Termites and Caananites
Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Reality and Love Biblically-Justified Genocide.
Christian CADRE (Colligation of Apologetics Debate Research & Evangelism) (sic) show us that old fashioned good-time fire and brimstone love of their old testament god:
Knowing full well that some atheist will accuse me of justifying genocide… they accuse Christians of being the ones who are unable to see nuances in positions, a total disregard of the reasoning that the destruction of entire groupings of people may be morally acceptable when taking all factors into account shows a lack of careful thought that it is appalling.
I just love that [k]nowing full well that some atheist will accuse me of justifying genocide
bit.
Well, yes one likely will, because you are. It’s exactly this sort of rationalisation that gives religious terrorists the impetus and perceived justification for them to do what they do (or attempt to do).
Here’s the meat (after a bunch of scripture and some making shit up to justify it all):
Thus, contrary to the assertion of skeptics, the destruction of the Caananites was not an evil. It was the Canaanites who were evil, and it was the judgment of God through the Israelites on the Caananites in those cities were led to their destruction. We can be confident that the people destroyed were irredeemably wicked and unrighteous. We can be confident that there were no righteous people among those destroyed.
Can’t you just feel the certainty, the absolutism that his chosen scripture is such a perfect record of history? There’s no doubt in this idiot’s mind that he might be wrong for taking that dreaded tome as a literal record, nor one shred of compassion, nary a jot of humanity for the victims of this genocide (whether it actually happened or not).
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I despise magical thinking.
/hattip to Steven Carr in his comment on Debunking Christianity.
October 8th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Excellent post.
November 8th, 2007 at 3:31 am
Glad I was able to amuse you. Being the “idiot” who wrote the CADRE piece, I have read your notes with interest. I guess I find your piece to be the usual knee-jerk reaction that occurs when someone attempts to really work through a difficult issue that can’t be reduced to a bumper-sticker slogan. Oh well.
P.S. I didn’t make any of it up.
November 15th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
@BK: oh, you misread me: you didn’t amuse me, you scared me.
Admittedly, I haven’t worked though the issue of genocide from a philosophical standpoint, and chosen some arbitrary ancient magical text and taken it as literally and/or historically accurate, as the basis of my premisses and conclusions. Perhaps if I did it the same way with, say, the Koran, I might come to the same sort of conclusion you did.
But then I don’t temper how I look at reality based on millenia old stories from primitive desert nomads. To me, genocide isn’t justifiable, especially when you do it with appeals to stories about invisible magic sky men who, seemingly, can do no wrong.
November 15th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Oh, that’s okay. I’ve read a few of your blog entries and you scare me to.
I expect that it you really thought it through, you might come to the conclusion that a belief in Christianity makes one less suseptible to killing innocent people than the belief that you apparently hold which is that there is no consequence in any ultimate way to killing anyone. Personally, I’m always more afraid of people like you than anyone Christian.
November 15th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Why would you assume that I would come to the conclusion that christianity makes one less susceptible to killing? I’ve read your scripture: there are plenty of injunctions to kill, usually as the only punishment for some kind of perceived “crime” (e.g. blasphemy, homosexuality, prostitution). I have no scripture telling me who I should kill, nor for what reasons I should think others should die.
Your supposition that I think there are no consequences to killing someone merely shows your ignorance about whatever ideas you think I hold, and the culture I live in, my upbringing, my feelings towards others, or anything else about me. There are plenty of consequences, just not supposedly divinely mandated ones. Which fetid arse did you pull this gem of ignorance out of?
And I don’t see why you should be afraid of me, I don’t have a special magic book telling me to kill you, telling me that it’s right to kill you. Unfortunately, I don’t any confidence in the reciprocal being true.
November 15th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Unfortunately, I don’t any confidence in the reciprocal being true.
If you don’t, then that just confirms that you really are just talking without knowledge. Thanks for the exchange.
November 15th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
So you’ve you’ve decided to disobey your god and prophets and ignore the injunction of Leviticus 24:16? How quaint. Shall I remind you of it?
November 16th, 2007 at 3:55 am
Let’s see, what did I say? Oh yeah, I said that your prior post confirmed “that you really are just talking without knowledge.” This latest post only displays your ignorance of the Bible more fully. Really, quoting scripture without context is simply going to make people who understand Christianity laugh.
November 16th, 2007 at 9:23 am
OK, let’s look at Lev 24 in context, shall we? The first 4 verses say how to treat a lamp. The next 5 explain how and why to make bread. The rest of the chapter deals with the case of an Egyptian blasphemer, the law thereof, and how to punish him. How the hell is that “out of context”? A typical response from an apologist, although it never stops your ilk from being guilty of the same. Hell, even in your original article, you justify the slaughter of an entire people based on just (cherry picked) 4 verses.
But I guess, because you “understand” christianity, you’re in a better position? So who are those who really understand christianity, then? Is it baptists, presbyterians, pentacostalists, the puritans, mormons, catholics, quakers, shakers, JWs, gnostics, the anabaptists, the amish, mennonites etc. etc. etc.
Or, is it as I suspect, just your particular flavour?
Don’t make me laugh.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Can you exegete some more verses for me? Please? This is entertaining.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
I’m not the one with the “creative” interpretations… sorry, I should call it by it’s proper title: apologetics.
November 16th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
You’re right. You have a very flat interpretation which fails to take into account the context of the verse. We call that “typical atheist, substanceless rhetoric” on my side of the aisle. But we’re merely cat-fighting. I am leaving and won’t be responding again no matter how outrageous your comment because I expect that you are set in your ways and no one will ever read this but you. Good day.
November 17th, 2007 at 2:34 am
My “flat”, as you call it, interpretation is usually called “literal” by those on the christian bench that seek to criticise my position. You may call it “typical atheist, substanceless (sic) rhetoric” but you fail to correct me, which counts as none of:
I can then only assume, by your previous response (or lack of further) that CADRE is ceasing business, seeing as the “ADRE” is seemingly meaningless. (Acts 17:2-3… I’m sure you know it well).
How interesting.
Should you find this reply suitably “outrageous” enough to elicit a response (which I doubt it will considering the vehemence of your latest statement, but I’m happy to be proven wrong) then I look forward to any edification that you feel necessary.