Re-watching the first season of Justified last night I came across this short scene:
Chief Deputy Art Mullen asks where does the Bible justify the killing of innocent people. Like most Christians, he apparently hasn’t read very much of that not very good book, or he wouldn’t ask a stupid question like that because there are many passages where God or Yahweh, whom Richard Dawkins describes as “arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction”, calls for the slaughter of very innocent people, at least if you consider children and infants to be innocent.
For example, consider 1 Samuel Chapter 15.
God, who has a very long memory, decides that he wants to punish the Amalekites for what they did roughly 400 years earlier.
Through his prophet Samuel he speaks to Saul:
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 all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
Which is exactly what Saul did. Or not exactly. Oh, he slaughtered all the men, women, children, and infants, and most of the livestock, but he spared the life of Aga, the king of the Amalekites, as well as the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs.
But God was not amused.
He wanted everyone and every last animal slaughtered. It’s a pretty awful story. Of course, that’s a pretty awful god in that Bible.
Even if it weren’t a fictional character, I don’t see any reason to worship such a cruel heartless piece of shit.