This thread was deleted by the mods on Christianforums.com, although they did not punish my account. I didn't get the opportunity to get feedback from Christians.
Moses was unable to lead his people out of Egypt until Jehovah sent his tenth and final plague: the death of the firstborn son. Jehovah was already a child-killing god since he had sent the flood to kill nearly all life indiscriminately, but the tenth plague of Egypt actually depicts Jehovah targeting children. From that moment, Jehovah gained his reputation as a warlord deity.
However, during times of peace and prosperity, there is no need to worship a warlord deity. The Jews wasted no time constructing an idol, doing so before even reaching the promised land. Later on, they would worship Ashtaroth, the fertility goddess, instead of their old child-killing god, because they needed to flourish. Others also worshiped Baal.
Molech was particularly hated because his followers burned their children alive in sacrifice to this deity, and Jehovah said that such a practice is abominable. In fact, the genocides perpetrated by Joshua are actually justified by some apologists because the followers of Molech engaged in these practices. Why is it ethical to worship a child-killing god, but yet it is unethical to worship a god who demands children as sacrifice?
Some would say that it doesn't matter how "moral" fake gods are or how "immoral" the one true god seems to be. The "fact" that Jehovah is the creator of the universe is sufficient reasoning for us to worship him. I still have not seen anyone provide such actual reasoning, and further, this does assert the point in question. If the followers of Molech genuinely believe that their deity created the universe, then are they not morally justified in worshiping such a deity by the same reasoning?
Ethics are based entirely upon intent, not upon what is actually true. For example, a police officer could justify shooting someone if that person was quickly reaching into their jacket pocket, even if it turned out to be just a candy bar they were going after. Conversely, a police officer who shoots someone without provocation would be a murderer, even if the person they shot actually was secretly planning on committing a serious violent crime. So if the criteria for ethical worship is that the object of worship must be the creator of the universe, then many other religions aside from Christianity can claim to be ethical in this regard.
Whether or not a certain deity created the universe, as a matter of fact and not as a matter of personal faith, is a question for apologetics. Do the ethics of worship come down to apologetics? If so, then Christians have largely bungled this pretty badly. If not, then Jehovah fails to separate himself from many other deities who also claim to have created the universe. So by what other criteria is it ethical to worship a child-killing god such as Jehovah?
Another issue is the apparent disconnect between ancient people and modern Christians. During my time as a Christian, I very much got the sense that no real Christian would accept a cash payment to bow down and worship, say, a statue of the Buddha. No amount would suffice. Not even a gun to the head would do it, and many of these Christians would not even claim to have experienced anything supernatural in their entire lives. Yet ancient Jews worshiped other gods all the time, despite apparently witnessing their god perform miracles with their very own eyes. How can this possibly happen?
Moses was unable to lead his people out of Egypt until Jehovah sent his tenth and final plague: the death of the firstborn son. Jehovah was already a child-killing god since he had sent the flood to kill nearly all life indiscriminately, but the tenth plague of Egypt actually depicts Jehovah targeting children. From that moment, Jehovah gained his reputation as a warlord deity.
However, during times of peace and prosperity, there is no need to worship a warlord deity. The Jews wasted no time constructing an idol, doing so before even reaching the promised land. Later on, they would worship Ashtaroth, the fertility goddess, instead of their old child-killing god, because they needed to flourish. Others also worshiped Baal.
Molech was particularly hated because his followers burned their children alive in sacrifice to this deity, and Jehovah said that such a practice is abominable. In fact, the genocides perpetrated by Joshua are actually justified by some apologists because the followers of Molech engaged in these practices. Why is it ethical to worship a child-killing god, but yet it is unethical to worship a god who demands children as sacrifice?
Some would say that it doesn't matter how "moral" fake gods are or how "immoral" the one true god seems to be. The "fact" that Jehovah is the creator of the universe is sufficient reasoning for us to worship him. I still have not seen anyone provide such actual reasoning, and further, this does assert the point in question. If the followers of Molech genuinely believe that their deity created the universe, then are they not morally justified in worshiping such a deity by the same reasoning?
Ethics are based entirely upon intent, not upon what is actually true. For example, a police officer could justify shooting someone if that person was quickly reaching into their jacket pocket, even if it turned out to be just a candy bar they were going after. Conversely, a police officer who shoots someone without provocation would be a murderer, even if the person they shot actually was secretly planning on committing a serious violent crime. So if the criteria for ethical worship is that the object of worship must be the creator of the universe, then many other religions aside from Christianity can claim to be ethical in this regard.
Whether or not a certain deity created the universe, as a matter of fact and not as a matter of personal faith, is a question for apologetics. Do the ethics of worship come down to apologetics? If so, then Christians have largely bungled this pretty badly. If not, then Jehovah fails to separate himself from many other deities who also claim to have created the universe. So by what other criteria is it ethical to worship a child-killing god such as Jehovah?
Another issue is the apparent disconnect between ancient people and modern Christians. During my time as a Christian, I very much got the sense that no real Christian would accept a cash payment to bow down and worship, say, a statue of the Buddha. No amount would suffice. Not even a gun to the head would do it, and many of these Christians would not even claim to have experienced anything supernatural in their entire lives. Yet ancient Jews worshiped other gods all the time, despite apparently witnessing their god perform miracles with their very own eyes. How can this possibly happen?
Jesus is like Pinocchio. He's the bastard son of a carpenter. And a liar. And he wishes he was real.
