(June 12, 2024 at 3:42 pm)Questor Wrote: Humankind has free will. But free will, which allows for personal growth and change, does so by permitting all the evil that mankind does.
YHWH granted free will to humans, which resulted in the first consequential free will choice to obey or disobey YHWH and either remain in the perfectly balanced area of creation called the Garden of Eden, or be forced from it to a broken, shattered version of Eden, and die physically.
YHWH does not need to do more than permit mankind to choose to make decisions that cause great calamity for us to take advantage of the situation. However, permission to behave as badly as we are permitted to is not encouragement to do so, nor is such permission to be an assumption that the Creator is jumping up and down with glee as people suffer and die.
I think your question is more along the lines of whether the G-d of Israel is a cruel and vicious monster because he does not force us to behave like automatons, or a Creator who allowed his children to grow up, fully realizing that it would be a painful experience for them, as well as himself, because he does care about the end result. This is proven in him protecting Israel from the beginning of their establishment in the Patriarchs, and keeping the covenant he made with Abraham in securing the Canaanite lands to the Israelites.
Much of what you might term genocide, such as many of the Caanaanite tribal groups being killed in battle, were eliminated for their practices of human sacrifice, or for the cruelty displayed in harrowing the rear of Israelites passing nearby, and killing off the elderly, weak, and sickly, rather than fighting the strong, or simply allowing the Israelites to pass nearby. There was a lot of room in Canaan at the time, and Israel was being forced to fight their way north and west with a desert at their back. Yes, Israel was favored in establishing themselves, but it was a conditional matter. When they stopped following YHWH, the favor was withdrawn, and given to their enemies.
'God gave humans free will' is a rationalization humans made to to help explain a nonexistent god. Try again.
BTW: Still waiting for actual evidence.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
