CHAPTER TWO
EVIL of the OLD TESTAMENT
What you have seen were some of the better examples of the stupidity, lies, etc., in the old testament. You have also seen, in a limited manner, what I found wrong with them. Now you will see some of the unsavory or outright evil things in it also. Which you will also see takes on many forms. So to start things out, let`s go back to Gen. 1:26. It says:
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
What did god think he was doing giving man dominion over all the earth. They hadn’t even eaten the fruit of knowledge yet. Talk about giving children matches to play with! Though the main point I wanted to make here is that if I were a devil and I wanted man and the earth to self destruct, this is just how I would go about it. By using ideas like being created in god’s image to prey on man’s arrogance, narcissism and greediness. Which can be easily blown out of proportion as it is. It can also be done by giving them the idea that anything they do is god’s will. Leaving people without the restraint that they so obviously need. Also, it’s bad enough that the bible tells you that you are created in his image. But to be told that the earth is yours to do with as you please is too much. This type of teaching only puts you at odds with your true creator. The ecological system of this planet. Yet another bad thing about all this is that god needn’t have given you dominion over all the earth. Because just being told that you were created in god’s image would have given people sufficient justification to take it. I guess god just wanted to make sure his deplorable message got through and stuck. If only god had supposedly created those he had made in his image during the time of the dinosaurs. Then mankind`s “dominion” would have been a little more difficult to claim.
Another thing I don’t like about all this creation crap is that the bible puts forth the idea that god creates each and every one of you. Because among people you will find murderers; perverts; thieves; those who buy or sell political influence; etc. And supposedly being perfect, the only reason he would be creating them is because they serve some useful purpose. Which they do not! (you will be hearing more about this later) Also, because of such notions, I have actually met people who believed that anything they did was ok. Because if god didn’t want them to act that way, he wouldn’t have created them to act that way. But I have news for those who try to justify their crimes or perversions in such a manner. It’s not god’s will that makes them act badly. It`s bad genetics!
This next paragraph also taught something that promotes destructive arrogance. In Gen. 1:28, it says:
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
First of all, telling man to multiply and subdue the earth is like telling a fish to swim. God should have known the eventual destruction this would have caused. Such as overpopulation, environmental destruction, famine and war. And from what I have seen of other religions and cultures, the people the bible speaks of would have probably done those things anyway. We sure didn’t need these idiots help in making sure they happened. Also, though I looked for such things, it’s no surprise to me that I found nothing in the bible that promotes any prudence in the rule of your “dominion.”
As if your being told that you were made in god’s image wasn`t bad enough, in this next paragraph you’re given even more excessive flattery. In Gen. 3:22, it says:
“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.”
So because man had eaten the fruit of knowledge, he had become like a god? I must disagree with that assessment. Another thing is that I think it takes more than a knowledge of right and wrong to make somebody a god. Also, if this simplistic knowledge made man like god, it only proves that god isn’t worth worshiping. Now somebody once said “I think, therefore I am.” But because of teachings like this, I think it has come to mean “I think, therefore I think it`s a big deal.” Though simply being able to think doesn’t give people the right to do anything they want. Especially given the limited nature of some people’s thinking. There is another stupid aspect to all this. Which is that only the fruit of knowledge was forbidden to man. So you would think that had they not eaten it, they would have eventually gotten around to eating from the tree of life. Which apparently would have made them live forever. But earlier god told them to be fruitful and multiply. Though even an idiot could see the incompatibility of these two things.
What this next paragraph had to say is particularly disgusting. It had god talking to one of adam and eve`s two sons named cain about his brother abel. In Gen. 4:7, it says:
“If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”
What god is telling cain here is that he is in a no lose situation. That if he does well, he will be accepted. But if he doesn’t do well, which I interpret as meaning if he does bad things, his brother will envy him and he will rule over him. So in other words god is saying that crime pays. What a filthy thing to teach! Also, I wonder how many people would accept being a sinner if it meant they would be envied and rule. Instead of simply being accepted. With teachings like this, it’s no wonder that cain killed his brother, able. Now to the contrary of what they teach here, though crime may at times pay for the criminal, I wouldn’t recommend it. One reason being that the torment of the many, who are preyed upon by the few, far outweighs the gain of the few.
There is no rational way that what this next paragraph had to say can be justified. In Gen. 6:7, it says:
“And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”
Well maybe god should have taken the trouble to foresee what was going to happen before he created them. But what I really don’t like here is that just because man screws up, he was going to destroy everything. What a complete asshole! And that`s the best thing I can think of to call him. Only the greatest of devils would do such a thing. If he were any kind of god at all, he would destroy only the guilty and leave the rest unharmed. But from what I have seen he enjoys killing too much. Another thing that makes me sick to my stomach is that god lets noah, his family and two of every creature survive. Thereby negating the reason for all the slaughter and devastation. But that didn’t stop him from doing it. It also makes me sick that people should accept such behavior as god’s right. I say that you should not accept such despicable behavior or the despicable creature that performs it. No matter what kind of comfort you get from religion.
I don’t care much for the power god gave people in this next paragraph. In Gen. 9:2, it says:
“And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon the fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hands are they delivered.”
Unfortunately, with man being the omnivorous creatures that we are, we do inflict fear on other animals. Which I suppose is for the best. Because I would not like to expose animals to the possibility of death at our hands in a compleatly unsuspecting manner. (At least not wild animals) But what I don’t like here is the concept that all creatures are yours to do with as you please. Because some people barely deserve to breathe, (and sometimes not even that) let alone having all creatures delivered into their hands. Now to greatly improve this last paragraph of theirs, they only needed to add three words. Which are “harvest them wisely.” But the bible is no place to look for any teachings about conservation.
This next story concerns noah, his son ham and ham’s son canaan. In this story, noah gets drunk and falls asleep naked in his tent. But ham discovers that his father was naked and tells his two brothers. Who then respectfully walk into noah’s tent backwards and cover him without looking. But when noah finds out what happened, in Gen. 9:25, he says:
“And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”
So here noah is cursing ham’s son canaan because of what ham did. What a terrible example of supposed justice to teach! It was ham who did the accidental deed. If anybody was to be punished, it should have been him. Now if people are just plain scum, I could see possibly stearlizing them and their children. Because the genetic disposition toward antisocial behavior would be present in the children too. But if noah’s reason for making canaan a servant was anything like that, it would have been pointless. One reason being that to have any real effect, he would have had to make canaan a eunuch instead.
The next story I would like to mention concerns a person named abram and his wife sarai. The story tells of them going to Egypt to escape a famine. But abram’s wife is supposedly beautiful and he is afraid of somebody killing him and taking her. So in Gen. 12:13, he says:
“Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.”
What a spineless worm! Now there may be times when you have to lie to protect yourself from injustice, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Neither does the fact that she could have been taken from him mean that she would have been taken from him. So if he wasn’t man enough to call her his wife, he deserved to have her taken away from him. Also, he asked her to lie here so it would be well with him for her sake. What a liar! He wanted her to lie so it would be well with him for his sake. And from the sounds of things, she would have been better off without him. So the bible can take this jellyfish philosophy and shove it. Another thing is that the more things that I show you from the bible in this chapter, the less you will be surprised that they didn’t come up with better examples of supposed history to teach.
As this story progresses, sarai apparently does do better than abram. Because the pharaoh takes her for his wife. But the lord doesn’t like it. As you can see, in Gen. 12:17, it says:
“And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram`s wife.”
There is no reason that the lord should have plagued the pharaoh. It was abram who lied and told his wife to lie. The only thing the pharaoh did wrong was to believe them. So it was abram and his wife who should have suffered plagues. Also, seeing how god himself supposedly told abram to go there, he shouldn’t have felt it necessary to lie to protect himself.
What these next paragraphs have to say sounds a lot like voodoo. Which isn’t the worst of it. As you can see, in Gen. 15:8-12, it says:
“And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds he divided not.
And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.”
This bloody ritual that was supposed to be done here was so abram could know something. Which is beyond stupid. Because he and god were already supposedly having a conversation. What more should he have needed! You would also think that a god capable of jealousy would be a little pissed off by abram not simply taking god’s words for things. But apparently not. Though the really disgusting thing here is the disregard for the lives of these animals that this teaches. Because surely any kind of god wouldn’t need the deaths of innocent animals to give abram some kind of vision. But instead, god has abram perform this pointless, voodoo like animal sacrifice. Another thing is that being just another religious practice, I don’t like the idea of voodoo either. Because just as with things like witches casting spells to get the spirits to do their bidding, their trying to harness any possible powers that are beyond mankind isn’t a good idea. Seeing how such people are as susceptible to all the stupidity and corruption that mankind is capable of. And being religious, as far as things like stupidity or corruption goes, I would say they are definitely more susceptible to such things.
Because there are quite a number of examples in the bible of it promoting slavery, I won’t be showing you all of them. But for now, one example can be found in Gen. 17:12-13. It says:
“And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generation, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.”
This makes buying and selling people seem like no big deal. But treating people like merchandise is wrong. Also, for the religious, you can think what you will. But in my considered opinion, no good results can come from your choice to not be free from god. Another thing is that, for the most part, I would say that people have the right to decide their own destiny. As long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of others. I will be talking more on this subject later.
Next we have the bible condoning incest. This story concerns a person named lot and his two daughters. In Gen. 19:32-33, it says:
“Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the seed of our father.
And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.”
Then the other daughter does the same thing the next night. Well the bible may find this kind of incest acceptable, but I don`t. Another thing is that being lot’s daughters, they would have carried some of their father’s genetics to begin with. So they could have had children with anybody to preserve his seed. Though this whole story seems unlikely to begin with. Because I doubt if lot’s daughters could have gotten him so drunk that he didn’t know what was going on and still have him be able to become sexually stimulated. Now with human nature being what it is, people can and have formed fairly stable social structures even though it allowed various forms of perversion. Such as we have with religion. But as far as I can see, a heterosexual and monogamous society where children are sexually off limits to adults is a very safe and healthy way to go.
We next revisit the story of esau and jacob. Which exemplifies some pretty bad behavior. In Gen. 25:31-32, esau goes to his brother for food because he is starving. It says:
“And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?”
As you may remember, esau sells his birthright for some food. What a rotten thing to teach! Unless somebody is an enemy, if they are in need as badly as esau seemed to be, they should be helped. Even if they’re a stranger. Let alone family. They shouldn’t be taken advantage of. You probably also remember that esau and jacob’s mother, rebekah, helps jacob steal the blessing that their father isaac planed to give to esau. So that jacob instead would inherit all that issac owned. Their mother was in fact the one who came up with the plan for the deception that led to the theft of this blessing. But despite what the bible taught, deceiving people isn’t acceptable.
Now if the reason for this deception was because esau was apparently some sort of hairy throwback, that might have been a different matter. Though the bible tells of no such possible justification. Which as I said, makes their story pretty bad. But the bible does a lot of teaching of examples of bad behavior. And though some may say it’s only history, having it in a book meant for religious instruction isn’t good. The least they could have done here is mention that such things are wrong to do. But they didn’t. Now I think it`s likely that people could do a good enough job at being lowlifes on their own without being taught other people’s achievements in the area. Also, if people weren’t given so many examples of bad behavior, it might seem less common to them. Which in turn might make them less likely to do bad things. Because it would seem more unusual.
Moving on, jacob has misgivings about stealing esau’s blessing. But only because he was afraid of what esau would do. Because if his misgivings had been based on morality, he probably wouldn’t have went along with it. Then, in Gen. 27:13, it says:
“And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.”
She is quite right about her being to blame for stealing esau’s blessing. But the blame is not all hers. Jacob was to blame also. So she was wrong in thinking that she could take jacob’s blame upon herself too. Because people are responsible for their own actions.
After esau’s blessing is stolen, isaac tells esau to do something pretty rotten. In Gen. 27:40, it says:
“And by the sword shalt thou live, and serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass that thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.”
So by telling esau to live by the sword, he is telling him to plunder, pillage, rape, etc. Which he apparently did. Now though what rebekah and jacob did was pretty bad, the advice isaac gave was even worse. I hope that any supposed descendants of these supposed persons won`t mind my calling any of these people dirty cocksuckers! (Not that to these people, such a thing would likely be a bad thing) Also, just because esau may have been treated badly doesn’t give him the right to treat others badly too. And in this case, even worse. Then the reason isaac gives for this filthy advice is so esau can someday break his brother’s yoke off from his neck. But I can’t see why isaac should have thought it bad for jacob’s yoke to be on esau’s neck. Seeing how he’s the one who put it there! Also, there was a better way to go. Such as by esau sticking a sword into jacob instead. Isaac also could have suggested honest, diligent and hard work so that esau could someday pay to have the yoke taken off his neck. He might have also suggested that esau simply walk away and make his own way in the world. But apparently those things weren’t good enough.
Now you might think that isaac would be a little upset with jacob because of what he did. But in Gen. 28:3-4, isaac says to jacob:
“And God almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.
And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.”
This is a pretty lavish blessing for isaac to give jacob for forcing away esau’s birthright, deceiving him and stealing esau’s blessing. You might as well say that he was blessing and praising jacob for his crimes. Which is an incredibly vile thing to teach. Because to do bad things is bad enough. But to actually revel in it is taking it to a whole other level. Isaac may also have praised jacob to this extent because he figured that jacob was just a chip off the ole block. Or as I would more accurately put it, a piece of shit off the ole pile. Also, according to the bible, god supposedly fulfills this blessing. Which makes god as guilty as everybody else in this sordid story. They might as well have come right out and said that crime pays. But then criminals who use this story as a justification for their criminal behavior wouldn’t be able to think that their criminal behavior was the result of some secret, esoteric wisdom.
This next promotion for slavery gives one example of what slaves can be used for. In Gen. 30:3-4, it says:
“And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have a child by her.
And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.”
If this slave bilhah was very good looking, I doubt if jacob’s wife needed to do a lot of convincing. But did anybody stop to consider how bilhah felt about it? I doubt it. After all, she was just a slave. Though despite teachings like this, slavery isn’t acceptable.
As you know, jacob did some pretty rotten things to esau. Which in a real world situation you would presume that esau would be unlikely to forgive. But when esau next sees jacob, in Gen. 33:4, it says:
“And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.”
I can’t see esau being so forgiving. Sure, time may have passed. He may also have missed his brother. Or maybe he may have bought that crap about the blame for what happened being on his mother, etc. But after all the things jacob did to him, I would have expected esau to be a little less emotional than this. Now I don’t like the level of happiness they teach on esau’s part because it makes it seem like there should be no reason for animosity between them. Because what happened is just the way people are. Which even if all this really happened, would still make it a rotten thing to teach. Though there could be another explanation for this seemingly absolute forgiveness. Which is that though jacob stole from him, esau himself lives by the sword and he figured that one piece of shit can’t fault another.
The story that is told in Gen. 34 is a little too lengthy to copy. So I’ll just tell you what supposedly happened. The story tells of jacob’s daughter, dinah, and a Hivite prince named sechem making love out of wedlock. But wedding plans are made. And to help make peace, the men of the Hivite city circumcise themselves. Though even after this ample reparation for the couples passion, two of jacob’s sons decide to seek revenge on their own. They supposedly go into the Hivite city and kill all the men. Then the rest of jacob’s sons loot the city and take the women and children captive. But after all this, jacob only chastises his two sons. I am underwhelmed by his sense of justice. He could have at least let the women and children go. Along with their possessions. Also, I find it amazingly hypocritical for any guy who would like to have sex with somebody’s sister to be upset by anybody likewise having sex with their sister.
So as you can imagine, I find nothing wrong with what dinah and sechem did. That`s just what men and women do. As long as they act responsibly and don’t knowingly spread any disease, they should be able to have sex whenever society considers them to be old enough to do so. Though even if the pair are a little too young, it shouldn’t be treated like it`s the end of the world. Another thing is that what dinah’s brothers did was probably more for their honor than hers. Which isn’t a very good thing to teach. Because before any young woman is somebody’s daughter or sister, they are their own person first. So the brother’s shouldn’t have gotten involved. Unless it was really necessary. Which shouldn’t include a simple break up. Even though they are sometimes painful.
Speaking of other gods, what this next paragraph had to say leaves a lot to be desired. In Ex. 20:5, it says:
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,”
First of all, god is supposed to be perfect. So if it’s ok for him to be jealous, it must be ok for you to be too. But generally speaking, I don’t think jealousy is a very good thing. Also, if god is jealous of other gods, he can’t be much of a god himself. Then it says that god will punish the children of those that hate him to the third or fourth generation. But practicing such reverse eugenics on people is another reason to hate him. You will also be seeing more clearly as you read on that hating the god they talk about is a virtue. And punishing the virtuous would screw mankind up. Another thing is that it’s pretty bad to punish the descendants of people he supposedly created to act the way they do.
This next paragraph leaves something to be desired. In Ex. 20:16, it says:
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
This teaching doesn’t do anything about instances where somebody may bear false witness “for” their neighbor. Neither is bearing false witness for or against your neighbor the only place where a lie may hold significance. For example, people often use lies to steal. One way this can be done is by telling a lie or withholding the truth about something somebody may be trying to sell to get more money for it than it is worth. This is basically stealing. Which isn’t good. So a more helpful thing to say would have been to not bear false witness at all. Unless of course it was for the fairly harmless purpose of sparing somebody from hurt feelings.
I hope you don’t mind my going off on a tangent here, but human civilization seems to be built on lies. Though religious people don’t have to worry about it, this doesn’t bode well for evolution. (Not that humans are likely to survive for much longer if things don’t change) I have heard of infectious microbes that have evolved to the point where they don’t do well in the absence of antibiotics. Another microbe I have heard about evolved to the point where they could survive on nuclear rods in cooling tanks. (It would be interesting to know how well these bacteria survive in the absence of radiation) The point I am getting at with this is that I would hate to see humans evolve to the point where they couldn’t survive without lies. Because as far as I have been able to figure, it just isn’t necessary. As it is, I have heard that the use of antidepressants has gone up. Could this be an evolutionary hangover from people no longer being able to swallow the ridiculous nature of religion? With no rational society to replace it? Though I am not in a position to say for sure, I would say it’s possible. But I would rather swallow antidepressants than religion. Though as far as that goes, I would rather swallow a cyanide pill than religion.
In this next promotion for slavery, god supposedly sets forth some rules on the matter. In Ex. 21:2-7, it says:
“If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
Then the master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and the master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.”
First of all, it talks here of Hebrew slaves. But it would have been interesting to hear how other slaves were to be treated. Moving on, it says here that if a master gives his slave a wife and they have children, if the father-slave decides to leave, the wife and children can be made to stay. Well that’s one way to make sure the father-slave sticks around. Also, I wonder what rights children born into slavery were supposed to have. Another thing I don’t like is the idea of slave children or that the women can never go free. So with god supporting this vile form of employment, I hope nobody will mind my saying that he can eat shit and die! It’s also amazing that he had the nerve to say all this after what he supposedly just put the Egyptians through for owning Hebrew slaves. Though with this being their religion, it’s no wonder that they would teach that they are somehow “special.”
These next two paragraphs dealt with what a man is to do if he gets himself a second wife. In Ex. 21:10-11, it says:
“If he take him another wife; her food, raiment, and duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
And if he do not these three unto her, then she shall go out free without money.”
So what this is saying is that if a man takes a second wife, but doesn’t maintain the first wife’s standard of living, then the first wife can hit the road without a penny. What a thing to teach! Though this isn’t really clear as to whether the first wife can leave on her own or if this simply saves him the trouble of throwing her out. Another thing I don’t like here is the idea of polygamy. One reason being those who could afford to have more than one wife wouldn’t necessarily be genetically superior. Having the wealth to do so could come from luck; inheritance; greed; dishonesty; environmental rape; ass kissing or for some unwholesome reason adhering to an overly self sacrificing work ethic that would otherwise be honorable.
Also, because polygamy leaves some men out in the cold, what they suggest could cause a rise in homosexuality. One reason that would be bad is that there are too many jerks in the world as it is. But having to deal with gay jerks, for various reasons, would be even worse. Now on this last point, some of you out there may think that I am the one b