How can a clergyman badmouth God so ?

        Like Jefferson, I have the highest appreciation for much that is wonderful in the bible, but rather than allow the baby to be thrown out with the dirty bath water, so to speak, I think it behooves those who want to save and promote what is good and noble in the bible to agree with those who recognize what is not good and noble in that same bible and do what we all do with dirty bath water once we are through with it, i.e. get rid of it.
        If only more Christian clergy took this approach, then instead of driving intelligent, well-informed "free-thinkers" away from "god", more of them might come to share not just Thomas Jefferson's appreciation of Jesus of Nazareth, whose liberal teaching I feature of LiberalsLikeJesus.Org , but even of the noble, humble, loving, compassionate god of the Hebrew bible, to whom I devote the many pages of godvsgreed.html.

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: . . .  they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

Is the Bible Hate Literature ?

        "The Canadian parliament is due to discuss bill C-250 ( in 2004 )  which outlaws hate speech, and includes a provision protecting gay people from hate speech.  This has resulted in a burst of sudden and furious activity by the religious in Canada, who are alarmed that perhaps reading hateful passages from the Bible might suddenly be outlawed, this in spite of the fact that the framers of the law have offered to make an exemption allowing anyone to speak hatefully, such as a minister or priest or preacher, provided that they can back up that hateful remark with a choice verse from the Bible.  Making an exemption for the hatred of the Bible and giving ministers the free right to promote hatred and inequality seems like a giant loop hole and a real generous offer, but this has not been enough to satisfy the religious types in Canada, who are now lobbying hard to defeat the whole hate speech law, since apparently they are worried that some judge might decide that perhaps a Bible quote is not a sufficient fig leaf and try to nail some 'sincere Christian'.
        Ministers are saying that they need to preserve the right to call a sin a sin, just as the Bible calls sin by its proper name - SIN.  This got me to thinking that perhaps we need to consult a list of other sins in the Bible, just to make sure that no laws might pass that might prevent the full reading of the Bible, and the full application of its laws on sinful conduct.  It also occurred to me that perhaps it would be equally important to make note of what the Bible says is not a sin, and thus acceptable conduct and something you can encourage people to do, backing it all up with quotes from the Bible just to prove that, yes, you can do those things with impunity, just as one can outlaw sins based on the fact that selective bible quotes support the case.

Biblical problems with Sex :

        Leviticus 18, 19, and 20 lists all the sexual offenses, but
• there is one way to have a sexual encounter and escape the death penalty, and that is to sleep with slave girls:
          "If a man has sex with a slave girl, he is not to be punished.  She is a slave." (Leviticus 19:20 )
  
• You can also commit sexual hanky panky, and still be in obedience to God's Word in the Bible, provided that, in addition to raping slaves, you also rape enemy women.  When you are through abusing and raping them, you can just send them packing.  (No really.  Its Kosher.  Its in the Bible!) :
          "When you go to war against your enemies and you see a beautiful woman and find her desirable, you may take her.  If she ceases to please you send her away."( Deut. 21:10 )
  
• In another passage, the Bible makes clear that when committing rape during war time, it is important to only rape virgins, and to kill the rest of the women, and the little boys as well.  However, this is God's Word, so naturally fairness and justice are emphasized in the following passage, which once again allows some sexual hanky panky:         "They waged war as God had commanded them and killed every male.  But they kept the women as captives and took their wealth as spoil.  Moses was enraged.  'So you spared the women?  Kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse and kill every little boy, but keep the virgin girls for yourself.  Divide them up evenly.'"(Num. 31:7, 14 )
  
• While you can rape foreigners, you are forbidden by law to marry them.
          "I saw that the people were marrying foreigners.  Their children were even learning foreign languages.  I called down curses on them.  I struck them and tore the hair out of their heads and made them swear by God, 'you will not marry foreigners.  So I purged them of everything foreign.  I drew up regulations defining everyone's duty.  Remember me, oh God, for my happiness."(Neh. 13:23 & 30 )
  
• The Bible makes clear that rape is only acceptable conduct when practiced against foreigners and slaves.  If, however, a rape happens within a city of "the Holy Land", Biblical law requires that the rape victim be stoned to death along with the rapist:
          "If a man rapes a girl in the city, you must stone him to death, and the woman as well."(Deut. 22:24 )
          I continue my examination of Bible sins by bringing to the reader's attention the sin of giving birth (note that this is a particular bad sin if becoming pregnant results in the birth of a girl)...The punishment : "solitary confinement" for up to sixty six days, followed by the ritual slaughtering of a lamb and a pigeon.
          "Say to the people of Israel, If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.  Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying; she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.  But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.  And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, and he shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for her."(Leviticus 12:2 )
  
• Sexual orgasm is a sin : punishment, ritual bathing followed by one day of "solitary confinement".
          "If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening."(Leviticus 15:18 )
  
• Female menstruation is a sin : punishment, seven days "solitary confinement", which also falls upon anyone who comes into contact with her during this period (pun intended), followed by the killing of two pigeons, one as a sin offering to make up to God for the sin of her 'unclean flow'.  This killing of two birds might seem foolish but you need to consider the alternative which is the death penalty.  This law also applies to men who 'emit semen'.
          "When a woman has a discharge of blood which is her regular discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.  And everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean.  And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.  And whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening; whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening.  And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting.  And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.  Warn the people of their uncleanness lest it be the cause of their death in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.  This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby; also for her who is sick with her impurity; that is, for any one, male or female, who has a discharge."(Leviticus 15:19 )
  
• As you can note above this law also applies to men who emit semen, becoming unclean thereby.
          "Say to the people of Israel, When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.  And this is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge"(Leviticus 15:2 ). . .
  
• The law then goes on to repeat what you read about the woman above (he can't sit on anything, or lay on any bed, or touch anything and so on.)
  
• In Leviticus the 'cure' for many sins is the slaughtering of various barnyard animals and birds.  According to another section of the Bible those who do this are sinners, who revel in abominations, and once again the punishment is death.
          "He who slaughters an ox is like him who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like him who breaks a dog's neck; he who presents a cereal offering, like him who offers swine's blood; he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like him who blesses an idol.  These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations; I also will choose affliction for them, and bring down upon their heads the very thing that they most dread."(Isaiah 66:3 )
  
• Surprisingly, while you must not eat 'road kill' yourself you can sell it to foreigners, and it is not a sin.
          "You shall not eat anything that you find that is dead; you may give it to the stranger who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner."(Deuteronomy 14:21 )
  
• It is a little known fact that many different types of animals and birds are 'abominations' and are not to be touched.
          "They are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, the kite, the falcon according to its kind, every raven according to its kind, the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk according to its kind, the owl, the cormorant, the ibis, the water hen, the pelican, the carrion vulture, the stork, the heron according to its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.  All winged insects that go upon all fours are an abomination to you.  Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet, with which to leap on the earth.  Of them you may eat: the locust according to its kind, the bald locust according to its kind, the cricket according to its kind, and the grasshopper according to its kind.  But all other winged insects which have four feet are an abomination to you."(Leviticus 11:13 )
  
• By the way . . . there are no insects that go about on 'all fours' since insects have six legs, just thought I would point that out.  Therefore, one must assume, this divine law must be null and void, at least until someone comes across the abomination of an insect with four legs.
  
• Speaking of unclean mammals, did you know that, by divine law, you must destroy ovens, pots and pans, and utensils, should an abomination mouse happen to fall upon them?  To do otherwise would be a clear violation of scripture, and thus an obvious sin...
          "And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, the mouse, the great lizard according to its kind, the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon ...  And if any of them falls into any earthen vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it...  whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces." (Leviticus 11:29 )
  
• It is forbidden (for priests) to marry a non-virgin, or for those widowed or divorced to remarry
          "They shall not marry a harlot or a woman who has been defiled; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband.  A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a harlot, these he shall not marry; but he shall take to wife a virgin of his own people."(Leviticus 21:7 )
  
• If a girl sleeps around she must be burned at the stake.
          "If she profanes herself by playing the harlot, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire."(Leviticus 21:9 )
  
  
• It is against the law, and thus sinful, to breed different variety of cattle, to plant more than one kind of seed, or to wear clothing made of more than one type of fabric.
          "You shall keep my statutes.  You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall there come upon you a garment of cloth made of two kinds of fabric."(Leviticus 19:19 )
  
• It is also illegal to trim your head at your forehead, and tattoos are also illegal.
          "Do not clip your hair at the temple or trim your beard," "And no tattoos."(Leviticus 19:27-28 )
  
• The above is just a partial listing of all the various sins, and death penalty crimes listed in the Bible.

Anyone familiar with the Bible would already know that the Bible endorses the practice of racism, and of colonial conquest and exploitation, neither or which are sins, according to the Bible, but are to be encouraged

"The land you are invading is foul because of the filthiness of the natives.  Their land is filled with filth from end to end because of the foulness of the natives.  So you must not marry them or be concerned with their prosperity, so that yourselves may grow strong and eat the best of what the country produces yourself, and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever. . .  Are we to marry the natives?  Would you not be provoked into destroying us so that none survived?  This is our sin.  None can survive in your presence." (Ezra 9:10 - 13 )

"You must not marry them or give a daughter or son of yours to them in marriage, for the anger of the lord your God would then blaze out against you, and quickly destroy you.  It is you the lord your God has chosen to be his very own people out of all these other peoples of the earth." (Deuteronomy 6 )

"You must keep all the commandments I give you so that you will have the strength to conquer the land you are to enter and make your own."(Deut. 12:29 )

"Annihilate the nations you are dispossessing and make your home in their country." (Deut. 11:8 )

"Put the inhabitants to the slaughter without giving any quarter and burn their town down.  In this way the lord might turn from his fierce anger and show you compassion." ( Deut. 13:15)

"God, you gave over these nations and these peoples and allotted these as our regions.  They occupied the land.  You multiplied their sons and daughters and led them to the land you had told them to possess.  Their sons invaded and conquered the land and humbled the natives when you gave into their hands the natives of the land to be treated just as they pleased." (Nehemiah 9 )

Slavery :

In addition to committing theft and genocide and raping virgins, the Bible also allows the keeping of slaves, just as long as you capture them in foreign countries, or make slaves out of the natives of the lands you are conquering and colonizing, all of whom you can beat to death should it prove necessary, and, here's the great part, it's not a sin because "God's Word" says it's O K !

"Slaves you may possess, but make sure they are foreigners.  You may also make slaves of the natives who dwell among you and from their children who are born and reared in your land.  You may own them as chattels and leave them to your sons as their hereditary property, making them slaves forever.  But you should not lord it over your own countryman, your own kinsmen." (Lev. 25:44 )

"Mere words will not keep a slave in order.  He may understand, but he will not respond.  Pamper a slave and he will be ungrateful.  A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of a fool." Proverbs "When a man beats a slave so hard that he dies in a day or two, he shall not be punished, for the slave is his property." (Exodus 21:20 )

Why is it that Conservative Christian preachers who want to perpetuate the oppression of their homosexual brothers and sisters can never get worked up over the great prophet Isaiah whom Jesus quoted more than any other:
        "Woe betide those who enact unjust laws and draft oppressive decrees, depriving the poor of the world of justice and the robbing the weakest of the earth's people of their rights, plundering the helpless and despoiling the most needy.  What will you do when you are called to account, when devastation from afar suddenly confronts you?  To whom will you flee for help?  Where will you hide your wealth?  There is nothing left for you but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain."
        And what about destroying God's creation, 'mutilating' trees and hacking down forests?
        "Do not cut down fruit trees but eat the fruit.  Are the trees human that you should be besieging them too?  However if a tree is not a fruit tree you may mutilate it and hack it down." (Deut. 21:19 )

When is "Christianity" going to rejected THIS God ?

        Although Christians all believe that Jesus of Nazareth is history's best representation of God, for many his only divine Son, and that he fulfilled a special divine mission in this world, many Christian preachers also appear to believe that Jesus left some serious unfinished business that was only taken care of when he decided to knock Saul of Tarsus off his horse and make him the one last great prophet, "the Apostle of the Gentiles". By dint of writing more, travelling more, and doing more church-building than Jesus and all original twelve of the apostles combined, Paul of Tarsus was much more deserving of the title of the "rock upon whom his church was founded" than was Peter (except that, unlike the name Peter, Paul doesn't mean "rock"). Paul of Tarsus had been as available as any of the twelve men whom Jesus enlisted into his apostolic training program, the first Christian seminary, if you will. Given the abilities that Paul was to manifest so soon after Jesus had left the scene, it's puzzling that Jesus appears not to have recognized Paul's potential until after his death and resurrection.
        Although the God of the New Testament is rarely as outrageous as the god of the Old, many preachers who consider themselves "Christians" have been passing on to their followers beliefs about god that they have not derived from Jesus of Nazareth, but from Paul of Tarsus. According to these preachers, Paul of Tarsus was speaking for God himself, when he taught that the Almighty

• doesn't think much of women; ( click here for the actual texts )
• thinks that human slavery is no better or worse than freedom and equality; ( click here for the actual texts )
• thinks that people whom scientists believe to be born homosexual and to be as healthy and normal as heterosexuals deserve to be shunned (like all the other people the god of the Old Testament shunned); ( click here for the actual texts )
• thinks that Jews had their chance and muffed it;
• that unlike the belief promoted by Jesus and all of the other great prophets of the Bible, that what God expects of those who would please him is that they act according to his dictates, Paul has a better understanding of God, namely that he grants salvation as a free gift, independent of what people do, i.e. their "works";
• (see saved by grace, rather than works?)
• that people should never resist or even question any of their rulers in this life, because it has been the Almighty's decision to place each and every one of this world's rulers over mankind, at every level of government.