Happy To Kill Children
Farrell Till jftill@midwest.net
Sat, 02 Jan 1999 00:06:17 -0800 (00915285977, 2.2.32.19990102080617.008bd524@midwest.net)
At 08:12 AM 1/1/99 +0000, J Michael wrote:
>M.McGill wrote in message ...
>>MCGILL
>>"Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the
>>stones." (Psalm 137:9, KJV)
>
>>Ask a Christian friend whether he or she should feel happy to dash a child
>>against the rocks. Your friend will most likely stare at you in horror,
>much
>>less believe this idea exists in their sacred Bible.
>
>BEREAN
>This verse isn't describing a Christian, but someone taking vengeance on
>Babylon/Edom for their wickedness. It's part of the cry of Israel when they
>were taken into captivity for 70 years. They heard the Babylonians mock
>them, "rase it rase it" which means to destroy, in this case Jerusalem, so
>they wanted revenge.
TILL
Certainly they wanted revenge. That's a simple matter of human nature, but
the issue is not whether the Judeans acted according to human nature in
their attitude toward the Babylonians but whether the attitude expressed in
this psalm is consistent with the belief that the Bible in its entirety was
inspired by a god who is morally perfect. If this is the case, then why
would this morally perfect god have inspired the writer of this psalm to put
a thought like this into the "word of God"?
BEREAN
> It isnt unusual for the children to be destroyed as
>well in the old testament
TILL
No, it wasn't at all unusual, because these were barbaric times. What is
unusual are the people like you who are allegedly followers of a morally
perfect religion but still try to justify what barbaric people living in
barbaric times wrote in their religious writings.
BEREAN
>because they only grow up to be like their fathers,
TILL
Isn't that pretty well true in all societies in all eras? So why should it
be considered right to kill babies in ancient times to keep them from
growing up "to be like their fathers" but wrong today to do the same? Don't
you think that in a headhunting society the children will grow up to be like
their fathers and think that headhunting is the thing to do? So would it be
right to kill these children to keep them from growing up to be like their
fathers? If you can't agree that it would be right to do this today, then
please explain to us what process of reasoning you used to justify the
practice of killing children in ancient times so that they wouldn't grow up
to be like their fathers.
BEREAN
>even to the third and fourth generation, as the Bible describes.
TILL
Well, I believe that your god Yahweh said that he would visit the iniquities
of the fathers upon the third and fourth generations (Ex. 20:5), but the
issue is whether it is right to do this. Please explain to us the reasoning
you used to develop the attitude of respect and admiration that you
apparently have for a god who would punish the third and fourth generations
for something that had been done by their ancestors.
BEREAN
>Read Isaiah 59.
>
TILL
I have read it, so what is your point? This chapter contains the rantings
of a prophet who thought that there was a god named Yahweh who abandoned
people who didn't live according to the prophet's standards. Why should I
be impressed with what this chapter says?
TILL
Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net
Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net