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Examine carefully: The only reason any of us are still alive is because
Jews and Christians are too fat, lazy and stupid to carry out their twisted,
monstrous, fascist convictions.
Imagine if the jewish religion was in control of society including its police, courts and other armed agents of the jewish government.
The God of the New Testament is a great God. He really is!
I don't know what happened to him. Maybe, the birth of his son calmed him down, or perhaps he took an anger management class. But before the birth of his son, he was out of control.
NLT: New Living Translation
Regretably, the jews really believe in Deuteronomy 14:2. For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, and Jehovah hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth This is what makes them obnoxious to others. They sincerely believe that they are god's finest.
A list of people jews are required to kill or torture. Take note that
Yahweh is an unrepentant piece of shit and Jesus was his bastard son.
These are marching orders from Yahweh himself.
...and then gentle Jesus came along, brought us Hell and said....
So you christians have to go on a killing spree!
The Bible exposes clearly that Yahweh is a wrathful and intolerant god (Psalm 78), warlike and militaristic (Exodus 13:3; Psalm 2:1-12; Deuteronomy 7:23-24), murderous (2 Kings 2:23-24), genocidal (Exodus 32:27-28; Deuteronomy 20:11-17), unmerciful and cruel (1 Samuel 15:2-3), treacherous (Ezekiel 20:25-26), infanticidal (Psalms 135:8; 137:9; Exodus 12:29) and drunken with his lust for gruesome sacrifice (Leviticus 1:5-9). According to the Bible, Yahweh orders the Israelites not only to defeat the male warriors of the neighboring peoples but also to massacre ruthlessly unarmed women, defenseless old men, small children and even newborn infants (1 Samuel 15:2-3; Deuteronomy 2:33-34; 7:16; 13:15; Joshua 6:21; Ezekiel 9:5-7; Isaiah 13:15-18). Moreover, the same demonic and depraved god advises his Chosen People that in the event of the subjection of a Gentile people they must murder all the male children and immolate all the non-virgin girls but are allowed to take for themselves the virgins as the booty of war (Numbers 31:17-18). Yahweh allows his Hebrew warriors to kidnap and rape foreign virgins. To make matters worse, the god of the Hebrews is the original militaristic Zionist, since his plan for his Jewish people has always been Jewish world domination and the conquest of all the Gentile nations on earth (Psalm 2:8-9). "Every living substance that I have made will I destroy." (Genesis 7:4) "The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open." (Hosea 13:16) God sanctioned this... "He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women." (2 Kings 15:16) "Give them, O LORD - what will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts." (Hosea 9:14) "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every women that hath known man by lying with him." More than likely, these are women that are pregnant, which is clearly abortion. (Numbers 31:17) In the end, the Judeochristian deity Yahweh is, according to the Bible, a belligerent entity who takes delight in the slaughter of innocents and even demands the murder of small children and newborn infants. What kind of monster would be capable of asking for the killing of an innocent and defenseless baby? If some of you still believe that a degenerate kid-killer like Yahweh is a god of love and worthy of praise then you seriously lack honesty and have sacrificed your own humanity for a blatant lie. Why is it that when God always talks to someone, he always instructs that person to kill someone? How comes God never tells someone to go shit on the salad bar in a restaurant?
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| Killing Event | Reference | Number killed per Bible | Estimated Number killed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Flood of Noah, Gen 7:23 | 20,000,000 | 20,000,000 |
| 2 | Abraham's war to rescue Lot, Gen 14:17-19 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 3 | Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen 19:24 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 4 | Lot's wife, Gen 19:26 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | While they were sore, Dinah's brethren slew all the males Gen 34:1-31,Judith 9:2-3 | 2 | 1,000 |
| 6 | Er for being wicked in the sight of the Lord, Gen 38:7 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Onan for spilling his seed, Gen 38:10 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | A seven year worldwide famine , Gen 41:25-54 | 70,000 | 70,000 |
| 9 | There will be blood: The first plague of Egypt, Ex 7:15-27 ,Wis 11:7-8 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 10 | The seventh plague: hail, Ex 9:25 | 300,000 | 300,000 |
| 11 | Firstborn Egyptian children, Ex 12:29-30 | 500,000 | 500,000 |
| 12 | The Lord took off their chariot wheels, Ex 14:8-26 | 600 | 5,000 |
| 13 | Amalekites, Ex 17:13 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 14 | Who is on the Lord's side?: Forcing friends and family to kill each other, Ex 32:27-28 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 15 | Aaron's golden calf, Ex 32:35 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 16 | God burns Aaron's sons to death for offering "strange fire", Lev 10:1-3 | 2 | 2 |
| 17 | A blasphemer is stoned to death, Lev 24:10-23 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | When the people complained, God burned them to death, Num 11:1 | 100 | 100 |
| 19 | While the flesh was still between their teeth, the Lord smote them will a very great plague, Num 11:33 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 20 | Ten scouts are killed for their honest report, Num 14:35-45 10 | 110 | 110 |
| 21 | A man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day is stoned to death, Num 15:32-35 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | Korah, his companions, and their families are buried alive, Num 16:27 | 3 | 9 |
| 23 | God burns 250 people to death for burning incense, Num 16:35 | 250 | 250 |
| 24 | God kills 14,700 for complaining about God's killings, Num 16:49 | 14,700 | 14,700 |
| 25 | The massacre of the Aradies, Num 21:1-2 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 26 | God sent serpents to bite people for complaining about the lack of food and water, Num 21:6 | 100 | 100 |
| 27 | Phineas's double murder: A killing to end God's killing, Num 25:1-11 | 24,002 | 24,002 |
| 28 | The Midianite massacre: Have ye saved all the women alive?, Num 31:1-35 | 6 | 200,000 |
| 29 | God slowly killed the Israelite army, Dt 2:14-16 | 500,000 | 500,000 |
| 30 | God the giant killer, Dt 2:21-22 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 31 | God hardens King Sihon's heart so all his people can be killed, Dt 2:33-34 | 1 | 5,000 |
| 32 | Og and all the men women, and children in 60 cities, Dt 3:6 | 1 | 60,000 |
| 33 | The Jericho massacre, Jos 6:21 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 34 | Achan and his family,Jos 7:10-26 | 1 | 5 |
| 35 | The Ai massacre, Jos 8:1-25 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 36 | God stops the sun so Joshua can get his killing done in the daylight, Jos 10:10-11 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 37 | Five kings killed and hung on trees, Jos 10:26 | 5 | 10,000 |
| 38 | Joshua utterly destroyed all that breathed as the Lord commanded, Jos 10:28-42 | 7 | 7,000 |
| 39 | The genocide of twenty cities: There was not any left to breathe, Jos 11:8-12 | 2 | 20,000 |
| 40 | The Anakim: some more giant killing, Jos 11:20-21 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 41 | The Lord delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites, Jg 1:4 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 42 | The Jerusalem massacre, Jg 1:8 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 43 | Five massacres, a wedding, and God-proof iron chariots, Jg 1:9-25 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 44 | The Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim, Jg 3:7-10 | 1 | 1,000 |
| 45 | Ehud delivers a message from God, Jg 3:15-22 | 1 | 1 |
| 46 | God delivers 10,000 lusty Moabites, Jg 3:28-29 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 47 | Shamgar killed 60 Philistines with an ox goad, Jg 3:31 | 600 | 600 |
| 48 | Barak and God massacre the Canaanites,Jg 4:15-16 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 49 | Jael pounds a tent stake through a sleeping man's skull, Jg 4:18-22 | 1 | 1 |
| 50 | Gideon's story: The Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, Jg 7:22 | 120,000 | 120,000 |
| 51 | A city is massacred and 1000 burn to death because of God's evil spirit, Jg 9:23-27 | 1,001 | 2,000 |
| 52 | The Ammonite massacre, Jg 11:32-33 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| 53 | Jephthah's daughter, Jg 11:39 | 1 | 1 |
| 54 | 42,000 die for failing the "shibboleth" test, Jg 12:4-7 | 42,000 | 42,000 |
| 55 | Samson murdered 30 men for their clothes, Jg 14:19 | 30 | 30 |
| 56 | Samson killed 1000 men with the jawbone of an ass, Jg 15:14-15 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 57 | Samson killed 3000 in a suicide terrorist attack, Jg 16:27-30 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 58 | A holy civil war (it had something to do with rotting concubine body part messages), Jg 20:35-37 | 65,100 | 65,100 |
| 59 | The end of Judges: two genocides and 200 stolen virgins, Jg 21:10-14 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 60 | God killed Eli's sons and 34,000 Israelite soldiers, 1 Sam 2:25, 4:11 | 34,002 | 34,002 |
| 61 | God smote them with hemorrhoids in their secret parts, 1 Sam 5:1-12 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 62 | 50,070 killed for looking into the ark of the Lord, 1 Sam 6:19 | 50,070 | 50,070 |
| 63 | The Lord thundered a great thunder upon the Philistines, 1 Sam 7:10-11 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 64 | Another Ammonite massacre (and another God-inspired body part message), 1 Sam 11:6-13 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 65 | Jonathan's first slaughter, 1 Sam 14:12-14 | 20 | 20 |
| 66 | God forces the Philistines to kill each other, 1 Sam 14:20 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 67 | The Amalekite genocide, 1 Sam 15:2-3 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 68 | Samuel hacks Agag to death before the Lord, 1 Sam 15:32-33 | 1 | 1 |
| 69 | In the valley of Elah: Goliath, 1 Sam 17:51,2 Sam 21:19 | 1 | 1 |
| 70 | David buys a wife with 200 Philistine foreskins, 1 Sam 18:27 | 200 | 200 |
| 71 | The Lord said to David, Go and smite the Philistines, 1 Sam 23:2-5 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 72 | God killed Nabal (and David got his wife and other stuff), 1 Sam 25:38 | 1 | 1 |
| 73 | David commits random acts of genocide for the Philistines, 1 Sam 27:8-11 | 60,000 | 60,000 |
| 74 | David spends the day killing Amalekites,1 Sam 30:17 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 75 | God kills Saul, his sons, and his soldiers (because Saul didn't kill all the Amalekites), 1 Sam 31:2, 2 Chr 10:6 | 4 | 100 |
| 76 | David kills the messenger, 2 Sam 1:15 | 1 | 1 |
| 77 | David killed, mutilated, and hung Rechab and Baanah, 2 Sam 4:12 | 2 | 2 |
| 78 | God helps David smite the Philistines from the front and the rear, 2 Sam 5:19-25 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 79 | God killed Uzzah for trying to keep the ark from falling, 2 Sam 6:6-7,1 Chr 13:9-10 | 1 | 1 |
| 80 | David killed two-thirds of the Moabite POWs and enslaved the rest, 2 Sam 8:2 | 667 | 667 |
| 81 | And the Lord gave David victory wherever he went, 2 Sam 8--10 | 65,850 | 66,850 |
| 82 | David killed every male in Edom, 2 Sam 8:13-14, 1 Kg 11:15-16, 1 Chr 18:12, Ps 60:1 | 15,000 | 25,000 |
| 83 | Thus did David do to all the children of Ammon, 2 Sam 11:1, 1 Chr 20:1 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 84 | God slowly kills a baby, 2 Sam 12:14-18 | 1 | 1 |
| 85 | Seven sons of Saul are hung up before the Lord, 2 Sam 21:1-9 7 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 86 | David's mighty men and their amazing killings, 2 Sam 23, 1 Chr 11 | 1,403 | 3,400 |
| 87 | God killed 70,000 because of David had a census that God (or Satan) told him to do, 2 Sam 24:15,1 Chr 21:14 | 70,000 | 200,000 |
| 88 | Solomon murdered Job and Shimei (per David's deathbed wish), 1 Kg 2:29-46 | 2 | 2 |
| 89 | A tale of two prophets, 1 Kg 13:11-24 | 1 | 1 |
| 90 | Jeroboam's son: God kills another child, 1 Kg 14:17 | 1 | 1 |
| 91 | Jeroboam's family, 1 Kg 15:29 | 10 | 10 |
| 92 | Baasha's family and friends, 1 Kg 16:11-12 | 20 | 20 |
| 93 | Zimri burns to death, 1 Kg 16:18-19 | 1 | 1 |
| 94 | The drought of Elijah, 1 Kg 17:1,Luke 4:25,James 5:17-18 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 95 | Elijah kills 450 religious leaders in a prayer contest, 1 Kg 18:22-40 | 450 | 450 |
| 96 | The first God-assisted slaughter of the Syrians, 1 Kg 20:20-21 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 97 | God killed 100,000 Syrians for calling him a god of the hills, 1 Kg 20:28-29 | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| 98 | God killed 27,000 Syrians by making a wall fall on them, 1 Kg 20:30 | 27,000 | 27,000 |
| 99 | God sent a lion to kill a man for not smiting a prophet, 1 Kg 20:35-36 | 1 | 1 |
| 100 | God killed Ahab for not killing a captured king, 1 Kg 20:42,22:35 | 1 | 1 |
| 101 | God burned 102 men to death for asking Elijah to come down from his hill, 2 Kg 1:10-12 | 102 | 102 |
| 102 | God killed Ahaziah for asking the wrong God, 2 Kg 1:16-17,2 Chr 22:7-9 | 1 | 1 |
| 103 | God sent bears to kill 42 boys for making fun of a prophet's bald head, 2 Kg 2:23-24 | 42 | 42 |
| 104 | The Lord delivered the Moabites, 2 Kg 3:18-25 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 105 | A skeptic is trampled to death, 2 Kg 7:2-20 | 1 | 1 |
| 106 | God's seven year famine, 2 Kg 8:1 | 7,000 | 7,000 |
| 107 | Jehoram of Israel, 2 Kg 9:24 | 1 | 1 |
| 108 | Jezebel, 2 Kg 9:33-37 | 1 | 1 |
| 109 | Ahab's sons: 70 heads in two baskets, 2 Kg 10:6-10 | 70 | 70 |
| 110 | Ahab's hometown family, friends, and priests, 2 Kg 10:11 | 20 | 20 |
| 111 | Jehu killed Ahaziah's family, 2 Kg 10:12-13, 2 Chr 22:7-9 | 42 | 42 |
| 112 | Jehu and his partner kill the rest of Ahab's family, 2 Kg 10:17 | 20 | 20 |
| 113 | Jehu assembled the followers of Baal and then slaughtered them all, 2 Kg 10:18-25 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 114 | Mattan the priest of Baal and Queen Athaliah, 2 Kg 11:17-20 | 2 | 2 |
| 115 | God sent lions to eat those who didn't fear him enough, 2 Kg 17:25-26 | 10 | 10 |
| 116 | An angel killed 185,000 sleeping soldiers, 2 Kg 19:34,37:36 | 185,000 | 185,000 |
| 117 | God caused King Sennacherib to be killed by his sons, 2 Kg 19:37,Tobit 1:21 | 1 | 1 |
| 118 | Josiah killed all the priests of the high places, 2 Kg 23:20 | 100 | 100 |
| 119 | Just another holy war, 1 Chr 5:18-22 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| 120 | God killed a half million Israelite soldiers, 2 Chr 13:17-18 | 500,000 | 500,000 |
| 121 | Jeroboam, 2 Chr 13:20 | 1 | 1 |
| 122 | God killed a million Ethiopians, 2 Chr 14:9-14 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 123 | Friendly fire: God forced "a great multitude" to kill each other, 2 Chr 20:22-25 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
| 124 | God made Jehoram's bowels fall out, 2 Chr 21:14-19 | 1 | 1 |
| 125 | God killed Jehoram's sons, 2 Chr 22:1 | 3 | 3 |
| 126 | Ahaziah of Judah, 2 Chr 22:7-8 | 1 | 1 |
| 127 | Joash, the princes, and army of Judah, 2 Chr 24:20-25 | 1 | 10,000 |
| 128 | God destroyed Amaziah, 2 Chr 25:15-27 | 1 | 1,000 |
| 129 | God smote Ahaz with the king of Syria, 2 Chr 28:1-5 | 1 | 10,000 |
| 130 | God killed 120,000 valiant men for forsaking him, 2 Chr 28:6 | 120,000 | 120,000 |
| 131 | The fall of Jerusalem, 2 Chr 36:16-17 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 132 | The Purim killings: God hath done these things, Esther 2 -- 9,10:4 | 75,813 | 75,813 |
| 133 | God and Satan kill Job's children and slaves, Job 1:18-19 10 | 60 | 60 |
| 134 | Hananiah, Jer 28:15-16 | 1 | 1 |
| 135 | Ezekiel's wife, Ezek 24:15-18 | 1 | 1 |
| 136 | Oh! Susanna, Dan 13:6-62 | 2 | 2 |
| 137 | Judith is blessed above all women (for cutting off a sleeping man's head), Judith 13:6-10 | 1 | 1 |
| 138 | The Judith massacre: hang ye up this head upon our walls, Judith 15:1-6 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 139 | Mathathias's double murder, 1 Mac 2:24-25 | 2 | 2 |
| 140 | Mathathias and his friends slay the wicked sinners, 1 Mac 2:44 | 100 | 100 |
| 141 | God killed Andronicus, the sacrilegious wretch, 2 Mac 4:38 | 1 | 1 |
| 142 | A Jewish mob killed Lysimachus, the sacrilegious fellow, 2 Mac 4:42 | 1 | 1 |
| 143 | God helped Judas Machabeus destroy the wicked, 1 Mac 3:1-26,2 Mac 8:5-6 | 800 | 4,900 |
| 144 | Judas and his unarmed men kill 3000 of Gorgias's soldiers, 1 Mac 3:44-4:24 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 145 | The Hanukkah killings, 1 Mac 4:34-5:7 | 5,000 | 17,000 |
| 146 | The Machabees brothers slaughter the heathens, 1 Mac 5:21-51 | 11,000 | 37,000 |
| 147 | Nicanor's army: The Almighty being their helper, they slew above nine thousand men, 1 Mac 7:32-47, 2 Mac 8:24, 15:27 | 147,002 | 147,002 |
| 148 | Jonathan and Simon destroy the wicked out of Israel, 1 Mac 9:46-49, 2 Mac 8:30-33, 10:61 | 1,000 | 1,200 |
| 149 | Five heavenly horsemen cast darts and fireballs at the enemy, 2 Mac 8:32-10:38 | 21,103 | 21,400 |
| 150 | God killed Antiochus with an incurable bowel disease, 2 Mac 9:5-28 | 1 | 1 |
| 151 | Idumeans, traitors, and Jews in two towers, 2 Mac 10:16-17 | 40,000 | 40,100 |
| 152 | Nicanor's head: A manifest sign of the help of God, 1 Mac 7:33-48, 2 Mac 15:1-35 | 35,000 | 35,000 |
| 153 | Aliens at Cades, 1 Mac 11:74 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 154 | John burns to death 2000 in the tower of Azotus, 1 Mac 16:10 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 155 | God sent wasps to slowly destroy people, Wisdom 11:7-8 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 156 | Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5:5-10 | 2 | 2 |
| 157 | Herod Aggripa, Acts 12:23 | 1 | 1 |
| 158 | Jesus, Rom 8:32, 1 Pet 1:1820 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 2,821,364 | 24,994,828 | |
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Richard Dawkins Was Right: Why the God of the Bible Is Far Worse
Than You Probably Think
The Firstborn of the Egyptians Are Slain
Despite their differences, it's worth remembering that the God
of the Old Testament is the same God at the foundation of all
three major monotheistic religions. Jews worship Yahweh
directly, Christians transform Him into a Trinity, and Muslims
claim that He revealed His final will to Muhammad directly. Yet
none reject Him outright. Instead, each tradition contends that
the others have failed to properly understand or faithfully
preserve His revelation as transmitted through their chosen
prophets and sacred texts.
That all three faiths worship the same God is beyond question.
"If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing," Jesus says.
"My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who
glorifies me" (John 8:54). Saint Paul, more responsible than
anyone else for the spread of early Christianity, makes the
point even more explicit: "The God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant
Jesus" (Acts 3:13). Clearly, the God of the Jews is the God of
Jesus. There is no need for any subtle theological reasoning to
prove the point.
The same goes for the Quran: "And do not argue with the People
of the Scripture except in the best manner possible," says
Quran 29:46, "...our God and your God is One." So when the
Western faiths claim to be monotheistic, they really mean it.
They are all unequivocally referring to the same God.
And that's precisely the problem, for each of them.
In their explicit acceptance of the God of Abraham, all Western
"Abrahamic" faiths inextricably tether themselves to the
temperament and character of Yahweh. Why this is a problem is
about to be made painfully clear.
Richard Dawkins, who might otherwise have been accused of
hyperbole by those unfamiliar with scripture, introduces our
beloved Yahweh in the second chapter of The God Delusion:
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant
character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty,
unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty
ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist,
infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential,
megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.
Well, maybe don't let Richard Dawkins write your eulogy, is
the first thing to say.
Honestly, though, Dawkins is far more amiable and measured than
people give him credit for. Those who actually read his books do
not walk away with the same impression of militancy ascribed to
him by hostile believers. But this is not an article about
Richard Dawkins. It's about the fact that, in a mere 43 words,
he absolutely nailed the character of Yahweh-to the
embarrassment of all three faiths.
Truly, if someone you knew spoke and acted like Yahweh-as
we're about to see-they would rank among the most
reprehensible people you had ever met. And if any secular book
contained passages as violent, vindictive, and intolerant as
those found in the Old Testament, it would be quickly condemned
and banned without a second thought.
But such is the effect of familiarity. Or, in some cases, a lack
thereof.
Let's correct that. We're going to flesh out Dawkins'
paragraph with fresh eyes to see what God is really up to in the
Bible. Then, we can decide for ourselves if this is truly a
deity that is worthy of our devotion-or of our moral
condemnation.
Starting with the Ten Commandments, God declares, "I the LORD
your God am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of
the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate
me" (Exodus 20:3-6). Come again? By what conceivable
principle of justice should innocent children be punished for
the sins of their great-grandparents? Unless I'm missing
something, we can safely conclude that the opening commandments
are already fundamentally unjust.
But we're just getting started. Our all-powerful yet jealous
God is petty enough to kill 70 men for simply looking into the
ark of the Lord (1 Samuel 6:19), unforgiving enough to have a
man stoned to death for gathering sticks on the Sabbath (Numbers
15:32-36), and controlling enough to command Israelites to
kill even a close family member who tries to persuade them to
worship another god (Deuteronomy 13:6-10)-thus making him
familicidal (Dawkins missed this one).
He is vindictive enough to describe himself as an "avenging
God" who "takes vengeance on his adversaries" (Nahum 1:2),
and bloodthirsty enough to command his chosen people to
"utterly destroy" entire populations. "Do not leave alive
anything that breathes," God commands, including men, women,
and children (Deuteronomy 20:16-17). In the conquest of the
Amalekites, the order is even more explicit: "Put to death men
and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and
donkeys" (1 Samuel 15:3)-making God not merely genocidal,
but infanticidal.
He is misogynistic enough to impose harsher ritual impurity on a
woman who gives birth to a daughter than on one who gives birth
to a son (Leviticus 12:2-5), and homophobic enough to declare
that a man who lies with another man "as one does with a
woman" has committed an "abomination" punishable by death
(Leviticus 20:13).
He is filicidal, at least in intention, when he commands Abraham
to take his beloved son Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering
(Genesis 22:2). He is pestilential when he inflicts plague upon
the Egyptians and their livestock (Exodus 9:3-6), and
megalomaniacal in his insistence that there is no god besides
himself: "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and
there is none like me." (Isaiah 46:9).
He is sadomasochistic in his threats against those who disobey
him, promising that during a siege parents will eat the flesh of
their own children (Deuteronomy 28:53-57). He further takes
pleasure in his own punishments: "Just as it pleased the Lord
to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please
him to ruin and destroy you" (Deuteronomy 28:63). And he is
capriciously malevolent in the Book of Job, where he permits
Satan to destroy a righteous man's possessions, kill his
children, and afflict his body-not because Job has done
anything wrong, but as part of a test.
Yet this is the God, remarkably, that billions of people worship
every day.
Well, that was unpleasant. I hope you are now sufficiently
shocked out of your complacency to abandon any lingering
reverence for this despicable text. And I hope you can see why
dressing up its more barbaric passages in metaphor does nothing
to redeem them. No amount of interpretive gymnastics can make
commands to kill homosexuals any less barbaric-or transform a
morally repugnant text into a morally respectable one.
Some believers may counter that the Bible also includes good,
virtuous passages. So what? Imagine a human being responsible
for the spread of hatred and death on unimaginably large scales,
but then we let him off the hook because he occasionally said
some nice things to us in between massacres. Would we absolve
him? Of course not. Then why do our standards so quickly fall
off a cliff when we discuss religion?
So by all means, argue that Richard Dawkins exaggerated his
description of Yahweh, and contort yourself trying to justify
biblical passages that condemn people to eat their own children.
I, for one, am inclined to reach the opposite conclusion:
Dawkins may have been more charitable than the text deserves.
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Send comments to:
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