Sam Harris

While watching the movie “Psycho” I went to Google to find a bit more about the origins. It was interesting that the novel was based on the real life person Ed Gein.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein

I found his behaviors to be incredibly disturbing. Upon reflection it struck me that Ed Gein is the “spitting image” of the god of the Judeo-Christian religions. For example the collection of pieces of genitalia for various purposes.

1 Samuel 18: 27 Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

Putting it into more modern terms seems to make the sadomasochism of David’s behavior even more stark in my opinion. “Rabbi. I would like to marry your daughter and here are 200 foreskins from Catholics I killed.” Something that would garner someone the most extreme censure and likely execution in today’s world is passed off as being acceptable to this very disturbing “god”.

Other disturbing things in the Old Testament that are Ed Gein-like.

Deuteronomy 28:  53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:

Exodus 12: 23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Numbers 25: 8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly

Numbers 31: 7 And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
  9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones,

For those who are unfamiliar with the Old Testament can find a summary of the disgusting nature here:

http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/long.html

Typical “rebuttals” to the torture, sadomasochism, and extreme deviance in the Old Testament are “we need to understand the era” and “it is only figurative”. Personally I think both of those “defenses” are as ludicrous as the original text. Whoever wrote the original text appears to have been as disturbed as Ed Gein. I would equate elevating the macabre Old Testament to any level above absolute degeneracy to an equal elevation of Ed Gein’s behavior.

The God of the OT is also a narcissist and a sociopath.

Does the creator of the universe have the right to take human life? And, does he enjoy it?

The answer to the first question is yes he does. He exercised this right when Adam and Eve broke his law (Genesis 3). We are all paying this price to this day. God also has the right to delegate that authority to others as he did in the time of the Israelites and with his angels.

Does he enjoy it? No! In fact God promises to do away with death and pain. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Biblesupporter - 30 October 2008 07:37 PM

Does the creator of the universe have the right to take human life? And, does he enjoy it?

The answer to the first question is yes he does. He exercised this right when Adam and Eve broke his law (Genesis 3). We are all paying this price to this day. God also has the right to delegate that authority to others as he did in the time of the Israelites and with his angels.

Does he enjoy it? No! In fact God promises to do away with death and pain. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Hmmmmmn… look what poPPed up in Sam’s sandbox: the Bible’s jockstrap.

Bs, your questions are non-sensical. If you’re gonna play here you need to be specific about which delusion you’re referencing. If by “creator of the universe” you mean the Abrahamic god of the old testament, then the answer to both of your hypothetical questions is a resounding YES.
What’s all this talk of god’s “rights?” What kind of god would set up his creation to fail just so he has the “right” to incur pain, suffering and death? Applying your logic, what did the dinosaurs do to displease god to incur their destruction? Did god give them a choice to eat or not eat of forbidden fruit, and they ate of it? Where were the angels for the dinos?

In case you didn’t know it, the passage from revelations was discovered to be a mistranslation. The actual translation is: “Your Mom will wipe every tear from thine eyes. For in death there is no more mourning or crying or pain because the old geezer has passed away.”

Pssst, Cooper, see what watching Psycho hath wrought?!  I enjoyed your Ed Gein extrapolations!

I was ROF before I read your post, Iso. Now I’m LMAO! I would love to see your stand up routine.

Welcome Bs. We always appreciate a new chew toy. Are you here to save us from eternal damnation or did god tell you to straighten us out?

God hates pain?  He promises to end it?  He sure inflicted a hell of a lot of it, which I’ll list here in a moment.  Last time I read the NT, Jesus promised to make torment eternal, not end it.

Here is how much the God of the Bible hates pain:

Ex 7-11 God inflicts various nasty plagues on Egypt

Ex 12:29 God kills all the first born sons in Egypt

Ex 20:5 God promises to punish children to the 4th generation

Ex 21:20 It’s OK to beat your slave as long as he/she doesn’t die

Ex 32:27 Moses ordered death for all in opposition, about three thousand were killed

Lev 20 kill anyone who dishonors his father or mother

Lev 20 kill anyone who cheats on their spouse

Lev 21 burn any daughter of a priest if she becomes a prostitute

Lev 24 stone a man who curses

Lev 26 God says if anyone fails to keep his commands, God will:

- God will bring sudden terror upon you

- God will give you a wasting disease and fever that will destroy your eyesight and life

- God will allow your enemies to defeat you and rule over you

If you still refuse to obey God’s commands, God will:

- God will punish you seven times over for your sins

- God will bring drought on your land and cause crop failure

- God will send wild animals to steal your children and destroy your cattle

If you yet again refuse to obey God’s commands, God will:

- God promises that he himself will be hostile to you

- God will again punish you seven times over for your sins

- God will “bring the sword upon you”

- God will send a plague among you

If you even still refuse to obey God’s commands, God will:

- God will punish you seven times over for your sins

- God says you will eat the flesh of your sons and daughters

- God will destroy your places of worship and pile your dead bodies on top

- God will turn your cities into ruin

- God will lay waste to your lands

- God will scatter you among the nations then pursue you with his sword

- God will make your heart so fearful that you will run at the sound of a windblown leaf

- God will allow you to perish in the nations of your enemies

AND, just in case, you will also face these punishments if your father committed any sins

BUT, if you confess your sins, though you will still face these punishments and be scattered into the lands of your enemies, God will not allow you to be completely destroyed there.  Yippee!

Deut 6 God promised the Israelites if they obeyed his commands he would give them “a land with large, flourishing cities they did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things they did not provide themselves, wells they did not dig, vineyards and olive grooves they did not plant.” 

Who do you think built those cities and houses, and provided the goods and dug the wells?  What do you suppose would happen to those people as the Israelites moved in and took over?

Deut 7 In case any the Israelites still had any fear about destroying all the people in the land they were about to occupy, God reassured them, “. . . do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.  You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out.  The Lord will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.  Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished.”

Deut 13:6-9 If your brother, son, daughter, wife, or friend, entices you to believe another God, then God says, “do not yield to him or listen to him.  Show him no pity.  Do not spare him or shield him.  You must certainly put him to death.”

Deut 17:12 If a man shows contempt for the judge or priest in the court, then kill him

Deut 20 has instruction for war.  If you attack a city, first offer peace.  If they reject it, then kill the men and keep the women and animals.  HOWEVER, if this is one of the cities God has promised you as an inheritance, then destroy everything that breathes.

Deut 22:20 If you find your new bride NOT to be a virgin, then the men of the town will stone her to death in front of her father’s front door.

Joshua 6 When the Israelites made it to Jericho and collapsed the wall, “every man charged straight in, . . . devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed every living thing in it - men and women, young and old, cattle sheep and donkeys.”

Joshua 8 Joshua lured the men out of the city of Ai, killed them then went into the city and killed all who remained, including the women.  12,000 men and women were killed

Judges 11:31 Jephthah , under the spirit of the Lord, promises to sacrifice to God the first thing that walks out of his home when he returns from battle, if God promises victory for Jephthah
Judges 11:33 Jephthah, enabled by God, devastates 20 towns of Ammonites
Judges 11:35 After victory Jephthah returns home and his daughter walks out of his house
Judges 11:39 Jephthah sacrifices his daughter

Judges 15 After a couple rounds of revenge killings between Samson and the Philistines, the spirit of God came on Samson and allowed him to kill a thousand Philistines, presumably ending the tit for tat bouts of murder.  This all made Samson thirsty so God made water come from the ground so Samson could drink.

II Kg 2:23-24 sent bears to maul 42 children who teased a prophet