What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[Catholic_Lady]

I am sorry that so many of you are having a hard time with understanding/accepting the notion that the OT is written allegorically, especially when what Jesus teaches is so contradicting to the God that is depicted in the OT.

I don't have a problem with asserting its allegorical nature; I think it's obvious that things like both creation stories are each allegories, as is the story of the Fall.

What I have a problem with is you deciding that one part of the Bible is literal, another part allegorical,

...But isn't that what you are doing when you say you believe the story of Genesis is allegorical?

and it just so happens that you regard the really evil shit attributed to your deity as allegorical.  I'm sure that's a coincidence, right?

I believe ALL the Old Testament is allegorical. The nice parts, and the bad parts alike. I'm not sure why you are perturbed by this. Would you rather me believe that the bad parts about slavery and stoning being acceptable are literal? Why would you want me to believe such horrible things are true? They go against the teachings of Christ, so of course I am against them.

No, it isn't.  You regard those parts as allegory because you don't want to think that your god could be amoral, or even positively evil. And in essence, you're begging the question when you argue this case for allegory, because what is happening is that you are using your moral sensibility to guide your judgement on what is allegorical.

It's sloppy thinking and tremendously weak argumentation.

I regard them as allegorical because I regard the entire Old Testament as allegorical. I don't believe Moses spoke to a burning bush. I don't believe Jonah was in a whale for 3 days. I don't believe Eve was tempted by an apple. Above all, and most importantly, I regard it all as allegorical because I'm Christian. And Christ *specifically* teaches that some stuff in the Old Testament is inaccurate. I am not trying to make an argument, just telling you what I believe because you seem to really want to know and understand.