Alternatively titled: Liam Neeson finds Yahweh and Kills him Faster than an Unnamed Vaguely European Bad Guy, to Save his Daughter
Ordinarily the barbarism of ancient times frightens modern people of today. Tales of Vikings or other war-like cultures pillaging and plundering and raping everywhere they went sound scary. The idea that just a few centuries ago we were still so obtuse and cruel as a species as to carry out such horrific acts is indeed a frightening mirror to hold up, as is the fact that we still have a long way to go because such acts still happen even in our modern world (though with far less frequency given our population).
We live in a world where the underground human trafficking trade, the sex slave trade, is an illegal and shady business that most people want stopped. Although it receives far too little media attention egregious human rights violations occur all over the world and end with people, often children, being sold into slavery. Most decent folk understand that owning another human being, whether you’re planning to derive pleasure or labor out of them, is an absolutely sickening and evil thing to do. We know this because we ourselves would never want to be taken as slaves and because the injustice of such slavery has been burned into our unconscious by images and tales of slavery in the not-too-distant past.
So where are we going with this? Well the Bible of course.
Along with explicitly supporting owning other people as property and being able to beat them severely (EXODUS 21) the Bible, on numerous occasions, permits the Israelites to take sex slaves as spoils of war. It is bad enough and would be enough for one post, just to talk about slavery by itself, how silly it is that people think a perfect God with perfect morals who had just delivered his chosen people out of slavery would turn around and tell Moses that the Israelites were allowed to purchase, keep, beat, and inherit slaves.
Disturbingly though these rules are grossly disproportionate when they come to female slaves. The Bible is easily one of the most anti-human collection of documents ever compiled but it is particularly cruel to women. And we would expect it to be, I suppose, given that it was written by ancient people ignorant of the benefits of a society where women were equals, not property or chattle.
A Father was allowed to sell his daughter into slavery and if she didn’t ‘please’ her Master there were consequences – this proposed direct from the Mouth of God in Exodus 21. This isn’t even as pleasant as something like an arranged marriage, its an actual form of servitude with the sexual part heavily implied.
But of course the implications of Exodus 21 are not the only instance of sex slavery in the Bible. We talked, in the last post, about a Concubine, a subservient mistress brow beaten into following after her master only to be betrayed by him when he has her raped and later cuts her up into tiny pieces. In Deuteronomy 20 Yahweh, the jealous and warlike storm god of the Israelites, sets up some rules for going to war.
Of particular cruelty in the prior verses is not just the seizure of women and children to be used as slaves but the latter rule that other civilizations, others cultures, were simply to be wiped out. And of course we have the perverse equivalence of PEACE and SLAVERY offered at the beginning, that if anyone surrendered to the Israelites they were to be taken as slaves and live in peace with them. I don’t see anyway that a modern Christian, without compromising their morality rather horribly and showing themselves to be the very thing they revile (moral relativists) could defend this. It is an indefensibly cruel doctrine to role up to the gate of some city you want to conquer and if they resist to murder them all and take their children and women as slaves. And even more wicked to slaughter everyone, children included, as was often the case in the Old Testament, full and complete genocide complete with the dehumanization that comes with notions of absolute superiority – calling the others wicked, inhuman, evil, etc, to excuse your own wicked and inexcusably evil solution (extermination).
It makes my stomach churn to think of this stuff buried at the center of the Bible, all of it condoned by the Biblical God, lurking in the spaces that pastors, preachers and Sunday school teachers avoid at all costs. Many adult Christians know this stuff is in there and choose to ignore it, when its brought up they change the subject or say “it was a different time, the Israelites had to defend themselves.”
Defend themselves? Fuck right off. When the Israelites “defended” themselves against the Amalekites they killed everyone down to the last INFANT and slaughtered the animals as well.
In Deuteronomy 21 further rules for war are set up. In this chapter it is explained that when you go in and slaughter all the men and win the day any woman who strikes your fancy can be your wife. There is no consent involved as already explained in Deuteronomy 20 women and children taken in this way are spoils of war, God has given them over to you to do with as you wish. The context is quite clear, you can take a female sex slave from any nation or city you conquer.
In Numbers 31 the great and righteous leader Moses, one of the most famous men in the Bible, shows that he adheres to Deuteronomy 20 and 21. After a battle with the Midianites his soldiers have managed to show some restraint for they return home with women and children. Moses scolds them telling them they should have killed the women for they were among those tempting the children of God away from the way of Yahweh. He then instructs the soldiers to kill all the young boys but to check the women to see if any of them are virgins, they are then to murder the non-virgins and keep as sex slaves all the virgins.
This is Biblical morality folks, please don’t take my word for it, go and actually sit down and read your Bibles. This fucking book wasn’t written under the inspiration of a real actual perfect God. Don’t kid yourselves, stop being deceived by apologists, preachers and your own absurd mental gymnastics and actually judge the text. The Bible is the work of ancient people who didn’t have a good grasp on ethics or morality, who didn’t have a good grasp on how the world works or the Universe. Why are you holding up this book filled with immoral horseshit like this as if it is the most morally righteous book on the planet?
And if your idea of righteousness is as evil as the Biblical one than I happily condemn you as being evil. Anyone who thinks slavery, sex slavery and conquest in which every last civilian child is brutally killed, is EVER okay can go fuck themselves. Anyone who defends this horseshit deserves scorn.
To those who actually read these passages and find themselves having a dilemma, as I once did reading the Bible, who find doubts swirling in their minds, I say this: You don’t need this book and you are better than the Bible ever gives you credit for. Do not fear, for any God who would punish doubters is not worth worship and almost certainly an invention of twisted human minds. Be free to doubt for doubt is the first step toward the truth and without doubt you are locked into whatever you currently believe with no freedom to think.
Except for being told by someone else, or being misled about the content of the Bible, why would you believe it had anything to do with a God:
Fuck the Bible 
“When the Israelites “defended” themselves against the Amalekites they killed everyone down to the last INFANT and slaughtered the animals as well.”
Cause it would have happened to them if they hadn’t done it first.
Isn’t okay for a nation to defend themselves, even after being constantly harassed and taken over by other cultures? Don’t the Israelites have the right to fight for their freedom? That’s war for you. God didn’t create it, but He uses war for His own good.
People back then had slaves. That’s how it was. God could have said no, but they would have ignored Him. Therefore, God gave them guidelines for the protection of slaves. I know it is not okay, but I didn’t live back then. Back then women probably had NO rights, and were married off at a young age. God did not create that culture. He worked with it, though. And He is not responsible for the sins Moses committed.
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An act of genocide cannot be defended nor can an act of genocide ever be excused by calling it “self-defense”. Genocide is probably the worst evil human beings can carry out, it is the extermination of an entire group of people down to the last child.
“God did not create that culture.”
God did not write or inspire any of the Bible either. God does not exist. But in the Biblical view yes God DOES create this culture, including these rules for slavery, war and sex slavery.
Are you admitting that God never condoned slavery and genocide and that the Bible is wrong? That God never said the things the Bible says he did?
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Titen, genocide can be defended it if was in self-defense. Or retaliation. That’s war for you. It can be defended if the populace were evil.
Yes, God inspired most of the bible, but some of it is history recorded. So the bad stuff was recorded as well as the good. God does not condone slavery. The stuff going on today concerning sex trafficking and the African American slave trade hundreds of years ago was not condoned by God. But we’re talking thousands of years ago. Things were different. The world was a different place.
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The Jews were considered evil by the Nazis. That’s war for you. Congratulations on being on the side of evil, genocide, and the slaughtering of children. You deserve to feel ashamed of yourself.
“God does not condone slavery”
Go read EXODUS 21 where God EXPLICITLY CONDONES SLAVERY and come back and tell me if that is actually God saying those things or if the Bible is lying. Those are your choices.
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Slavery in that time was seen differently than it is today. In that period, slavery was a result of heavy debt. To employ a destitute person was seen as a benevolent act, as it provided food and shelter, and was only for a limited time. Some slaves chose to remain slaves permanently as it provided security. If a poor family couldn’t afford the cost of a wedding, they might sell a daughter as a slave, as they would have had an extra mouth to feed, and stuff did not come easily in those days. The girl had to be married off in those days.
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You’ve completely ignored the point and haven’t answered my question. Try again.
In the Bible God condones slavery, not merely for people in debt, read Exodus 21 and the passages I talk about in this post. We’re talking about people being beaten, used as involuntary labor, and taken as spoils of war and sex slaves. That is evil and according to the Bible those directions were given to Moses and the Israelites by God himself.
So you have two choices. Either the Bible is mistaken/lying when it says God condones these things OR God does condone them and is therefore evil.
Which is it? Is the God you serve in favor of slavery OR is it all a mistake made by the ancient Israelites putting words into the mouth of God when he said no such thing?
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Titen,
Yes, God condones slavery, but NOT THE SLAVERY you’re thinking of. You’re thinking of people who are kidnapped against their will and forced to serve for no money, and are cruelly looked after. Or regarded as property. This is not the slavery God condones. I already explained in the last comment how people saw slavery as a sort of indentured servitude. People were told to care for their slaves, and treat them fairly, or be judged by God. God did not say beat your slaves, but He is in favor of discipline, which is something any teacher/boss/manager/parent should do. I’m not saying that your boss has the right to whip you, but he should hold you accountable if you do something illegal. Parents should discipline their children and stop trying to be their friend. People NEED to respect those in authority. Slavery in the time of Exodus was a way of paying someone back, or a form of employment. Again, you have misinterpreted the bible. God is against cruelty. And remember, just because someone in the bible makes someone their sex slave, does not mean God condones that behavior. As for war slaves, well, that’s war. I bet the other side was worse to those they captured in battle. And just so you know, God is against rape. People get raped in the bible, but God never commands it. I know He has rightly dealt with all rapists either in this life or the next.
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“And when the Lord your God lets you take the city, you must kill all the men in it. 14 But you may take for yourselves the women, the children, the cattle, and everything else in the city. You may use all these things. The Lord your God has given these things to you.” – Deuteronomy 20:13-14
Go and read your Bible, you still haven’t. Exodus 21 and the other passages are QUITE clear that slavery, in regards to non-Jews, IS OWNING PEOPLE AS PROPERTY, such that they can not go free, must obey you and CAN BE BEATEN. That is the definition of what I think of when I think of slavery. They can even be inherited, as in when you die your slaves don’t go free they get passed on to your kids.
How long are you going to go without actually reading your Bible? Are you that much of a coward that you won’t actually read the book YOU BELIEVE IS THE WORD OF GOD? Or is it that you refuse to be honest about what it actually says?
“God is against cruelty.”
Fucking unbelievable. There is nothing more cruel than burning people in Hell for all eternity, yet God is in favor of doing this. And a thousand and one other examples of God’s cruelty in the Bible… how many examples of God doing something good can you name? Care to compare that list to when he does or condones something cruel?
“Slavery in the time of Exodus was a way of paying someone back, or a form of employment.”
Wrong. Read your Bible. Hebrew Indentured Servants have laws set up separate from foreign slaves purchased from other nations and taken as spoils of war.
“does not mean God condones that behavior”
Wrong. Read your Bible. The Law of Moses that records these things, according to the Bible, comes from God himself. Exodus 21 is DIRECT QUOTATION FROM GOD’S MOUTH IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WERE GIVEN, ONE CHAPTER LATER. Go read Exodus 21 and answer my question properly.
Did God really say to Moses that the Israelites should keep slaves and be allowed to beat them? Did God, who was with the Israelites in every battle hand over to them ripe virgin women as plunder? Because THAT is what the Bible SAYS.
Not only are you MISREPRESENTING the Bible, you’ve failed to even read the damn thing.
Are you impossibly ignorant, horribly dishonest, or just disgustingly immoral?
“I bet the other side was worse to those they captured in battle.”
Irrelevant horseshit. We’re talking about sex slavery, MASS RAPE. And your defense is the other side was worse? And of course the sex slavery was IF they weren’t commanded to wipe out every last man woman and child. Remember Numbers 31, where Moses, a man who spoke to God, righteous and upright, told the Israelites to murder the boys but keep young virgins FOR THEMSELVES.
“but God never commands it.”
Wrong. There is NO Bible verse condemning rape as morally wrong. NONE. The only laws about rape are 1) A rapist can pay the Father of his victim for the inconvenience of taking his daughters only thing of worth (virginity) and then gets to MARRY HER. and 2) If a woman who is betrothed to another man is raped and does not cry out she is to be stoned to death.
So the only laws in the Bible about rape do nothing to condemn it and actually make things far worse for the victim.
I am not approving any more comments unless they reflect that you have actually read your Bible and are prepared for an honest discussion of what it says.
.
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“It has NOW been explained to you,” is what I meant to say in the last paragraph. Not, “It has not been explained to you.” I failed to catch that error while I proofread.
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I’m not going to bother getting bogged down in the apologetics of slavery. Needless to say you misunderstand the historic and cultural context of these Biblical passages quite a bit and still haven’t come to terms with the fucked up realization that a God you consider perfect who created billions of dazzling perplexing galaxies also thinks human beings should own other people as property for life, be able to beat them severely and yes take them as sex slaves.
I’m not approving your comment because its apologetic horseshit that avoids any of the points I was making and shows that you are once again either willfully ignorant, horribly dishonest or just horribly immoral yourself. Usually I would say willfully ignorant but your mumbo jumbo suggests that you are simply an immoral person with no sense of what you’re actually talking about and how horrific it is.
You seem to have no empathy at all but lot’s groveling to perform for the wicked God you seem perfectly comfortable serving. To coddle him behind a shield of obfuscated gobbledygook that avoids the entire point.
I get it. You think that people should be allowed, morally, to own other human beings as property and be physically abusive to them, pass them on as property, marry them off for life. People should be able to slaughter people if God says so and take captive women as wives. You are a fundamentally immoral and evil person for your beliefs, gut-wrenchingly sick. I pull no punches there and its an easy condemnation to level because of how fucking obvious it is to anyone with a modicum of empathy and understanding to condemn slavery, sex slavery, genocide and those who want think such things have a proper righteous ad holy context. It is never okay to keep slaves. It is never okay to murder a group of people down to the last child. It is not okay to take, as a spoil of war, some girl whose parents you’ve just slaughtered, and force her to be your wife.
You think these things are all fine as long as God says so. Message received, you’re as evil as your God is.
Dishonest mental gymnastics will not be approved, nor will you thinking that slavery is okay, if you want to embarrass yourself by showing that you’re an immoral and bad person do so on your own blog.
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Unbelievably cruel. Thank you for this wisdom.
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