny Shanon, of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, reportedly shows that two plants in the Sinai desert have a similar molecular structure to a powerful plant concoction from the Amazon rainforest. This brew, known as ayahuasca, is used for shamanic and medicinal purposes in the Amazon; its potent hallucinogenic effects led beat poet Allen Ginsberg to imagine he was a "vomiting snake."

Writing in British journal Time And Mind, Shanon said that similar plants in the Middle East had long been used for their healing powers. This could help explain the vivid images in the Book of Exodus, which include God's descent onto Mount Sinai: "The whole mount quaked greatly…the voice of the trumpet sounded long…Moses spoke, and God answered him." (Exodus, Chapter 19)

"As far as Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned," Shanon is reported as saying in an Israeli radio interview, "it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either. Or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics."

This is not the first time alternative theories have been put forward to try and explain Biblical legends. Moses's legendary parting of the Red Sea has been interpreted as a rather more mundane moment of low tide. Similarly, the smoking, trembling Mount Sinai could have been an example of volcanic activity rather than something divine.

It may take a while for Shanon's theory to become acceptable to the general public, given that classic movies like The Ten Commandments and the more recent Prince Of Egypt rely on a more respectful view of Moses and the Israelites. According to the BoxOfficeMojo website, which adjusts motion-picture earnings for inflation, The Ten Commandments is the fifth-highest grossing film of all time.