Is it evil to serve the Lord?
There's an oft-quoted bible verse in most Christian circles, Joshua 24:15. "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
The verse is often used as a morale booster, quoted for the purpose of hyping up the crowd, getting the congregation on their feet, clapping and loudly proclaiming their enthusiasm. That was my experience in the pentecostal church I was a part of for over 30 years.
But let's take a second and focus on the first part of that passage: "If it seem evil unto you to serve the lord." Let's make an honest effort to determine the answer to that question. Is it evil to serve Yah'weh, the ONE GOD of Christianity? The god worshipped by the Jews and the ancient Hebrews?
It does seem evil to serve a god that supposedly inspired the writing of Exodus 21:21. And also inspired the writing of Leviticus 25:44-45. And also Leviticus 21:18-19, and Deuteronomy 21:10-14.
Let's see, that's beating slaves, child slavery, spiritual discrimination based on physical traits, and rape. All of the above with the stamp of approval of a supposedly moral god.
Now, I can already hear the Christian apologists shouting, "That was the OLD TESTAMENT! They did things in the physical realm to be an example of the spiritual war we fight in the new testament, we don't abide by the Mosaic Law anymore." Except those same Christians believe that the Jesus of the NT is the same god of the OT.
Well, you have two choices: The OT was allegorical, a collection of myths and stories used strictly for the purpose of illustration; or the OT was literal, and real people experienced those events.
The problem with either view is that those verses mentioned above are still wrong based on our understanding of morality in the year 2018. Civilized countries don't allow slavery, we certainly don't allow kidnapping or rape, and we make it illegal to discriminate against people based on physical deformities.
You can't have it both ways, you can't claim the bible is moral on one hand and also agree that slavery and rape are immoral.
Do you choose to serve a god that put his stamp of approval on these actions?
Shameless plug for this video by Sam Harris: The Bible is not moral.
The verse is often used as a morale booster, quoted for the purpose of hyping up the crowd, getting the congregation on their feet, clapping and loudly proclaiming their enthusiasm. That was my experience in the pentecostal church I was a part of for over 30 years.
But let's take a second and focus on the first part of that passage: "If it seem evil unto you to serve the lord." Let's make an honest effort to determine the answer to that question. Is it evil to serve Yah'weh, the ONE GOD of Christianity? The god worshipped by the Jews and the ancient Hebrews?
It does seem evil to serve a god that supposedly inspired the writing of Exodus 21:21. And also inspired the writing of Leviticus 25:44-45. And also Leviticus 21:18-19, and Deuteronomy 21:10-14.
Let's see, that's beating slaves, child slavery, spiritual discrimination based on physical traits, and rape. All of the above with the stamp of approval of a supposedly moral god.
Now, I can already hear the Christian apologists shouting, "That was the OLD TESTAMENT! They did things in the physical realm to be an example of the spiritual war we fight in the new testament, we don't abide by the Mosaic Law anymore." Except those same Christians believe that the Jesus of the NT is the same god of the OT.
Well, you have two choices: The OT was allegorical, a collection of myths and stories used strictly for the purpose of illustration; or the OT was literal, and real people experienced those events.
The problem with either view is that those verses mentioned above are still wrong based on our understanding of morality in the year 2018. Civilized countries don't allow slavery, we certainly don't allow kidnapping or rape, and we make it illegal to discriminate against people based on physical deformities.
You can't have it both ways, you can't claim the bible is moral on one hand and also agree that slavery and rape are immoral.
Do you choose to serve a god that put his stamp of approval on these actions?
Shameless plug for this video by Sam Harris: The Bible is not moral.
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