Freethought & Rationalism Archive

nogods4me · 09-24-2001, 08:07 AM

After a debate with a theist friend of mine he suggested that I was misintrpeting the bible because I said it demonstrated how cruel god was. That got me to thinking about the many instances of cruelty in the bible and I thought I would ask all of you for your favorite "verse of cruelty", and since I brought it up here is mine:

Quote:

2 Kings 2
23
And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
24
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
25
And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria

even Stephen King can't match that!

[ September 24, 2001: Message edited by: nogods4me ]

Someone7 · 09-24-2001, 08:34 AM

Yeah, I like the stuff in the bible where Yahweh personally kills little kids, instead of having his hitmen do it for him.

To punish David for having Uriah killed, Yahweh kills David's newborn son. What a just deity Yahweh is, the embodiment of justice and fairness (or maybe abortion and infanticide really aren't a problem for Yahweh, but then why use it as punishment?).

2 Samuel 12:15, 18 - And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick...And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

Jebus · 09-24-2001, 08:40 AM

There are many instances like this in the Hebrew Bible. Unfortunately, many verses such as these inspire people to commit the same acts. They think it's somehow holy because it's in the Bible.

handelsskole · 09-24-2001, 08:53 AM

Personally I think no verses can match Mark 9, 43- 48 or Matthew 25, 31- 46. A lot about eternal suffering...

That part in the the old testament (not shure about the verse) where the people are forced to eat shit and dring pie is not that bad either...

Doc B. · 09-24-2001, 05:03 PM

So do you believe in God?, Whats the point?

Justus · 09-24-2001, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Doc B.:
<STRONG>So do you believe in God?, Whats the point?</STRONG>

I Do Not believe in Yahweh ... Jehovah ... Allah or The Triune God .... However I actually enjoy interacting with people and find that sharing ideas, impressions, opinions and experiences is enjoyable. Discussing biblical text and how others react to it is even sometimes educational.

So I must ask and your point is ?????

Justus · 09-24-2001, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by nogods4me:
<STRONG>After a debate with a theist friend of mine he suggested that I was misintrpeting the bible because I said it demonstrated how cruel god was. That got me to thinking about the many instances of cruelty in the bible and I thought I would ask all of you for your favorite "verse of cruelty", and since I brought it up here is mine:

even Stephen King can't match that!

[ September 24, 2001: Message edited by: nogods4me ]</STRONG>

There are many verses and ideas that disgust and sadden me but I am even more affected by the (to me) seemingly lack of compassion and understanding that Theists take to justify the qualities they have attributed to their diety ...

Four examples I find particular distasteful are Jepathah's daughter (Judges 11: 29-40) Uzzah (2-Samuel 6 1 - 10) King David's appeasment of the Gibeonites (2-Samuel 21:1 - -9) actually this is depressing me so I will stop at three... sorry and you can just say the whole righteous punishment ( to me revenge) message that underlays the new testment

Emperor of the Universe · 09-25-2001, 04:04 AM

Face it: Christianity is insanity. Thats why I am a fan of the term "Christinsanity". The rest of you probably should be, too. All religions are a form of mental illness, but few are anywhere near as dangerous and bad as that propagated by the Cult of Christ. IMHO, nothing demonstates this better than the cruelty of the OT Hebrews. Unlike many other Bible claims, which are highly dubious, wildly exagerated, innacurately recorded, or flat out false, it is safe to assume that the ancient Hebrews really did kill people in roughly the same manner as the Bible describes (such actions were common in the ancient world). Shit like that really happened! And Christians attempt to justify it. They attempt to justify some of the most horrific, evil actions that human beings were capable of performing. Its sickening. Makes me want to just haul off and punch them in the face.

BTW, my personal favorite for Biblical insanity is 1 Samuel 18:25-27. Bible "hero" David and his crew of homicidal maniacs commit borderline necrophilia by sexually abuse two hundred corpes - they kill a bunch of Philistines, circumcise them, and give their foreskins to king Saul. Quite disgusting.

fromdownunder · 09-25-2001, 06:19 AM

I tend to agree with nogods4me that Elisha and the teddy bears picnic is right up there, but I also have a soft spot for Psalm 137:9

"Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones"

Norm

Mike Rosoft · 09-25-2001, 08:51 AM

One of my favourite Biblical cruelties is 1 Samuel 15:2-3:

Thus says the LORD of hosts, "I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."

There is only one way to call this: genocide.

Mike Rosoft

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09-24-2001, 08:34 AM	#2
Someone7 Banned Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Florida Posts: 376	Yeah, I like the stuff in the bible where Yahweh personally kills little kids, instead of having his hitmen do it for him. To punish David for having Uriah killed, Yahweh kills David's newborn son. What a just deity Yahweh is, the embodiment of justice and fairness (or maybe abortion and infanticide really aren't a problem for Yahweh, but then why use it as punishment?). 2 Samuel 12:15, 18 - And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick...And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

09-24-2001, 08:40 AM	#3
Jebus Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Connecticut Posts: 43	There are many instances like this in the Hebrew Bible. Unfortunately, many verses such as these inspire people to commit the same acts. They think it's somehow holy because it's in the Bible.

09-24-2001, 08:53 AM	#4
handelsskole Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 17	Personally I think no verses can match Mark 9, 43- 48 or Matthew 25, 31- 46. A lot about eternal suffering... That part in the the old testament (not shure about the verse) where the people are forced to eat shit and dring pie is not that bad either...

09-24-2001, 05:03 PM	#5
Doc B. New Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2	So do you believe in God?, Whats the point?

09-25-2001, 04:04 AM	#8
Emperor of the Universe Banned Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 51	Face it: Christianity is insanity. Thats why I am a fan of the term "Christinsanity". The rest of you probably should be, too. All religions are a form of mental illness, but few are anywhere near as dangerous and bad as that propagated by the Cult of Christ. IMHO, nothing demonstates this better than the cruelty of the OT Hebrews. Unlike many other Bible claims, which are highly dubious, wildly exagerated, innacurately recorded, or flat out false, it is safe to assume that the ancient Hebrews really did kill people in roughly the same manner as the Bible describes (such actions were common in the ancient world). Shit like that really happened! And Christians attempt to justify it. They attempt to justify some of the most horrific, evil actions that human beings were capable of performing. Its sickening. Makes me want to just haul off and punch them in the face. BTW, my personal favorite for Biblical insanity is 1 Samuel 18:25-27. Bible "hero" David and his crew of homicidal maniacs commit borderline necrophilia by sexually abuse two hundred corpes - they kill a bunch of Philistines, circumcise them, and give their foreskins to king Saul. Quite disgusting.

09-25-2001, 06:19 AM	#9
fromdownunder Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Lara, Victoria, Australia Posts: 2,780	I tend to agree with nogods4me that Elisha and the teddy bears picnic is right up there, but I also have a soft spot for Psalm 137:9 "Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones" Norm

09-25-2001, 08:51 AM	#10
Mike Rosoft Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Posts: 965	One of my favourite Biblical cruelties is 1 Samuel 15:2-3: Thus says the LORD of hosts, "I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." There is only one way to call this: genocide. Mike Rosoft

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