God the tyrant

[Athena_Ritashe]

I sent this email as a response to a youtube video. I thought you might enjoy it, respond as you please.

This is a response to your video called "Infinite punishment for "finite" sins?"

First of all i will be clear that I am an atheist and do not believe a God exists. But I shall set that consideration aside for this email. I am asking this based on the assumption that the God of the Bible exists and influences the affairs of man. Based on your video you are stating that humans deserves eternal punishment because God is perfect and any misdeed offends his holiness. I, and many many others, have a problem with this. Now... if God was indeed perfect I would not have a problem with the concept of hell. If God was indeed holy and without flaw then God giving just punishment for my actions would be consistent. However there are lists of God's atrocities, one is here: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/atrocity.html directly from the bible. One of the most poignant verses is the sacrifice Jephthah made to God: (found in Judges 11: 30-40)

30And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,

31Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

32So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

33And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

34And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

35And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.

36And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

37And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.

38And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

39And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,

40That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

This girl was sacrificed to God. Blameless, innocent, and sacrificed for God granting victory to the Isrealites. Why was she killed? Doesn't God only kill the guilty? The total calculated death toll from the wrath of God is 2,391,421, but this does not include the flood, the first born of Egypt or Soddom and Gomorrah.

I can anticipate your response: It is the wrath of God, when God does it is due to a sense of justice. But I ask you: what is the standard? You say that killing people is against the ten commandments, and evil when man does it. But when God does it, it is okay. When God tells a man to commit murder it is ok too. The ancient Isrealites did it, why not kill people in the name of God now? The Muslims are keeping the tradition.

Where is the line? If God is perfect and can kill then why not man? You see the message is that killing when done in the name of God is ok, and that atrocities are acceptable. What is the standard? Where is your moral absolute? Where is your moral objectivity?

Either God is perfect because he meets the standard, or he is perfect because he says he is perfect. But as far as the Bible is concerned God doesn't have a standard, he just does it because he wants to. Its ok because he said so, and God doesn't have to play by any rules. What makes him any different then a tyrant or a dictator? A tyrant can do as he pleases, just as God can.

Thank God there is no God.  

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

I agree, and I have yet to hear a theist answer this question legitimately, without giving a copout response. I have similar qualms with the Judeo-Christian idea of "God" and I'm planning another read-through of the Bible so that I can compile a laundry list of them.

 

[migoto-kami]

I would love to hear the response to your message. Hypocrisy such as this is the main reason why I began to reject Christianity. I'm glad that other people see these contradictions too.  

[[-Erik-]]

Amazing the quantity of flaws religion has.

 

[MahouTragicQueen]

A Jew told me that "sacrifice" had to mean give her to the temple as a priestess/nun type thing because human sacrifice is against the 613 Commandments, but it sure sounds like he killed her. neutral  

[Lordress Viper]

Religious people who follow the bible don't fully understand what they're worshipping... This God of their's is a tyrant... I would love to see them realize what they've been following for so long... You know a few friends and I had a discussion on how God was a tyrant the other day. We were all pretty mad about how religious people love and adore this non-existent God who commits treachery in the faces of his worshippers. I was perhaps the most upset because my boyfriend is religious and practically giving his body and soul to this thing that never existed... stare  

[=X-Sparker + AquaKiller=]

indeed, their god does whatever he wants to, whenever and wherever he wants to.
He is no different from a 12-months old baby with exquisite knowledge on how to kill people.