Pastors and priests tell us about the loving God of the Bible. How he brutally sacrificed his only son to demonstrate his undying love for creation. We are told God is peace, compassion, and of course love.
You might think given these qualities and the ability to influence the great prophets of the ages he might have inspired great moral teachings. But have a look at some of the laws the old testament seers enacted:
“The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has.” – Joshua 7:15
“… sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you.” – Kings 13:1-2
“You shall be fuel for the fire, your blood shall flow throughout the land. You shall not be remembered.” – Ezekiel 21:33-37
“Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God.” – Deuteronomy 13:13-19
“Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.” – Judges 21:10-2
“Now kill all the boys and all the women who have slept with a man. Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves.” – Numbers 31:7-18
“If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry her.” – Deuteronomy 22:28-29
“You may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you.” – Leviticus 25:44-46
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are.” – Exodus 21:7-11
“If the slave survives a beating for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property.” - Exodus 21:20-21
“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.” - Ephesians 6:5
“Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death.” - Deuteronomy 17:12
“You should not let a sorceress live.” - Exodus 22:17
“If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed.” - Leviticus 20:13
“.. a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death.” - Leviticus 20:27
“Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death.” - Exodus 21:15
Is this what an all loving God inspires?
Is this the pinnacle of morality?
Does anyone seriously believe this stuff?
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The Australian Christian Lobby are lying again. This time they are mischaracterising the Atheist Foundation of Australia’s “No Religion” campaign by stating (emphasis mine): “While the census data is rightly used to assist the government to plan for services and infrastructure, other groups, including some atheists, are seeking to push their agendas by encouraging people [...]
The excellent British broadcaster BBC 4 recently aired a fascinating program called “The Medieval Mind” which explores the philosophy, theology, and predominate thinking of the dark ages. The first episode deals with knowledge and revealed numerous intriguing insights into how the medieval mind determined epistemological truths. Monks, priests, and other godly people were in possession [...]
I flagged this video a few days ago, but only watched it this evening. It’s is not often we see ex-muslims speaking out against the “religion of peace”. What these people have done is extraordinary and brave given the fundamentalists attraction to extreme violence.
I want a god whose ultimate goals which do not necessitate the creation of mysterious suffering and death. I want a god who doesn’t violate causation by causing things to begin to exist from nothing in the absence of time. I want a god who does not give us “free will” then punishes us for [...]
“Atheism 2.0” is a 20 minute TED presentation by Alain de Botton in which he proposes a new approach to evangelising atheism. Alain suggests (apparently without evidence) that we have “secularised badly” and we should sift through the rituals, traditions, and behaviours of religion to identify and adopt their efficient mechanisms. “I have come here [...]
Atheists are often told by believers to read the Bible and it will all become clear. Trouble is, many of us have tried that and it doesn’t seem to have helped. Take these verses for example: This does not sound like a great night out to me. “But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master [...]
In his book “Is Religion Dangerous?” Keith Ward makes the statement: “The only reasonable beliefs are those that can be confirmed by the methods of science, by public observation, measurement, and experiment is self-refuting.” Materialism, he says, is “entirely dissolved by quantum physics”, and “consciousness resists translation into purely physical terms”. “If truth, beauty, and [...]
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