Comments on: God is a Dick - Part XXIII: Saul

By: The Evangelical Atheist » Blog Archive » God is a Dick - Part XXIV: David and Bathsheba

Sun, 18 Dec 2005 06:14:04 +0000

[…] So, how will god handle this? Saul was just impatient and merciful, and god withdrew his favor and tortured Saul until he died. Dave is a murderer and adulterer. Surely his fate will be equal or worse. […]

By: DUB

DUB — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 06:14:51 +0000

Actually, as far as His dickery goes, God was kinda clever in his application:

He sent an evil spirit to haunt Saul, leading Saul to hire David to keep the spirit away. Brilliant in a dickish sorta way.

Sort of a tangent, but I love how Saul chopped up the Oxen and sent the pieces out as a warning. Godfather-esque.

By: cubic rooms

cubic rooms — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 17:33:58 +0000

Just read XXIII again. It is my favorite so far.

By: Bob_3732

Bob_3732 — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 03:27:26 +0000

This is the story that started me on the path away from born-again Christianity and towards atheism. I was in a bible study on the two books of Samuel, and I read one of the passages referred to in I Am’s post. In 1 Samuel 15:3, God says to Saul: “Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” Pretty shocking to see a loving God commanding someone to commit genocide, even giving specific instructions to kill infants and children. Oh, and then God “fires” Saul for not doing a thorough enough job. Sure, Saul killed all the infants and nursing children, but he spared the king and some of the fattest sheep and oxen.

It wasn’t long before I found more commandments from God to commit genocide — the Midianites (Numbers 31: 1-35) and the inhabitants of Jericho (Joshua 6: 16-27), to name a few. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Samson in Judges 15: 14-16, and he kills 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. And that’s just the beginning of God’s murder rap sheet. You can also find commandments to commit rape (Deuteronomy 21: 10-14, Numbers 31: 25-40) and slavery (Leviticus 26: 39-46, Ephesians 6:5, Genesis 9: 25-28).

Um, thanks, but I think I’ll find a different moral compass. Hard to believe that barbaric accounts like these are still revered as the infallible word of God in the 21st century.

By: Mookie

Mookie — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 18:26:30 +0000

Thanks once again, I AM. This series has pointed out some very bloody and violent passages in the bible, even I didn’t think there were so many. And god sure is a wasteful fellow to have people kill ALL the livestock, not to mention the women and children he condones killing. How can people believe this stuff is about peace and love when all it talks about is people being cruel to each other at the behest of a genocidal deity?