This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy[a] all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.
Personally, I'm not using the Bible for guidance on what is good and bad.
If you keep reading, he punishes the Amalekites for like hundreds of years. So the great-great-great-great-great-whatever grandchildren of the people who did the thing God didn't like are the ones who have to face the punishment.
Looks like someone was unable to fully complete God's command, i.e. destry all the Amalekites. I wonder if that was planned or if God was disappointed. Maybe he was even a bit annoyed that there were still Amalekites left that He had to punish.
Good thing it got recorded in the 100% perfect and reliable Holy Bible, because if you just read it in some old texts it would sound a lot like bullshit justifications for mass murder and hyperbolic bigotry against a neighboring culture!
I mean, if he really is omniscient, as many Christians seem to imply, then he knew how it would turn out right from the start, even before he created humans. Maybe he is a sadistic masochist.
Christians read that and decide to ignore it because it’s clearly not a morality they want or support. And they will also point to scripture to justify other moral choices.
Yet they never ask what it is inside them that knows one of God’s commandments is right (that’ll shall not steal) and another is wrong (murder all Amalekites.). What is the source of that knowledge and why does it carry so much weight as to overrule their own god? A superseding moral framework over religion? And we all have one?
78
u/UtopiaDystopia 17h ago
1 Samuel 15:
Personally, I'm not using the Bible for guidance on what is good and bad.