Refuting Christians with their Own Bible

[SteveII]

Divine Command Theory deals with this question. Our moral duties are determined by God's commands. It would be immoral to disobey. If these events happened as described, we have God clearly stating reasons for his judgement and then orders Joshua/Samuel to carry out the judgement. 

Before you start with the lady drowning her kids in the bathtub, don't. You are comparing a theocracy to a confused woman. IMO God does not issue commands like that anymore because the NT was the culmination of his revelation and such a command would be contrary to the whole purpose of Jesus' death.

Divine command 'theory', put into practice, has never been anything other than the justification those who seek power use to push their agendas, while it has provided moral cover to their minions who end up doing the dirty work. Were the run-of-the-mill Jews (those not in the upper reaches of power) privy to their god's command or did they simply take the word of their leaders?

Are you seriously claiming that you know for a fact that 'Joshua/Samuel' weren't "confused"? Can you say for certain that the order for genocide wasn't part of a propaganda campaign, as opposed to a "real" divine command?

I cannot say for certain that the events of Joshua/Samuel happened with or without God's command or did indeed happen at all. So, hypothetically if God instructed...Divine Command Theory would apply.