Conflicting statements in the bible

[Statler Waldorf]

It does, very simply stated. We punish according to the weight of the crime, not the relative authority of the punitive body.

Nope, as I already proved by numerous examples crimes against positions of higher authority are weighted more. Crimes against a god of infinite authority deserve an infinite weight.

A perfect understanding is not required to compare the two offerings on the table. We only have to understand the two claims in opposition. One is that appropriate punitive measures are those in which the punishment is commensurate to -the crime-.....the other is that appropriate punitive measures are those in which punishment is commensurate to -the level of authority of the adjudicating body-.

That’s a false dichotomy, in the US often the severity of the crime is determined by the authority of the victim. Back to my original point though, neither of us have a perfect standard of justice, so if you disagree with the way God does things all that proves is that your standard of justice is wrong- not that He is unjust.

Well, I haven't really thought about every moral issue, but most of them either come down to practicality and/or empathy. I think that most of the morals that modern societies retain come down to the concept of protecting each of us from harm to the degree that it's possible, and improving the lot of the society or community as a whole. Humans are social creatures and I think that on some level or other, the approval of our fellow humans makes us feel good. Behavior that increases the general good feeling among the group (without causing harm in other ways) will be promoted, and behavior that decreases that good feeling will be discouraged (unless it's necessary for protecting their well-being).

Ok, but I am still curious as to how you reason from all of these descriptive statements about how Humans think and behave to a moral set of normative rules telling us how we ought to live. I think you’ll find you cannot construct a valid proof to support this line of reasoning.

The Bible is the infallable [sic] word of god......

Amen. [sic added by SW]