Ok. They committed atrocities, and society frowned on it. In their eyes, they were justified. God has indeed ordered genocide, although I would not say anyone has been ordered to rape in the name of the Lord. Sometimes, genocide is the only option. Have we not committed genocide against the polio virus? It is "life", is it not, just a lesser form of it than we are. Why don't we allow Polio to live?
gb-we are offered a choice-salvation or damnation. To fail to make a choice is to choose damnation for we are not able, without God's help, to be in his presence.
You are rationalizing cruelty (and quite poorly at that). How would genocide be the "only option" for an omnipotent god? It is ludicrous to compare genocide to Polio vaccination. Your god sprang from the fevered imaginations of desert nomads millennia ago, and reflects their cruel, bloodthirsty nature.
Yet, it isn't justifiable, under any circumstances. It was ONLY justifiable because they committed them in the name of their religion. The problem is that many other religions do the same thing, and they can't all be right. If none of them are right, then those who were murdered died for nothing. It's a safe bet that MANY of them did. Yet, that is what we find in the bible. God orders women raped. I've already presented those passages, amongst others, for your perusal. Then, that is what theists learn as an option to settle their differences. It would also demonstrate god is a failure at his design that he has to wipe out the entire population of the planet, murdering the innocent for no reason at all. If you look at civilization today, we have been ruled by centuries of theism. Did the genocide work? Now, you're getting silly. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Q-your reference to Isaiah 13:15-16 was describing what was going to happen. No orders were given. This was in reference to Babylon's capture by the Medes and what the Medes did as they sacked Babylon. I agree that genocide committed in the name of religion is not justifiable without a command from God, but I have no way of knowing if such a command was given to these people. Stalin was an Atheist, and he is quoted as saying,"one death is a tragedy, ten million deaths is a statistic." I'm of the opinion that genocide is simply an option, just like suicide is an option. and yes, but I made you smilePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! gb-If you have to pee, you have to make some choices. One choice is to pee where the urge strikes or move to a toilet. Failure to make a choice means you pee where the urge strikes. When you were a child, that is what happened. Toilet training was learning to make a choice and then putting it into action. If you would like a biblical reference for why man deserves to burn in hell for eternity:Matthew 25:44-46 Then they also will answer Him, saying,'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?" Then He will answer them saying,"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me." And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. If you would like further references I'll be happy to give them.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Exactly, no one does. Commands for genocide don't even compute when one is supposed to be describing an all-loving god, hence the concept of such a command originating with a god seems ludicrous. And if god is so powerful as to be able to wipe out all of creation, why would he need to command humans to slaughter each other or risk eternal damnation themselves? It would seem the whole concept was originated by men in a time when medieval thinking ruled the world, not some holy scripture revealed by an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving entity. How could you possibly see genocide as an option when you've been commanded to "do unto others...?" Are you saying you would welcome yourself to be part of a genocide, if that's what was commanded? You would worship a god who sought your slaughter by other men?
You're assuming that love is all warm and cozy. Its usually a dark and consuming force and can be extremely selfish and destructive [to others].
Q-he tells men to do what he tells men to do to cause them to grow closer to God. and the answer to your second and third questions is simply yes.
He commands men to slaughter other men to be closer to him? And, you would welcome the gun that those men would use to murder you? So, if a complete stranger approaches you with a gun and said that god commanded him to kill you and your family, you would get down on your knees and thank god for your impending death and welcome the bullets?
If God had given me no such message, then no, I would fight against it. If on the other hand God had given me the message that I was to allow someone to kill me and my family, then I'd smile and die.
God does not work that way in the bible though, he simply commands men to slaughter other men, destroy their villages and cities, rape their women, kill the children and every living thing in sight to appease his will. He doesn't provide the courtesy of telling the victims to smile and wave while they die. Strange that he simply couldn't wink his eye and all those he wants dead would simply disappear from existence. I would suspect a few well-placed heart attacks would suffice over all the unnecessary blood, violence and gore.
