(August 25, 2010 at 4:56 pm)The Omnissiunt One Wrote: Whatever you say to defend God in this case is irrelevant. God could've achieved what he wanted without killing so much as a fly. Plus, there is much evidence in the OT (Exodus 21:21, for instance) to suggest that he doesn't give a monkey's about anyone but his chosen people, and even then he lets them wander in the desert for forty years. Other religions are far more enlightened than the petty tyrant called Yahweh, and, indeed, secular humanism is best of all. The fact that you have to defend God's actions suggests that he's really not all that great a fella at all, or at least not as he's depicted in those Bronze Age scribblings, anyway.Secular humanism is people wanting their own selfish way.
In the story we're talking about, the people followed God best they could, and were as fair as they could be to the Medianites given the situation.
Exodus 21 has the opposite message: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/co...g-Servants
If a defence is sound then I don't see a problem in forming one.
