The "Cultural Context" Excuse

[LadyForCamus]

Um...well, yes.  What kind of "good" god is cool with humans stripping other humans' of their right to live as autonomous beings?  I mean...I don't understand how such a thing could even be up for debate.  Actually, coming from YOU, I can see how it would be up for debate...

Maybe... Not all humans are created equal. Maybe if you give complete and free 'autonomy' to some men they would set the world ablaze to simply watch it burn.

This is a red herring. You're correct; some people hurt other people, and in doing so forfeit their right to live completely free. How we deal with those kinds of people versus how other societies deal with those kinds of people is an entirely separate discussion, and it's not at all what I'm talking about in my OP.

So, then the question then becomes what do you do with them? Subjugate them? or eradicate them? We will learn given enough time and weekly terrorist attacks that living 'progressively' along side them is not an option.

Again, I'm not talking about how the US deals with criminals and terrorism. I'm talking about the basic human rights that your alleged God either forgot, or chose not to afford to all folks when making out his laws of "right living". Things that I can't imagine would be disputed by any rational person, including (but certainly not limited to):

*Don't own people

*Don't kill women and children during warfare

*Women are people: don't force them into marriage, don't trade them as property for goods and services, don't rape them. If a woman is raped, don't prolong her suffering and trauma by forcing her to marry her rapist.

*Never kill children as punishment for anything

So then if "WE" given all of our technological and sociological advantages can not live at peace with our enemies then what hope would a new nation of people have 4000 years ago?

The enemies of the Israelites (most of them) were only enemies because the Israelites ambushed them for their land and spoils. "You have stuff; we want it; we get to have it cuz God likes us better!" So...it's kind of their own fault they didn't get along with most of the Middle East. And considering they had a prophet spoon-feeding them all the rules on how to live and behave, they should have had a MUCH easier time living in peace than "us" today. But again, how countries deal with war and terrorism is another topic. Maybe you should start a thread on it.

Let me ask you a couple of questions that are at the heart of the point I'm trying to make here, Drich:

What kind of person would you be today without laws in place that prohibit things like rape, slavery, and killing people for property?

Q 1. If you wanted to have sex with your wife and she didn't happen to be in the mood, would you rape her? Would you hold her down and force her while she screamed and wept?

Q 2. I know you have children, but do you have daughters? If so, would you sell her into a marriage against her will to a strange man neither of you have ever met before that day for...let's say...$20,000 and a new car?

Q 3. Would you keep a person prisoner on your property for manual labor, and beat the shit of him if he tried to escape?

Q 4. Would you murder your neighbor and his family because he has a bigger yard and nicer house than yours, and you want it?

If there were NO legal or..."godly" repercussions for any of the above; if you KNEW God really wouldn't care or even notice so long as you believed and worshiped properly, would you do them? Are mortal laws the only thing keeping you from committing such acts against other humans?

If your answer is "no, I wouldn't do those things to people," then you've got a big, stinky problem to deal with: You are better than your perfectly "good" God.