Belief版 - The Darker Side Of God (转载) |
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发帖数: 11198 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 WaterWorld 讨论区 】
发信人: GoBlue (Wolverines), 信区: WaterWorld
标 题: The Darker Side Of God
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Sat Jul 12 13:10:33 2014, 美东)
The Darker Side Of God
If you ask Christians to describe their quasi-chosen god of worship,
you’ll often hear such descriptors as “wonderful” and “loving.” This
choice of selective designation seems commonplace within the Christian
community. In fact, most churches ignore the Old Testament all together so
that the members feel comfortable propagating this view. Fueled by such
blatant omission, this lengthy chapter will fill the void by offering a look
at the volume of horrendous acts performed or directed by the darker side
of God. However, you shouldn’t interpret this chapter as an attempt at an
exhaustive record of every violent act attributable to God because such a
review would require another book all together.
Upon completion of reading this chapter, you should realize that God
was a mass murderer among other things, often directing others to rape and
kill for him. He also distributes sinister laws and explains what
punishments will ensue if someone deviates from his wishes. What’s worse,
the ultimate penalty for disobedience is Hell: eternal torture of
unfathomable proportions. Even if we ignore the previously discussed
scientific problems debunking the notion of an affiliation between divinity
and the Bible, you should still feel resistance against worshipping this
particular Hebrew deity after learning of the details emphasized over the
next few selections.
God’s Genocidal Wrath
Without any conceivable doubt, I firmly believe that the Hebrew god is
the most evil character of all time. Starting with the book of Genesis, we
learn that he’s an insanely angry deity. Of the many atrocities committed
in the Old Testament, God is usually the sole participator. The Genesis
authors record the first such instance in chapters 6-8 as the account of
Noah’s flood.
The reason that God decides to drown the entire world, killing nearly
every living person and animal on earth, is his belief that people are evil
and unworthy of existence (Genesis 6:5). So what if they were evil? As Lenny
Bruce once exclaimed, “The fault lies with the manufacturer!” God
allegedly created humans, yet he faults us for being guided by our desires,
instincts, and natural tendencies. Since he’s supposedly omniscient, God
realized how we were destined to turn from the beginning. He must also have
realized that his lament would fuel the urge to destroy his precious
creations, only to leave himself back where he started. Even so, he creates
Adam, yet hundreds of years later, he drowns nearly all the men, women, and
children on the face of the earth because he deliberately chose not to make
us to his liking the first time.
Even if we suppose the adults deserved to die slow and torturous
deaths, what association could we conceivably make between their decisions
and the adolescent victims of the flood? Couldn’t God have just placed the
innocent children and animals aside for a while so that they wouldn’t drown
? If not, how about a humane death at the very least? Drowning is a horrible
way for people to die. As a result of hopelessly treading water for hours,
their muscles burned due to large amounts of lactic acid production. Once
they finally gave up, went under, and held their breaths, acidic carbon
dioxide eroded their lungs until the unbearable pain forced them to inhale
where there was no air for them to breathe. The water brought into their
lungs robbed their bodies of oxygen, causing them to go numb. As water
violently rushed in and out of their chests, the currents eventually laid
their heavily breathing, slowly dying bodies at the bottom of the ocean. The
inhaled water caused their lungs to tear and bleed profusely. As their
blood supply dwindled, their hearts slowly came to a halt. Even so, their
brains continued to process information for another couple of minutes. They
were patently aware that death was imminent, yet they could do nothing to
speed it or prevent it. I imagine that their final reflections would have
been on what they did to deserve such treatment.
As you see, drowning is not a quick and painless death. Regardless,
this is what God did to every man, woman, child, baby, and animal on earth
because he made a mistake! To make matters disgustingly worse, the flood
accomplished nothing! The omniscient God realizes after the flood that a man
’s imagination is evil from youth (Genesis 8:21). He seemingly allows us to
be evil to this day, just like those he purportedly drowned in the flood.
Even if this was the sole befuddled and immoral act carried out by God, I’m
positive that I couldn’t bring myself to worship him. However, this is
only the beginning of his mass-murdering spree.
Another genocidal operation courtesy of God takes place in the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah. Above these cities, he creates a rain of burning
sulfur to kill every inhabitant, save Lot and his family, because they’re
deemed evil by the almighty judge, jury, and executioner (Genesis 19:24-25).
Now, refer back to the points illustrated in the previous paragraph. God
should have assumed the responsibility of taking measures to prevent these
actions from somehow becoming necessary. He even remembered that men were
evil by nature after the flood. Did he suddenly forget his opinion when he
destroyed two entire cities of men, women, and children? Again, we should
sincerely hope that this all-knowing deity would learn to take some of the
blame in these situations. Like drowning, burning is not a quick and
painless death. Fortunately, these people didn’t truly feel any pain
because the tale is an obvious work of fiction. If you travel to the
locations around which historians believe these cities are based, you’ll
effortlessly discover balls of sulfur forming naturally on the ground. In
other words, as is the case for Noah’s flood, we have the likely
inspiration for the imaginative tale.
Another Planned Genocide
In Exodus, we find God coercing Moses into becoming his spokesperson
for freeing the Israelite slaves from the Egyptian Pharaoh. Moses initially
points out that he’s a terrible speaker, but God’s reply to this passive
resistance is a set of rhetorical questions in which he takes credit for
making people deaf, dumb, and blind (Exodus 4:10-11). Some of these
handicapped people are a burden to others, and many die without ever
demonstrating independence. Nevertheless, God takes great pride in this
achievement. Most of us typically find people who relish in the misery of
others to be deeply disturbed. Instead of correcting these atrociously
boastful deeds, God seemingly leaves it up to us to develop ideas for
combating transcendentally induced handicaps. Ironically, with advances in
medical science, we’re making genuine progress against God’s wishes. His
yearning to make certain people handicapped is useless, evil nonsense.
Evidently, it’s a successful argument because Moses decides to accept the
offer.
In the meeting among Moses, Aaron, and the Pharaoh, God doesn’t want
his Israelites to go free without a fight. Instead, God instructs Moses and
Aaron on exactly what steps to take so that the Pharaoh will initially
become too stubborn to allow the people to leave. Obviously, God only wants
an excuse to “bring forth [his] armies” against Egypt in order to punish
the entire country for the decisions of one man to hold his chosen people as
slaves (Exodus 7:1-14).
The plagues that God carried out against Egypt as a result of the
Pharaoh’s decision were turning the river to blood; sending an abundance of
frogs, lice, locusts, and flies; killing every cow belonging to the people;
inflicting boils upon all the citizens; creating a hailstorm to destroy
their crops; instituting three days of darkness; and killing the firstborn
male child in every household across the country. The darkness, boils, frogs
, lice, locusts, and flies were quite punishing, but they wouldn’t
necessarily ruin anyone’s life. The cattle slaughter, river of blood, and
downpour of hail ruined the Egyptians’ sole water and food sources. Worst
of all, God once again feels the necessity to eradicate thousands more
innocent babies, children, and animals because one man was too stubborn to
free his slaves.
On the escape route, Moses miraculously parts the Red Sea and crosses
safely. When the Egyptian army pursues, the waters regroup to drown the
soldiers and horses (Exodus 7-14). The omnipotent Hebrew god could have
easily freed the people and spared thousands of lives, but, of course, he
doesn’t do things this way. One can only assume that he took sinister
pleasure in murdering Egyptian soldiers for following orders from their
superior officers. Thankfully, modern scholarship tells us that these events
never took place either. I’ll explain the logic behind this comforting
declaration in Moses And Other Historical Fabrications.
God revisits the plague concept when he dishes one out on his chosen
people for following Aaron’s orders to worship a golden calf (Exodus 32:35)
. Recall, however, that Aaron was one of the two men to whom they owed their
freedom. Why would God punish his people for actions that they didn’t
realize were “wrong,” especially when they had implicitly learned to trust
the person giving the orders? This debacle seems to have shifted Aaron over
to God’s bad side because God later kills his two sons for building a “
strange fire” (most likely meaning that they let a forbidden item burn) (
Leviticus 10:1-2). No matter how many times I read passages like this, I’m
always amazed how God kills people because they do something silly like
build a displeasing campfire, but as we will soon see, he allows them to
rape female prisoners of war.
On the subject of fire, God later sets some of the desert wanderers
ablaze for complaining about their difficulties (Numbers 11:1). Keep in mind
that they were now wandering around the desert for decades doing absolutely
nothing after having been slaves in Egypt for centuries. When they complain
about having no meat for nourishment, God provides them with a circle of
quail three feet high and a day’s journey wide but immediately plagues and
kills a handful of them for grumbling (Numbers 11:31-34). Later, the people
become increasingly irritated over being homeless. In fact, circumstances
are so miserable that they actually want to return to Egypt as slaves.
Subsequently, Korah leads a group of 250 other upset individuals to stand up
to Moses. Needless to say, they all pay for their mutiny. God opens the
ground under Korah’s household and sucks everything he has, family and all,
into the depths of the earth (Numbers 16:31-33). The remaining council of
250 are burned alive (Numbers 16:35). Does the punishment fit the so-called
crime? Does God have any compassion for their situation? Obviously not, on
both accounts.
When the Israelites were upset that Moses caused those 250 people to
die, God sends a plague to slay an additional 14,700 (Numbers 16:41-49). To
close out the Pentateuch, God exterminates a number of his people who fall
down and worship the gods of Baalpeor. A subsequent plague kills another 24,
000 (Numbers 25:1-9). At least these people may have had some idea that what
they were doing would result in a punishment…
For The Sins Of Another
God’s episodes of murdering innocent individuals for the faults of
their leaders, fathers, or other ancestors are not uncommon in the Old
Testament. Jephthah asks for God’s assistance in killing the children of
Ammon and promises him the first person out of his house upon his return as
a burnt sacrifice if he will agree to aid with the massacre. God concurs and
lethally delivers the children of Ammon into Jephthah’s hands. When
Jephthah returns, his daughter, an only child, makes her way outside to
welcome him home. Two months later, Jephthah regretfully fulfills his
promise by burning his daughter as a sacrifice to God (Judges 11:29-39). Why
would God allow a man to offer an innocent person as a reward unless God
also intended for certain people to be mere possessions?
While David is King, he decides to conduct a census: a horrendous sin
in God’s eyes. As punishment for his poor decision, he is to select among
seven years of famine, three months of fleeing from his enemies, and three
days of pestilence. Unable to choose from the offered catastrophes, God
picks the three days of pestilence that result in the deaths of 70,000 men.
Women and children weren’t mentioned, not that the Bible considered them to
have any real value in the first place. Again, God murders enough people to
fill a sizable city for the “sin” of one man. David subsequently cries
out to God and asks him why he wants to murder innocent people who had
nothing to do with the decision to execute a census. Of course God doesn’t
provide an impossible answer for this sensible question, but his reasons
scarcely seem morally or ethically justifiable (2 Samuel 24:10-17).
David also desires a woman named Bathsheba even though she’s married
to one of David’s soldiers. Driven by his lust, David orders her husband to
the front lines of a battle so that the enemy will take care of his problem
. God then becomes extremely angry with David for this relatively petty
crime. Once the new couple has a child, God afflicts it with illness for a
week before watching it die (2 Samuel 11, 12:14-18). Yet again, God
exterminates an innocent baby for the actions of the father.
At one point, God sends a famine upon David’s followers. When he
makes an inquiry to God for a justification, he’s told, “It is for Saul,
and his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites” (2 Samuel 21:1). Saul
died years ago, yet God just now decides to punish people who had nothing
to do with the decisions of their former leader.
David’s new son, Solomon, turns away from the Hebrew god and decides
to worship other deities. Solomon’s decision infuriates God, but he isn’t
punished because God recently came to like David. Instead, he punishes
Solomon’s son by taking away part of his land when he comes to power (1
Kings 11:9-13). Once again, we see the impossibility of being free from God
’s anger even when living in total obedience to him. In essence, Solomon’s
son was divinely punished before he was ever born.
Next in the line of father-son reprimands is the account of King
Josiah. “And like unto him was there no King before him, that turned to the
Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might,
according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like
him. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great
wrath…because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal
” (2 Kings 23:24-26). The passage speaks for itself. Yet again, God
punishes a seemingly perfect person for someone else’s transgressions.
God’s Novel Method of Murder
Instead of directly murdering people or using his followers to execute
similar commands, the apparently insatiable God begins sending animals to
kill those who displease him. On one occasion, he has a lion kill a man
because he refuses to hit someone (1 Kings 20:35). God sends his lions out
again to kill a group of people who were new to Samaria. The reason for this
atrocity is their lack of worship, even though they were never informed of
the proper worship methods (2 Kings 17:24-26). However, this supposedly
insignificant detail didn’t halt God from killing them. He had to have
known that he would eventually murder this party, but instead of properly
instructing them, God just kills them. There’s not even a miniscule
resemblance of justice in the Hebrew god.
In an exploit of inconceivable irrationality, God sends forth two
bears to kill forty-two children for making fun of Elisha’s bald head (2
Kings 2:23-24). Why would the omnibenevolent God feel the necessity to have
two bears viciously maul little children for acting like…children? This is
supposed to be the same “wonderful” and “loving” God who promises us
eternal life, but an entity capable of these inane activities could
certainly change his mind and banish all of his worshippers to Hell.
Christians never have to justify such passages because, of course, they
never read them!
A Few More For Good Measure
God commits another reprehensible act when Abraham and Sarah are
journeying through Egypt. According to the story, Abraham knows that if the
Egyptians see him with his beautiful wife, they’ll have to kill him so that
she won’t have a defense when they rape her. To avoid such an incident,
Abraham devises a plan in which Sarah is to proclaim that they’re only
siblings. Thus, they can have their way with her while sparing Abraham’s
life. The Pharaoh eventually has a sexual encounter with Sarah, provoking
God to send plagues upon him as punishment for sleeping with another man’s
wife (Genesis 12:11-17). How, exactly, did God expect the Pharaoh to know
she was a married woman? Was he supposed to be omniscient as well? God would
have never punished the Pharaoh if Sarah wasn’t the possession of another
man. Based on the treatment of women we will see in Why Women And The Bible
Don’t Mix, God certainly wasn’t teaching the Pharaoh to value the opposite
sex; God unjustly punished him because of his ignorance.
Later in Genesis, we learn of a man named Judah who has three sons: Er
, Onan, and Shelah. Seeing as how Er is “wicked in the sight of the Lord,”
God kills him. For what reason God found him too evil, we could only
speculate. Of course, there’s no reasonable guarantee that Er would have
incurred a death sentence from an impartial jury. Following the slaying, God
dictates Onan to impregnate and marry Er’s wife in order to continue Er’s
family line. Since Onan seemingly believes in freewill and doesn’t feel
that he should be required to do something he doesn’t want to do, he spills
his seed on the ground instead of finishing intercourse inside of her. “
And the thing he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also” (
Genesis 38:7-10). Again, the omniscient God should have known that Onan
would fail to comply. Because God should have also realized that he would
have to kill the disobedient Onan, why did he order him around in the first
place? Does he now feel the need to have an excuse before murdering an
innocent person? Was Onan destined to exist only as God’s slave? Are we all
God’s oppressed pawns, created only to be shifted around for his amusement
? Onan’s fate hardly seems just by enlightened standards.
The Ark of the Covenant was a sacred item that God demanded everyone
to refrain from touching. The ancient Hebrews commonly believed that God
even played the part of a genie by residing in the ark on occasion. Thus,
when the Philistines steal this precious piece, God obviously becomes
enraged. As they’re carrying it through different cities, God inflicts
severe cases of hemorrhoids on all the inhabitants. Why God doesn’t just
zap these thieves and return the ark to the Israelites without harming
additional innocent bystanders is beyond me. Unbelievably, 50,070 people
eventually die at the hands of God because they simply look into the ark (1
Samuel 4-6). That’s the equivalent of a moderately sized modern city
dropping dead just for looking at something God didn’t want them looking at
. It’s difficult to imagine a creature that can unleash punishments more
evil than that, but God is continuously setting new standards for himself.
Once we see the ark in transit again, the cart and oxen transporting
it move over a rough spot in the path and nearly shake the prized object to
the ground. Out of what we could only consider pure reflex, Uzzah, who was
accompanying the ark, places his hand on it to keep it steady. Uzzah’s
instinctive, split-second decision to prevent God’s home from falling
angers God enough to eradicate him from the earth (2 Samuel 6:6-7).
Since God commits scores of violent acts randomly throughout the
remainder of the Old Testament, let’s look at a few examples. After
delivering the Amorites into the hands of Joshua, he sends down a hailstorm
in order to kill a large portion of the people who flee from battle (Joshua
10:8-11). God assists in the war between Barak and Sisera by surrounding
Sisera’s army and forcing them to dismount from their chariots. Because of
his intervention, Sisera’s entire army faces imminent death at the hands of
Barak (Judges 4:14-15). God causes the Midianites to kill one another (
Judges 7:22-23). He confuses the Philistines and causes them to kill one
another (1 Samuel 14:20-23). He inflicts a number of people with blindness
because Elisha asks him to do so (2 Kings 6:18). He causes a seven-year
famine without specifying a reason (2 Kings 8:1). God kills Jeroboam because
he’s the leader of the enemies (2 Chronicles 13:20). He kills Nabal
without specifying a reason, but it’s probably because David desires his
wife and other belongings (1 Samuel 25:38). God sends an angel to kill 185,
000 men in an Assyrian camp because they’re enemies of his people (2 Kings
19:31-35). He plagues Azariah, a man labeled as a good King, with leprosy
for the remainder of his life because he allows people to burn incense in a
location displeasing to God (2 Kings 15:1-5). This is another great example
of an overbearing punishment for breaking an asinine law. Some of our fellow
humans were obviously destined to meet death early in life without any
chance of redemption in God’s eyes.
Counting just the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Red Sea incident, the
ark gazers, the plagues, the census, and the battles in which God directly
participated, I estimate that this terrible creature claims to have murdered
one to two million people. Regrettably, we still haven’t discussed any of
the instances in which God orders his people to kill others or when he “
delivers armies” into the hands of the Israelites to be annihilated in
battle. By this point in our discussion, God has already joined the elite
company of Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and Zedong as the largest mass murderers
in history.
Following God’s Alleged Commands
When God wished certain people dead thousands of years ago, he was
never confined to his own omnipotent powers. You might even agree that God
was at his worst when he recruited others to assist with the scores of
slaughters in the Old Testament. As initially difficult as it might be to
accept, God often provided his followers with orders leading to outcomes
even more horrific than before. This section will discuss the specific
commands given by God and the consistently tragic results that follow. Try
to keep everything in perspective. These aren’t numbers; they’re human
beings.
Recall the setting of God dishing out a plague over the golden calf
worship. Immediately prior to the plague inflicted upon his people, God had
ordered Moses and his loyal followers to “slay every man his brother, and
every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.” Three thousand men
died at the hands of their peers in addition to those killed by the second
punishment (Exodus 32:26-28).
Later on, a group of followers from Moses’ camp observes a man
gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Since such a despicable act was illegal in
those days, they escort him back to Moses and inquire how they should handle
the incident. Moses answers them by declaring that God is proclaiming, “
the man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him
with stones.” Following what they gullibly assume are God’s commands,
Moses’ cult members take him outside the camp and stone him to death for
picking up sticks on a day that he wasn’t permitted to do any work (Numbers
15:32-36). As you will soon realize, God encourages the Israelites to beat
their slaves and rape women captured in warfare; picking up sticks on the
Sabbath, however, will anger him enough to warrant a death sentence.
Astounding!
God advises Moses on a number of matters related to his appointed
leadership. He is to cast any menstruating or leprous person out of the camp
because God doesn’t want to be around those “dirty” people when he
descends for a visit (Numbers 5:1-3). In other words, God wants no
association with those who are more likely to need assistance, medical or
otherwise. God also orders Moses to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan
before destroying their possessions (Numbers 33:50-52). However, he should
offer the people of distant cities a chance to become his slaves before
killing them. If they refuse, the Israelites have the duty to kill the men
and take the remaining people as plunder for themselves. In the cities that
God delivers as inheritances, Moses should “save alive nothing that
breatheth” because the helpless victims were taught to worship other gods (
Deuteronomy 20:13-18).
In two subsequent pillages, God delivers Sihon, King of Heshbon, into
the hands of Moses at the battle of Jahaz. The Israelites murder him;
conquer all of his cities; and murder every man, woman, and child residing
within those cities per God’s instructions (Deuteronomy 2:32-35). Likewise,
God delivers Og, King of Bashan, into the hands of Moses at the battle of
Edrei. The Israelites faithfully obey their orders by murdering all the
inhabitants so that they could acquire the land (Deuteronomy 3:1-4). This
noble god orders Moses to kill anything that moves, and as the incredible
list of wars in the Old Testament takes place, God’s followers would
continue to do exactly as their unimaginably harsh leader commands them.
When Joshua informs the Israelites of God’s decision to deliver the
city of Jericho over to them, they topple its walls and kill every living
thing in the city, except for a single harlot on espionage missions, before
burning it to the ground (Joshua 6:16-24). Afterwards, God orders Joshua to
infiltrate the city of Ai because he’s delivered it in likewise fashion.
The Israelites also set Ai on fire and kill the 12,000 inhabitants running
for their lives. The King of Ai is taken prisoner and later hanged (Joshua 8
go on an unbelievable killing spree. The Israelites subsequently murder all
the men, women, and children in Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish (along with the
King of Gezer and his armies assisting Lachish), Eglon, Hebron, and Debir.
Not a single life was spared during these invasions (Joshua 10:28-40).
When word spreads of Joshua’s rapid conquests, a considerable number
of cities combine their armies to attempt a victory over Joshua and Israel.
The number of resistance forces is “as the sand that is upon the sea shore
in multitude,” but God promises to deliver them all to Joshua. Indeed, God
remains true to his word and “They smote them, until they left them none
remaining.” Joshua then burns their chariots and brutally cuts the
hamstrings on their remaining horses (Joshua 11:1-9). After the battle, the
Israelite army marches into all the unprotected and defenseless cities that
had offered their armies in resistance and kills every living man. In Hazor,
the army kills every man, woman, and child before setting the city ablaze.
One can only speculate on how many hundreds of thousands of lives God orders
Joshua to take in these assuredly disputable accounts.
Following Joshua’s death, God proceeds with his war strategies when
the Israelites face Benjamin’s army. As a result of God’s unorthodox
command, 22,000 of his own people die in the first battle. The next day, he
orders them to face Benjamin once again. This time, they suffer an
additional 18,000 casualties. Phinehas, feeling a bit hesitant to lead
another hopeless skirmish, asks God if he should take command in another
attack against Benjamin. God affirms Phinehas’ inquiry and promises him a
solid victory. In the ensuing battle, the Benjamites suffer 25,100
casualties (Judges 20). In this short series of campaigns, God orders his
own troops into two battles that his omniscience tells him they won’t win.
On the first two days of this monstrous war, during which he wasn’t about
to lift a finger to help, he saw to it that 40,000 of his own people would
become casualties of needless warfare. Incidentally, the death of a single
person initiated these hostilities.
Centuries later, when God “remembers” what the Amalekites did
hundreds of years prior to Saul’s leadership, he orders Saul to journey to
Amalek where he is to decimate every living thing in the city. Saul only
partially obeys by killing every person but saving a few of the best animals
for himself. My guess is that he was unaware of how enraged God becomes
over such trivial matters. God subsequently revoked Saul’s crown because of
his unwillingness to follow exact orders (1 Samuel 15). To me, however, the
issue of Saul’s crown isn’t the one of major importance. Personally, I
feel that the omnibenevolent God should not have held the people of Amalek
responsible for the enterprises of their distant ancestors, but God and I
are obviously in constant disagreement.
In a series of miscellaneous ethnic cleansings, God delivers Jerusalem
to Judah and the Israelites. They kill 10,000 Canaanites and Perizzites in
Bezek (Judges 1:2-8). Later, God accompanies Judah when he destroys the
cities and kills the inhabitants of Zephath, Gaza, Askelon, Ekron, and Luz (
Judges 1:17-26). When Ehud announces that God has delivered the Moabites
into the hands of his chosen people, they march to Moab and slay 10,000 men
(Judges 3:26-29). God delivers Sihon and the Amorites to be murdered by
Jephthah and the Israelites (Judges 11:21-23). God delivers twenty men to be
slaughtered by Jonathan (1 Samuel 12:14). As God orders David to
exterminate a few Philistines delivered into his hands, David does so and
takes their cattle as well (1 Samuel 23:2-5). As God orders David to kill
more Philistines recently delivered into his hands, David accepts God’s
gift once again and kills more Philistines in two additional battles (2
Samuel 5:19-25). God delivers the Syrians to the people of Israel in order
for them to murder 100,000 foreigners. Twenty-seven thousand Syrians escaped
but were killed when a wall fell on them (1 Kings 20:28-30)! Likewise, God
delivers the Moabites into the hands of Israel once again. The army of
Israelites destroys the city of Moab along with an unknown number of its
inhabitants. These instigations force the King to kill his own son as an
offering in order for the hostilities to cease (2 Kings 18:27)
When God witnesses certain members of Israel turning from him, he
decides to assist the tribe of Judah. God then kills the King of Israel and
enables Judah to kill 500,000 Israelite men because the Judeans “relied
upon the Lord God of their fathers.” Abijah, their leader, takes the cities
of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephrain (2 Chronicles 13:15-20). The supreme being
forces Abijah’s son, Asa, to face Zerah and his staggering army of one
million Ethiopians. Asa asks for God’s help, which is willingly provided.
In the battle, God strikes down great numbers of the Ethiopians, perhaps
killing some himself, and forces the rest to make a full retreat. Asa then
chases them back into their homeland and plummets all their cities (2
Chronicles 14:8-15).
God later becomes angry with his followers when they ridicule his
messengers. As punishment, he sends the army of Chaldees to kill all the
occupants of Jerusalem. Control of the region now falls to Persia (2
Chronicles 36:15-23). Why does God force his worshippers to suffer through
all this needless trouble when he’s just going to hand the land over to
someone else?
As you may have already guessed, God didn’t confine the impact of his
seemingly perpetual rage solely on humans. Animal sacrifices seemed
particularly important to this fiendish character. Strangely enough, this is
one deity out of many that seems pleased with aromas emitted by burnt flesh
(Genesis 8:20-21). In fact, Leviticus chapters 1-9 are thorough
instructions on how to perform animal sacrifices. The graphic details
contained therein are potentially nauseating and not for the weak of stomach.
For every category of sin, God has a specific ritual that he wishes us
to perform. His authors tell the readers how to break animal necks, what
parts of the animal to burn, what organs to extract, where to sprinkle the
blood, how much God thoroughly enjoys the spectacle, etc. If you’re
genuinely interested in how gruesome the Bible can be, I would encourage you
to read the first nine chapters of Leviticus. There are several additional
passages throughout the Bible providing complete and ridiculous instructions
for these crucially important animal sacrifices, but this lengthy manual
definitely serves as the most memorable example. Numbers 18:19 further
declares that animal sacrifices should be performed forever. Have Christians
finally appreciated the insanity of God, or do they just not read their
Bibles anymore?
An estimate on the number of victims who paid the ultimate price in
wars that are claimed to be instigated by God is hard to determine, but I
would imagine it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of two or three million.
All together, God may have been personally responsible for as many as five
million needless murders. I’m sure there are several battles and/or plagues
that I omitted, but I trust you get the general message of this section.
The Hebrew god is a mass murderer, plain and simple. Moreover, these
estimates still don’t include all the deaths resulting from petty religious
bickering that continues to this day. On the brighter side of things,
however, there’s no reason to mourn for the previously mentioned victims of
God’s brutality because the vivid human imagination was certainly the
source from which the authors derived all these accounts. Thus, these
slaughters were extremely unlikely to have taken place as recorded in the
Bible. Again, we will see overwhelmingly persuasive evidence to defend this
position in Moses And Other Historical Fabrications.
God’s Rules And Regulations
In addition to all the previously mentioned atrocities, God hands down
a nightmarishly inhumane code for his creations to live by. In fact, there
would literally be millions of murders committed every day if God still had
his way. I’ll certainly admit that a few of the more sane guidelines are
acceptable, but many are definitely not within the bounds of justice and
humanity. Those are the ones in need of a serious impartial review. A few
examples allegedly handed down by God follow.
Anyone who goes uncircumcised is to be exiled from his people (Genesis 17:14
).
If a man has sex with a menstruating women, both are to be exiled (Leviticus
20:18).
A man who marries a mother and daughter must burn in a fire (Leviticus 20:14
).
If two men have sexual relations, both must be put to death (Leviticus 20:13
).
If a mother and son have sexual relations, both must be put to death (
Leviticus 20:11).
If a man and daughter-in-law have sex, both must be put to death (Leviticus
20:12).
If a man has sex with an animal, both must be put to death (Leviticus 20:15).
If a woman has sex with an animal, both must be put to death (Leviticus 20:
16).
Anyone who attacks his mother or father must be put to death (Exodus 21:15).
Anyone who curses his mother or father must be put to death (Leviticus 20:9).
Anyone who commits murder must be put to death (Leviticus 24:17).
Anyone who commits adultery must be put to death (Deuteronomy 22:22).
Anyone who commits perjury must be put to death (Deuteronomy 19:18-19).
Anyone who commits kidnapping must be put to death (Exodus 21:16).
Anyone who disobeys a judge or priest must be put to death (Deuteronomy 17:
12).
Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death (Exodus 35:2).
Anyone who does not worship God must be put to death (2 Chronicles 15:13).
Any strangers approaching a sanctuary must be put to death (Numbers 17:7).
Any prophet who tries to turn you against God must be put to death (
Deuteronomy 13:5).
Any prophet who makes a wrong prediction must be put to death (Deuteronomy
18:20-22).
Family members who tempt you with other gods must be put to death (
Deuteronomy 13:1-5).
If an ox gores someone, the ox and its owner must be stoned to death (Exodus
21:29).
Anyone who claims to talk with spirits must be stoned to death (Leviticus 20
A stubborn and rebellious son must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).
Any woman who has had premarital sex must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22
Anyone who worships another god must be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 17:2-7).
Anyone who curses or blasphemes must be stoned to death (Leviticus 24:14-16).
Break the neck of your donkey’s firstborn or kill a lamb instead (Exodus 34
If a city worships other gods, kill everyone in it and burn it (Deuteronomy
13:12-16).
Let’s begin by considering the adultery law. While cheating on a
spouse is certainly one of the most selfish acts a person can commit, being
unfaithful is nothing deserving of death. Some couples even encourage each
other to commit adultery. If that’s what they want, their sex lives should
remain their own business. Suggesting that this would upset a supernatural
entity, one wise enough to create the universe in a week, only demonstrates
the unenlightened beliefs held by that party. Since researchers have
estimated that 50% of Americans commit adultery, does this mean that God
really want us to stone 50% of America’s population to death? Likewise,
about 25% of men are uncircumcised. For what possible reason would God ever
care what a man’s penis looks like? Since there’s no conclusively proven
health benefit from the procedure, one can only assume that God finds it
aesthetically pleasing.
As for killing men who lay with other men, I really couldn’t spend
enough time explaining the absurdity in such a rule. The majority of society
looks down on this practice because the Bible forbids it, yet these same
disapprovers break a number of similar rules detailed in the upcoming
chapter, Absurdity At Its Finest. The love experienced between two same-sex
individuals is genuine; the desire for the practice most likely originates
at the genetic level; and, as was the case for heterosexual couples, a gay
couple’s sex life should remain their own business.
All sons are rebellious at some point, but common decency tells us
that this isn’t a sufficient reason to stone a child to death because such
circumstances are perfectly normal during the maturation process. If the
situation warrants a stern response, children should be disciplined and/or
corrected on a case-by-case basis, not barbarically executed.
We shouldn’t needlessly kill animals because some wacko has sex with
them. The helpless creatures obviously lack the capacity to make an
informed choice in the matter. Many employees work on the Sabbath every week
, a realistic necessity for a variety of professionals who preserve life and
maintain order. Killing your family because they worship a different god
isn’t a justifiable reason for homicide; that’s why it’s illegal!
The last time I checked, 67% of the world doesn’t believe that the
Bible is the word of God, and about 45% of the world doesn’t even have the
Old Testament in their preferred religion. Consequently, how many billions
of people does God want us to kill now? If we are to murder someone who
believes in a different god or a different interpretation of God, the Jews
are to kill Muslims and Christians, the Muslims are to kill Christians and
Jews, and the Christians are to kill Jews and Muslims. In essence, we can’t
necessarily fault Islamic extremists for their radical actions because they
’re obviously following what they’ve been thoroughly conditioned to
believe are paramount, unquestionable orders. Of course, priority would
dictate that all these killings should take place after those three
religious sects take care of Buddhists, Hindus, and members of the minor
world religions. Now that God has had his way, no one’s left alive to
worship him. This deity was clearly an insanely reckless invention with a
poorly conceived design.
These rules do not include any of the horrendously unconscionable
restrictions placed on women in Why Women And The Bible Don’t Mix or God’s
slavery guidelines discussed in God’s Stance On Slavery. There’s such an
extraordinary amount of unimaginable injustices against these two specific
groups that I felt it was necessary to provide separate chapters in order to
give their respective oppressions justice.
As you can tell from the list provided, God wants you dead for just
about anything you do. While the “courts” carried out some of the
sentences due to undoubtful acts of immorality, the punishments are
extremely harsh and rarely reflect the severity of the infraction committed.
Killing someone for murder and killing someone because his ox gores a
bystander are two entirely different instances to consider. Of all the
worthwhile messages that God could have included in the Bible to help us
through life, he settles on a number of nonsense rules and regulations that
he knew hardly anyone would still follow a short while later. Are these the
likely decisions of an omniscient creator, or are they the likely product of
a group of superstitious individuals playing on the gullibility of
superstitious audiences?
God’s Psyche
While it may seem that the preceding sections were a sufficient
analysis of the oft-ignored alter ego of God, we still have quite a bit more
ground to cover in order to comprehensively investigate this cauldron of
evil. The focus will now shift from God’s allegedly observable physical
manifestations to the declarations and interpretations of “divinely
inspired” poets and prophets contemporaneous with the Old Testament’s
creation. We’ll try to tackle such issues as the human personality of God,
his childish necessity to make threats, and the dark future according to
this being.
We can answer many questions concerning the nature of humans by
studying the things we say and do, and there’s no reason that we can’t
apply this same principle to God if we give him the benefit of behaving in a
remotely logical fashion. Moreover, this is especially true if he is,
indeed, merely the product of human creation. Let’s reflect on the Old
Testament once again to review some of God’s alleged statements and
opinions in order to see what they might reveal about his personality. Of
course, you should realize how facetious it is to say that we can learn
about God rather than the authors molding him into their individual
interpretations.
“He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor
your sins” (Joshua 24:19). Consider this observation: God becomes jealous
when we do not pay him enough attention or when we like other gods better
than him. If you are guilty of either of these transgressions, he won’t
forgive you for making him angry. If we transpose God into a more human
setting, we realize that his behavior is the quintessence of a spoiled child
throwing a tantrum when you won’t look to see what he’s doing. This fair
assessment is undeniably consistent with the remainder of God’s curiously
immature actions throughout the Old Testament. Even so, the Bible does an
about-face in the New Testament and says that the now silent creator does
forgive you for anger-inducing infractions. This notion exemplifies
qualities of a more respectable and desirable deity, thus the New Testament
creator is the one on which Christians tend to place their focus. Well,
which interpretation of God should we accept as the truth? You’ll no doubt
see similar discrepancies reemerge in the upcoming This Way And That:
Biblical Contradictions.
God places “the iniquity of the fathers upon the children…unto the
third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7). As you read the Old Testament,
you should take careful notice of the aforementioned recurring theme of God
forcing children to pay for the sins of their ancestors. I’ve probably worn
the topic out by now, but this cannot possibly be considered a fair way of
treating people. God undeniably admits that he creates an unfair system in
which the righteous are not guaranteed freedom from his wrath due to the
contingency of him punishing us for our ancestors’ actions. Thus, we can
only conclude that God receives a sense of sadistic enjoyment from punishing
people for things they didn’t do because there’s no true justification
for anyone, deity or not, to treat others this way. Proverbs 16:4 even
confirms this hypothesis by telling us that God made evil people so that he
could punish them at some point in the future. It’s an incomprehensibly
evil undertaking for God to make people behave a certain way just so he can
entertain himself by torturing them for eternity. Furthermore, the excessive
boasting and power flaunting by God literally adds insult to injury. In
addition, the author of the second letter to the Thessalonians says God will
cause wicked people to disbelieve the truth about Jesus so that he can send
them to Hell (2:8-12).
We also understand that God wants Christians to suffer through life (1
Peter 4:12-19). Why doesn’t he make it less painful to follow him in order
for more of us to understand the “true” way of being saved? If that’s
not bad enough, God even hurts the people he loves (Hebrews 12:6). Now we
have even more evidence that God doesn’t want to save some people from his
punishment of eternal, perpetual damnation. However, let us not forget that
this is the same deity who created his son to die an agonizing death on the
cross in order to pay for everyone else’s sins. If God were human,
psychiatrists would certainly have him locked in an asylum.
God goes so far as to place equivalent monetary values on human life
for an offering that he requires everyone to provide (Leviticus 27:1-8).
This is another prime example of the total disregard God reserves for his
creations. We may not be omnipotent and omniscient, but most of us would
never attempt to place a specific price on the value of a human life.
Incidentally, we’re worth very little to him. This notion is especially
true when you consider how readily he commands thousands of us to our deaths
in the Old Testament. If you’re interested, men are worth approximately $
100 US while women are only worth about $60 US in modern currency
equivalents. If you want to know why women are less valuable than men, you’
ll find out in the next equally disturbing chapter.
Job is an odd book in an odd place. While it’s believed to have been
written in an era concurrent with the Pentateuch authorship, the fable
appears much later in the Bible with the books of poetry. Regardless,
Christians insist that we accept it as a literal work rather than a
figurative one, thus we will review it as such. As a literal work, it’s a
wonderful glimpse into the mind of the most primitive form of the Hebrew god
. In the ridiculous tale, God allows Satan to torment the innocent Job by
utilizing various methods of torture. All of this is just to prove to Satan
that he couldn’t make Job curse the name of God. How nonsensical is that?
God’s ego drives him to watch a good man be tortured because he feels the
need to prove a point to an inferior entity of evil.
The authors of Psalms often glorify God for a number of despicable
acts. The authors exalt God for giving knowledge on how to kill enemies in
battle (18:34-42) and for literally bashing people who don’t worship him (2
death (21:9-10) and for the murder of every firstborn male child in Egypt (
135:8, 136:10). The authors praise God for his intentions to tear
disbelievers into pieces (50:22) and for making a spectacle out of people
who worship other gods (52:5-7). Why would anyone sing praises of such
abominations except to score points out of obvious fear? This thought
reminds me of the Iraqi government officials who started praising Saddam
Hussein in July of 1979 as he read a list of traitors who were to be
executed. Because members of the audience obviously didn’t want to be among
those facing an imminent death sentence, they publicly demonstrate their
loyalty to Saddam by shouting praises in order to preserve their own lives.
The method works wonderfully now, and it seemingly worked many centuries ago.
Guidelines on how to secure a place in Heaven are finally set in the
New Testament, but they remain inherently unfair and contradicting.
Christians across the board believe that you’ll burn in Hell forever if you
don’t accept Jesus as your personal savior (Mark 9:42-48). If we assume
this belief to be factual, is it truly fair to a radical Muslim who has had
the exact opposite notion drilled into his head since birth? Of course not.
All God has to do for the Muslim is show him the error of his ways. Instead,
the combination of God’s present silence and his Old Testament approval of
violence lamentably provides the radical Muslim with the notion that it
pleases God when people fly airplanes into buildings. The murdering Muslim
simply hasn’t been instructed otherwise.
Just Empty Threats?
God invariably makes threats that if you do this, he will counter with
that. Let’s look at a few Old Testament examples and determine if his
retaliations are justifiable. The first of which would be to not harass any
widows or orphans because God will kill you with a sword (Exodus 22:24). As
in the previous section, we see a continuity of God administering unfit
punishments for minor crimes. If you try to rebuild Jericho, your oldest and
youngest son will die (Joshua 6:26). While such an extreme measure of
revenge could hardly be warranted, God affords everyone ample opportunity to
avoid his insane wrath in this instance. If you don’t worship God, he’ll
sever your arm, revoke your eyesight, and curse you with a premature death (
1 Samuel 2:31-33). Similarly, he’ll wipe you off the earth if you observe
other gods (Deuteronomy 6:14-15). If you take it as far as hating God, he’
ll totally destroy you (Deuteronomy 7:10). I think these punishments are
starting to creep over that arbitrary boundary known as “fairness.”
However, we see a small incongruity in making these threats. If God’s
orders were to kill anyone who disobeys these divine commands, why would he
personally need to administer these punishments? Better yet, why isn’t God
making good on these threats? Incidentally, shouldn’t God be angry with
his followers for not killing people with different viewpoints? Regardless
of the answers to these questions, we’re about to see God leap past any
hope of inconspicuously remaining in the background.
If ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And
if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that
ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I will
even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall
consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in
vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and
ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over
you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for
all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your
sins. And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven
as iron, and your earth as brass: And your strength shall be spent in vain:
for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the
land yield their fruits. And if ye will contrary unto me, and will not
hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to
your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of
your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your
high ways shall be desolate. And if ye will not be reformed by me by these
things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto
you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a
sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye
are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among
you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. And when I have
broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven,
and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat,
and not be satisfied. And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but
walk contrary unto me; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and
I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And ye shall eat the
flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. And I
will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your
carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. And I
will make your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and
I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours. And I will bring the land
into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished
at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword
after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then
shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be
in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her
sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not
rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. And upon them that are left
alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their
enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall
flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth. And
they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none
pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. And ye
shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you
up. And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your
enemies’ lands and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine
away with them. (Leviticus 26:14-39, reworded in Deuteronomy 28:15-68).
That’s quite a punishment for not believing in God. You’ll go blind;
you’ll become sorrowful; you won’t be able to grow food; your enemies
will become your leaders; you’ll run for no reason; you’ll have no pride,
power, or strength; your land will go bad; your children and cattle will be
killed by wild animals; your cities will empty; you’ll be struck by a sword
; you’ll receive a pestilence; your hunger won’t be satisfied; you’ll eat
your children; your places of worship will be destroyed; your enemies will
take your land; you’ll become terrified; you’ll live with injustice; and
then you’ll perish.
Thankfully, we can safely conclude that there’s no connection between
reality and these transcendental threats because it’s obvious that God isn
’t currently enforcing these punishments. Since unfortunate episodes
perpetually manifest across the religious spectrum, it’s also safe to
conclude that they aren’t transpiring due to the absence of God in the
victims’ lives. Since the Hebrews contemporaneous with these threats lived
in an unscientific and superstitious era, they gullibly but wholeheartedly
believed that these events had a divine cause and effect relationship. As an
obvious consequence of that unenlightened belief, the population rarely
challenged these frightening warnings. What can we surmise about these
intimidating statements? Two words: scare tactics.
In the quoted passage, God yet again exposes his childish behavior by
listing a long series of punishments for failing to follow his commandments
and not paying him enough attention. He sends his only son to assist us in
carrying out what he feels is a positive lifestyle, yet he threatens to
torture us for eternity if we don’t listen to him and follow his advice.
Why is God overly concerned with how we act and how we choose to worship?
Since this cruel deity supposedly made us exactly how he anticipated, he
should definitely know what actions we’re imminently going to take. One
would presumably think that an all-powerful and all-knowing god would have
little regard for the opinions of his insignificant creations, turning
instead to hobbies that one would think are more productive. It’s now
obvious that our existence is nothing but a game to him, and it should leave
the reader to wonder why he would subject us to this exhibition when he
already knows the outcome.
The God Of The Future
It would be quite negligent for me to approach a somewhat
comprehensive piece on this perspective of God but not include references
for the hundreds of evil operations that the prophets claim he will
implement sometime in the future. There’s such a wealth of despicable
activities carried out or silently observed by God that I must once again
force myself to share only a small portion of the most horrendous, inventive
, or entertaining ones. Common examples of Godly justifications usually fall
into one of the following categories: he has angry desires for revenge,
people will turn their backs on him, or his followers will sin by finding
new gods to worship. While most of the foretold events are yet to come,
apologists must accept the prophecies as part of an unchangeable future
because the passages are part of the inerrant, unalterable word of God.
Since these promised catastrophes are imminent in their arrival, we can
treat these events as though they’ve already materialized for the purpose
of analyzing the moral justifications, or lack thereof, that God offers for
his actions.
God will kill men, have their children smashed, and have their wives raped (
Isaiah 13:15-16).
God will punish children for the iniquities of their fathers and distant
ancestors (Isaiah 14:21).
God will lay waste to entire cities and make the lands desolate (Jeremiah 4:
7).
God will set people, animals, and even plants on fire because of his anger (
Jeremiah 7:20).
God will send so much evil that people would rather be dead than suffer (
Jeremiah 8:3).
God will give away the property of men, including their wives, to other men
(Jeremiah 8:10).
God will kill young men, and their children will die from a famine (Jeremiah
11:22).
God will cause everyone to become drunk so father and son will kill one
another (Jeremiah 13:14).
God will not hear the cries of the people or acknowledge their sacrifices (
Jeremiah 14:12).
God will make people hungry enough to eat their own children and friends (
Jeremiah 19:9).
God will burn entire cities with the inhabitants still inside (Jeremiah 50:
32).
God will break people’s bones and knock their teeth out with stones (
Lamentations 3:1-16).
God will force fathers and sons to eat each other and scatter their
remembrance (Ezekiel 5:10).
God will be comforted by killing everyone with pestilence, plagues, and
swords (Ezekiel 5:12-13).
God will lay dead bodies around idols and spread their bones around the
alters (Ezekiel 6:5).
God will kill righteous men and forget their good deeds if they ever turn to
sin (Ezekiel 18:24).
God will turn daughters into whores and wives into adulterers (Hosea 4:13).
God will kill children when they come out of their mothers’ wombs (Hosea 10
God will tear people apart and devour them like a lion (Hosea 13:8).
God will kill children and unborn fetuses because their parents worship
other gods (Hosea 13:16).
God will sell the children of Israel into slavery in a far away land (Joel 3
God will kill inhabitants of entire cities if they have a corrupt government
(Micah 3:9-12).
God will consume every living thing from the face of the earth (Zephaniah 1:
2-3).
God will send people to steal Jerusalem, rape the women, and enslave the
rest (Zechariah 14:2).
God will send plagues on people and animals to rot away tongues and eyes (
Zechariah 14:12-15).
The prophets warn us of the Old Testament God’s frightful, futuristic
return to the earth, at which point he’ll initiate every category of curse
imaginable on the people who ignore his commandments, refuse to worship him
, or commit acts that he arbitrarily deems evil. It’s remarkable how he can
randomly dish out such unfathomable punishments for reasons a typical
person would consider lacking in foundation, yet he becomes terribly enraged
when one of us follows suit.
God brings people into this world without a choice in the matter and
expects us to do certain things, otherwise he’ll punish us severely without
rest for an eternity. God’s omniscience must necessarily allow him to know
which names will not be included in his book of life. Therefore, we can
only conclude that he purposely brings people into the world with zero
chance of avoiding Hell. Any deviation from this predetermined course would
make God wrong, but since God cannot possibly be wrong, it’s impossible for
us to deviate from the absolutely unalterable plan that he has already
envisioned. Thus, Christians can only logically claim that we are
exclusively involuntary pawns at the mercy of God’s whimsical decisions as
to where we will spend our ultimate eternal destinations. This heartless
exercise of brutality can only be the single most hateful crime any being
could ever commit.
Now that I’ve had time to reflect upon these considerations, if I
believed for one moment that it was possible for this god to exist, I would
be the first person in church on Sunday morning and the last person out the
door Sunday evening. I would swallow my disgust and worship the deity that I
detested in order to accept the slightly more agreeable punishment of
eternal praise over eternal agony. In our universe bound by reality, however
, such a personality can only be a ridiculous creation from a deceitful set
of individuals who were sadly unaware of the vicious monster they created.
The God Worshipped By Two Billion
God barbarically killed millions of people in the Old Testament
because they weren’t “fortunate” enough to belong to the Israelite tribe.
Had these alleged victims belonged to the lineage of Jacob, they obviously
wouldn’t have suffered the full wrath of God. However, what chances did
they realistically have of converting to worship the Hebrew deity when their
own parents conditioned them to think according to their local customs?
Even today, God’s evil demands require us to murder billions of non-
Christians because their parents unknowingly continue to practice this same
form of powerful conditioning. The consequences of obeying God’s directions
should give us the presence of mind to refrain from following such orders
without first analyzing the morality of the demands in question. Widely
distributed directions from a fair god should be moral or have a
satisfactory explanation. Otherwise, we may be repeating the same evil
accomplishments of our ancestors.
What logic is there in the fact that the being who promises us eternal
life because of his love for all humankind is the same entity who orders us
to kill a variety of people for morally bankrupt reasons? The biblical god
is not “wonderful” and “loving” as Christians claim because these
unenlightened followers base such crude assessments on the more positive New
Testament. The God of the Old Testament, on the other hand, is pure evil
and full of perpetual anger; he even admits as much. No one who creates and
needlessly kills millions of people can honestly be called “wonderful” and
“loving,” deity or not. Certainly, most people wouldn’t think it was
fair if they saw their fellow man being tortured just because his parents
raised him with a different version of the creator. God even takes enjoyment
in the fact that many people will never make it into Heaven. Regardless of
your position on the issue, I believe we can all agree that God has quite a
unique character about him, to say the least.
We’ve also come to realize that we can observe the following
qualities of God: he exhibits immature rage when no one pays attention to
him; he makes people suffer for what others have done; he has no regard for
human life; and he tortures decent people for such reasons as winning bets
with Satan. If we were to extract this behavior into human terms, we would
most likely draw a comparison with that of a spoiled child. Because of an
obvious state of fear and panic over similar reports heard by authors of the
ancient Hebrew scriptures, they wrote and sang praises to this terrible
creature thinking that such measures might assist in helping them escape his
unconscionable wrath.
To top it all off, God conveniently ceased his murdering and slave
driving when modern philosophers, enlightened thinking, and accurate
historical records began to appear. However, Jesus did not invalidate the
aforementioned rules and regulations with his teachings, as some apologists
often claim, because the old laws were never intended to be cast aside. “
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come
to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:7). “For verily I say unto you, Till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). “And it is easier for heaven
and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail” (Luke 16:17).
Amazingly, the perfect Jesus also tells us that we should abide by the old
laws established by Moses. Something is definitely wrong here. |
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