RE: Hideously Complex Challenge For Christians.
January 10, 2015 at 10:25 am
(This post was last modified: January 10, 2015 at 10:26 am by Grasshopper.)
(January 10, 2015 at 9:52 am)tantric Wrote: That's not helpful. Atheism is logical, but anti-theism is an emotional stance, and often pretty juvenile. Try this:
The God of the Old Testament often commits atrocities, acts of barbarism and cruelty. Consider 2 Kings 2:23-24:
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.
Mauling children for making fun of someone? Elisha called down a curse on some kids - isn't he the greater sinner? He used the power of God to kill children because .... well, because he was vain about being bald. That doesn't even begin to make sense. It's not a parable, it's a threat. What's up with that?
How do I answer that without it sounding like I'm supporting it. Hmmm . . .
The word "youth" used in that passage is used for men in their 20s (standard hebrew) so it wasn't the children that were mauled.
So some 20 year olds calling a man bald, not that serious. But Elisha was a prophet of god who'd just performed a miracle.
And calling someone bald wasn't a particularly kind thing in those hebrew times since baldness was often attributed to lepers who shaved their heads.
Then they said go up . . . After seeing Elijah ascending to heaven. Which meant they wanted him gone too . . . Or dead.
And 42 isn't a particularly small number. If 42 were mauled there must've been hundreds coming out of their homes in an organized fashion to shout insulting things
So to put it together- Hundreds of young adults come out of their houses like a streetgang and walk up to Elisha debasing him to a lepers stature and shouting for him to die/ ascend. Given the chance they may have even killed him themselves.
Just imagine yourself in south Central LA and a 42 person strong (minimum) streetgang thugs come up to you and tell you to die and call you something. It's basically the same thing.
But depends on how you look at it. I take it as a story. Tantric whose side are you on anyway?
