A Levite and his concubine

[robvalue]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK7P7uZFf5o

[Lek]

If you're going to attribute things to God, read the whole bible and see where it begins and where it ends. You distort things when you take bits and pieces and don't fit them into the whole story.

So, what you're saying is that there's some context that excuses, off the top of my head, genocide?

What i'm saying is that, according to the bible, God is the creator and is allowed to do what he wants to do with his creation. All these terrible things that you attribute to God are attributed to man's sin in the bible. These are consequences of people's sins and it's all just. In the end, God himself, removes our guilt and gives us eternal happiness, free from all this. So yes, we do suffer consequences for our sin. If your father was a gambler and frittered away all the family's money, you would suffer the consequences of that. If you're going to evaluate the God of the bible, take all the bible into consideration before you make a final judgement. You can have your won opinion, but that's not the opinion of the writers. If you don't believe that we're responsible to God for our sins, then you're not interpreting the bible as the writers intended it to be.

Another thing is that I can tell a story about someone doing evil acts without inserting my opinion of whether they were evil or not.

[Jackalope]

So, what you're saying is that there's some context that excuses, off the top of my head, genocide?

What i'm saying is that, according to the bible, God is the creator and is allowed to do what he wants to do with his creation.

Right, because "might makes right" is the highest expression of morality and righteousness.

[abaris]

What i'm saying is that, according to the bible, God is the creator and is allowed to do what he wants to do with his creation. All these terrible things that you attribute to God are attributed to man's sin in the bible. These are consequences of people's sins and it's all just. In the end, God himself, removes our guilt and gives us eternal happiness, free from all this. So yes, we do suffer consequences for our sin. If your father was a gambler and frittered away all the family's money, you would suffer the consequences of that. If you're going to evaluate the God of the bible, take all the bible into consideration before you make a final judgement. You can have your won opinion, but that's not the opinion of the writers. If you don't believe that we're responsible to God for our sins, then you're not interpreting the bible as the writers intended it to be.

Another possiblity would be a warlike band of half nomadic desert dwellers pounding their chests about their latest brutal exploits and attributing them to their tribal deity. Welcome to my interpretation of the bible.

Another thing is that I can tell a story about someone doing evil acts without inserting my opinion of whether they were evil or not.

Yeah, but the thing is, you are the one believing in these tales and claim them to be god's retribution. So, if god actually inspired them, he's inherently evil, since nothing justifies genocide.

[Lek]

Another possiblity would be a warlike band of half nomadic desert dwellers pounding their chests about their latest brutal exploits and attributing them to their tribal deity. Welcome to my interpretation of the bible.

Okay, you have your opinions, but if you're going to misinterpret the bible, then you can't use it to justify them.

[Astrogod07]

What i'm saying is that, according to the bible, God is the creator and is allowed to do what he wants to do with his creation.

This is another idea that I think is immoral. Parents are not allowed to treat their children in any way they wish because we recognize that all people, children included, have rights. Parents can't just decide to kill their children because they disobeyed a command. In the same way, god may have the power to destroy us in whatever way he wants, but that does not make him morally justified in doing so. A favorite quote from the film God on Trial is "God is not good. He was just on our side." Even if I thought the christian god existed, I would not worship him because I believe him to be immoral, and I believe the act of worship to be immoral.

[Lek]

Yeah, but the thing is, you are the one believing in these tales and claim them to be god's retribution. So, if god actually inspired them, he's inherently evil, since nothing justifies genocide.

What is your authority for saying that nothing justifies genocide?

[abaris]

Yeah, but the thing is, you are the one believing in these tales and claim them to be god's retribution. So, if god actually inspired them, he's inherently evil, since nothing justifies genocide.

What is your authority for saying that nothing justifies genocide?

Do you really have to ask?

Killing off a whole people for whatever reason is inherently wrong. My moral code screams at the mere thought of it. That's my authority. I don't need anything else for my reasoning.

If you think differently, please elaborate. But don't come up with the sacrificing children shit from the bible again, since I've heard it so many times before. It still doesn't justify killing a whole people.

[dimaniac]

Killing off a whole people for whatever reason is inherently wrong.

No, they could all be murderers. Also moral is subjective

[Lek]

What is your authority for saying that nothing justifies genocide?

Do you really have to ask?

Killing off a whole people for whatever reason is inherently wrong. My moral code screams at the mere thought of it. That's my authority. I don't need anything else for my reasoning.

If you think differently, please elaborate. But don't come up with the sacrificing children shit from the bible again, since I've heard it so many times before. It still doesn't justify killing a whole people.

In other words, your authority is your own conscience, but someone else's conscience may justify it. Actually, if you look at evolution, it appears that the fittest survive. If you're the one committing the genocide, it may benefit you greatly. But there is no hard scientific evidence showing that genocide is unjustified. I get my ultimate morality from the bible. The bible tells me that genocide is immoral, but it also tells me that governments have the authority to punish wrongdoers by treating them in ways that would be otherwise be immoral. God is our creator and ultimate authority and he has the right to punish us for our wrongdoings. The greatest thing is that because of his love for us, instead of the penalty of eternal death that we should suffer, he paid the price for us. So now, instead we have eternal life, even though we must suffer certain consequences for our sin, such as living in this messed up world.