Why did God murder children for making fun of a bald guy?

[orangebox21]

So, what you're saying is that god made a commandment and then arranged physical reality so that obeying that commandment results in a positive physical effect? So then there's no reason that one would need god for morality, since they could see the physical effects anyway.

To address the first question, I don't know if God arranged physical reality in the way you are proposing or not or had some other purpose in mind. To address the second question: no, given the premise that God gave the commandment, if you take away the cause you take away the effect.

You take for granted that we can already 'reason right from wrong'. You would have to presuppose morality to be able to 'reason out the merit...'

You aren't listening, and more importantly, you're putting quotation marks around words that never even appeared in my post, hinting that you either don't know what quotations marks are for, or more likely, you have a script that you're following regardless of what is actually said to you.

Sorry about that I was using quotes in the first part of the statement to emphasize a concept and the second set of quotes was quoting you. I'll be more clear in the future.

Second question: by observing the effects of actions in reality- not the morality of them but the actual, physical effects- and determining the harm or benefit of those actions.
What I said was that we can reason from the objective effects of an action, and this is a really trivial claim: if I shoot you in the leg for no reason, are you claiming that the only way we could figure out that this is a less than desirable outcome is by presupposing divine morality? Or could we simply observe that you are now in an unnecessary state of pain and injury, and that most likely you would prefer not to be, and work backwards from there?

I'd say yes, we wouldn't be able to determine this is a less than desirable outcome without a God given morality. To illustrate: Why do we already assume that causing pain to someone else is inherently bad? After all it could benefit the individual inflicting the pain? How do we know that the joy you get from shooting me in the leg for no reason doesn't outweigh the pain I feel? If shooting me made you happy then I wouldn't be in an unnecessary state of pain and injury, it would serve a purpose. If your joy exceeds my pain, according to your standard, you shooting me in the leg would be moral.

You proposed we can reason from the objective effects. While the effects may be observable objectively they are measured subjectively (your joy, my pain). Secondly, you and I don't operate in a closed system. You shooting me would have effects, both harmful and beneficial, on other people (Ex: paramedics, doctors, 911 operator, etc) Some of these people would benefit from you shooting me; or perhaps not, given their mood on that particular day. Given an unknowable number of variables and subjectivity, it is not reasonable for a person to objectively measure the effects of an event in terms of overall benefit vs. overall harm and thus determine morality.

To my original question.
An evolutionary model.

Assume the prophet as a species.
Assume the people as a species.
Assume the prophet can communicate with animals.
Assume that animals obey the prophet's command.
Assume that the people eaten by the animals cannot communicate with animals.

A mutation occurs in the people species. This mutation changes the genetic make-up of the people species, producing a trait that allows communication with animals. People bearing this trait are now classified as the prophet species. As the process of natural selection occurs the more adapted species survives (prophet) and the less adapted species (people) do not survive (and this could reasonably occur through the prohpet species killing the people species). What does this have to do with morality? It's just evolution.

So is it your understanding that people don't have to forgive others now because Jesus forgave everyone 2,000 years ago?

No, not at all. I was addressing your statement that God never forgave anyone. Yes God has forgiven us and yes we are to forgive others. For example: Colossians 3:13: "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye", and Ephesians 4:32 " And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." See also the parable of the unforgiving servant: Matthew 18:21-35.