Thursday, August 9, 2007

God's a pacifist?

Over on Daily Kos I just read a comment by a presumed Christian who was (quite properly) rather disparaging of people who kill in the name of (the Christian) God.

No argument there, but the poster claimed 'Yeah, the same God who said "Thou Shalt Not Kill". I wonder if any of these yahoos who want to "kill in the name of Jesus" realize that not only was Jesus a pacifist, his Dad was too.'

Don't Christians read their Bible? Jesus's pacifism is shaky enough, what with the not-peace-but-a-sword bit and his prophesied battling in Revelations, but God the FATHER a pacifist?

That's a little hard to square with his personal destruction of everyone on Earth outside Noah's family (Genesis), of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (ibid.), of every man and beast in Egypt outside Goshen (Exodus), the firstborn of the remaining Egyptians (ibid.), smiting of over a hundred thousand in plagues (Numbers, 2 Samuel), and dozens of smaller atrocities from the hundreds of people dead down to individual rubouts.

God (the Father) also personally commanded or condoned the genocides of the people of Amalek (Exodus), the Canaanites (Numbers), the Midianites (ibid.), the people of Sihon (Deuteronomy), the people of Og (ibid.), the people of Ai (Joshua), the Gibeonites, the people of Makkedah, the Libnahites, the people of Lachish, the Eglonites, the Hebronites, the Debirites, and the Anakim (ibid.), and again there are dozens of smaller atrocities ranging from hundreds of thousands of deaths down to individual murders either personally commanded or condoned by God, including women, children and animals.

I'm not even counting the rapes and maimings here.

Pacifist? I sincerely hope the Christians who think so have not been reading their holy book, because if they have and they really think that's pacifism I'm going to have to find some remote bit of the remaining wilderness to move to.

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