Hawaii alert: Will the Serpent ruin Paradise once again?

Although Genesis 2 seems to locate the Garden of Eden more towards the Middle East than the Pacific, similarities between Hawaii and Eden nevertheless exist.  Often these similarities are heralded in travelogues about Hawaii’s natural beauty and paradisiacal lifestyle.  However, there’s another similarity brewing that can only mean one thing:  Trouble in Paradise.

It doesn’t take a biblical scholar to recall why humans are in the fix they are today.  Ask most people, and they will reply: Why it’s that (unprintable) Serpent!  As they unmistakably flinch, they are no doubt recalling the tragic tale of Adam and Eve.  Now every tragedy needs a good scapegoat, and in this case the goat was a snake.  Never mind that God gave both Adam and Eve freedom of choice.  Adam did not have to listen to Eve, and Eve did not have to listen

to the sneaky snake – but nevertheless, it has been forever imprinted in most people’s minds that the serpentine devil made them do it.

The news today is no different.  One story after another is warning that the human paradise of Hawaii is in danger of being ruined by snakes.  According to one such Snakes

creeping threat to Hawaii article, these wily reptiles present a clear and present danger to the stuff that retirement dreams are made of.  Why they not only threaten “tropical birds” and “colorful plants” – but also the “vibrant environment that draws millions of tourists to the state each year.”

These snakes-gone-wild would begin by munching upon “bird eggs and small birds.”  With these bird enemies tucked safely away in the bellies of snakes, spiders would then begin to spin webs everywhere.  These webs would “drape trees and darken forests.”  Worse yet, snakes would hang from power lines and take down vast electrical networks.

"Proof" of this is that a “docile boa constrictor was found by pig hunters on a dirt road.”  This just goes to show that Hawaii could end up like Guam.  After World War II, “brown tree snakes overran the island… and wiped most birds from the skies.”  It wasn’t then World War II that ruined Guam - nor the Spanish American war - nor the Spanish colonization before that.  Nor is it the continuing U.S. military buildup there.  It’s simply (way too simply) the snakes.  Some things just never change…

Resources

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0102.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Eden

http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/551692/Snakes-creeping-threat-to-Hawaii.html?nav=5031

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam

Copyright August 10, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved