Tough Questions for Christians #18: Promised Land

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God is a very efficient killer. The Bible is full of stories about God killing people. It starts with a mass killing where God actually drowns billions of people on the planet. Later on God sends the angel of death down to kill Egypt to kill anyone - to kill the oldest - of everyone in Egypt who doesn't have blood painted around their door. (Apparently he needs some sort of external marker so he knows who he is supposed to slaughter.)

God also kills about 50,000 people because a couple people looked inside the Ark of the Covenant, he kills someone else for simply touching the box. He killed someone else for failing to impregnate his dead brother's wife. God is a very efficient killer, he's good at killing everyone himself... sometimes.

Other times he asks his followers to do it for him.

Imagine I promised I was going to give you a car. I told you that when you turn 16, or 30, or 50 (pick an age depending on how old you are right now). When you hit your birthday, I'm going to give you a brand-new, bright, shiny sports car. And I promise you I'm going to do it.

So the day comes, you come to my house. You're knocking on my door, excited, and say: "Great, great, I want the car. Where's my car?"

I say, "I'm a man of my word, I'll give you the car. Go right across the street, to the Jones' house, kill Mr. Jones, kill his wife, kill their infant son, kill their daughter, kill their dog, their cat, and their parakeet... Then you can have their car. It's yours. Happy Birthday."

Would you consider that a good gift? Would you consider me a "great," "wonderful," "fabulous" person for giving you this gift? No, you'd consider me a kook for telling you to kill somebody else and take their shit.

But that's exactly what God does in the Bible.

God promises his chosen people the "promised land," when they get there, people are already living there. Does God kill those people, or move those people away on his own? (As I said, he's a very efficient killer, he could do it just fine) No. God tells the Israelites "If you want the land, slaughter everybody that's in it."

Of course, sometimes he tells them to take sex slaves, but usually it's just "kill everybody, and everything... then you can have what's there's, the land. Happy Birthday."

Now, it's not a good gift, it's stupid. And people that say "God gave them the promised land so they had the right to kill these people," they are just insane.

Apologists have thousands of excuses as to why God had these people killed. There are all sorts of rationalizations for why they had to die. But what I haven't heard yet is why God had the Israelites kill them. Why, if they had to die, God didn't just take care of it himself and give the Israelites the "gift" he promised? Why not just give them the land, why make them slaughter everyone for it?

So that's the new Tough Question for you right now. Why did God make the Israelites kill everyone off, instead of simply having the land prepared and ready for them, like he promised?

TOUGH QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTIANS #18
Why did God make the Israelites murder so many people in order to take possession of the land he promised them?

originally posted on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/azatheist

Tough Questions for Christians # 17: Never Heard of Jesus

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The Christian community is divided on exactly what happens to people who don't hear about Jesus. Some very Orthodox views state that these people are simply unfortunate enough to be born into a non-Christian household or non-Christian country, and unless they fix that - and become Christians themselves - they will go to Hell and be punished for their crimes — because God will only forgive Christians.

Others, like KingTheist in your responses to my questions 1 & 2, you appear to be saying the ONLY unforgivable sin is actually consciously rejecting Jesus. Therefore those who never hear about him don't have a chance to knowingly reject him. Therefore they also can be saved in the afterlife.

For those who think that someone will be tortured in Hell for not accepting a story they never heard, your God is a monster - so this question doesn't really apply to you.

For the rest of you, for those of you who believe that if someone never hears about Jesus they can still be saved, this question is addressed to you.

According to that view, people who haven't heard of Jesus are saved automatically, that means a person is born with a free ticket to Heaven because they're born without hearing about Jesus. It's only when missionaries come and tell you about Jesus that you get the opportunity to reject him. If you're never given that opportunity, then you can never consciously reject Jesus, and you can never be sent to Hell.

If that theory is correct, and people are saved - who don't know about Jesus - because they can't consciously reject him, then why would anyone knowingly spread the gospel? Why would anyone share the story with someone else and give them the opportunity to sentence themselves to eternal torture?

If people are saved without knowing about Jesus, why would you ever tell them?

TOUGH QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANS #17
If people can ONLY be damned if they consciously reject Jesus, why tell anyone about him?

originally posted on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/azatheist

Tough Questions for Christians #16: False Gods

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Question submitted to me by www.youtube.com/lazyperfectionist1 Go ahead and check him out, he's extremely articulate - and has some very good videos.

November 18, 1978. A visit to an agricultural commune in Guyana named Jonestown by U. S. Representative Leo Ryan leads to his death as well as that of three U. S. Journalists and a defector from the People's Temple at the hands of Temple Members. Hours later, the remainder of the cult, 913 men, women, and children lay dead; some by murder, most by suicide.

February 28, 1993. An ATF raid on the Branch-Davidian compound in Waco, Texas in search of illegal weapons escalates into a firefight between ATF agents and Davidians and later into a standoff which lasts until April 19. In the end, the whole affair adds up to 84 dead including 20 children.

The Branch-Davidians and the People's Temple were both composed of devout believers in Christ whose lives involved Bible study and prayer on a daily basis. So how then were these atrocities possible? Many Christians today chock it up to the misleading guile of false gods.

Looking now to the Civil War, many contemporary Christians are very quick to point to the numerous Union Soldiers who went into the field carrying crosses and Bibles and the eventual Union victory as proof that God was against slavery. Many an atheist, agnostic, and freethinker is just as quick to point to the numerous Confederate soldiers about whom the same holds true. But then the Christians use the "false god" hypothesis to explain this away as well.

Clearly, according to the Christians, there are countless false gods in the wings just waiting for the chance to mislead humanity by the hundreds, thousands, millions, and according to some, by the billions.

Now it is a foregone conclusion that no Christian wishes to be misled by a false god. And also that a loving God does not wish for his children to be so misled. So it also stands to reason that the God in question, being wise and intelligent, would have developed a system to prevent it; a system which can be used by any Christian with a trace of sincerity; a system composed of practices which the Confederate Christians, People's Temple, and Branch-Davidians overlooked or neglected.

It can't be the simple act of prayer because the groups in question did that.

It can't be simply the study of the Bible because they did that as well.

Nor can it be simply the having of faith in the guidance of a loving God because this also describes them.

It has to be something these groups neglected to do, or did incorrectly.

So the question is this: What system did God put in place, which the Confederate Christians, the Brand-Davidians, and the People's Temple all ignored - but you don't - which allows you to know you're following the correct God, while they were easily mislead by false gods?

TOUGH QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANS #16:
WHAT SYSTEM DID GOD ESTABLISH, WHICH "MISLEAD" CHRISTIANS IGNORE, THAT ENSURES YOU ARE FOLLOWING THE REAL GOD, WHILE OTHER BELIEVERS ARE SO EASILY MISLEAD?

If you are a Christian who can isolate nothing you are doing differently from the people referred to previously, then here's another question: "How can you be sure that you are not yourself being misled by a false god?"

originally posted on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/azatheist

Tough Questions for Christians #15: Amputees

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I haven’t posted a “Tough Question” for a while, so here’s a new one for you: Why won’t God heal amputees?

Most people I talk to, or most people I pose this question to, say: “God doesn’t work like that. He casts out devils, he heals the sick, but losing a limb isn’t exactly a sickness.”

If the bible story is to be taken literally, then God works exactly like that. When the soldiers came to capture Jesus, one of them had his ear cut off. Jesus picked up the ear and reattached it to the guy’s head. Just like that.

Jesus said that anyone who truly believes in him will be able to perform the same type of miracles he does, and even greater miracles. So reattaching arms, legs, ears, noses, or any other body part should be a simple matter of faith.

So, why aren’t Christians doing it?

There has not been a single recorded event of anyone having a limb grow back, or be reattached, by prayer. It just hasn’t happened.

Christians, why aren’t you out glorifying God by reattaching the severed limbs from the war victims in Iraq, or causing people to grow new limbs, thus proving the validity of your religion?

Why aren’t you healing amputees?

TOUGH QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANS # 15:

WHY AREN’T YOU REATTACHING LIMBS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD?

originally posted on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/azatheist

Tough Questions for Christians 14: Kill Your Kids for Christ

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I’m going to step out of the Bible for just a moment, I'm going to talk about a non-Biblical belief that a lot of Christians still hold. It’s called the “Age of Accountability,” the belief that children are pure and innocent in the eyes of God, and that they will be sent to Heaven regardless of the actions they have committed.

Until they reach the Age of Accountability. Some religions have a specific date, a specific age at which this Age of Accountability kicks in. For others, it’s a general thing determined whenever the child reaches a mentally stable point.

But for some it’s a specific birthday. Imagine it’s eight years old. Your child is seven years old, it’s the day before their birthday. Right now they’re still innocent in God’s eyes, they’re pure, spotless, and clean – but tomorrow, on their birthday, they become sinful wretches who deserve the fiery pits of Hell, overnight.

It completely changes them in God’s eyes.

Now if you’re a Christian who doesn’t believe in the Age of Accountability, quit watching the video, it doesn’t apply to you. I don’t need you leaving comments saying that the Age of Accountability doesn’t exist, because frankly I don’t care.

Besides, that means you believe that God is torturing children who die before they’re old enough to accept Jesus, and that makes your God pretty much a monster. So, if that’s what you want to worship, that’s fine by me.

For the rest of you who believe that God will forgive sins for children, but won’t forgive them for adults get beyond a certain age, or children who get beyond a certain age for that matter, why don’t you kill your kids?

Look at Andrea Yates, she killed her children because she believed that God told her to. She believed it was the only way that they could make it to Heaven. And frankly, if the age of accountability is correct, then she may have been right. She may’ve done the only thing she could do to save their souls.

These children may have rejected Jesus, then gone on to do other things, and ended up burning in Hell forever. By being killed before they were old enough to be held accountable for their actions, they were rushed straight to Heaven.

In fact, if the Age of Accountability is true, then abortion doctors are bringing more souls to Christ then missionaries. If the Age of Accountability exists, then the best thing a Christian can do is become an abortion doctor, or bomb preschools or elementary schools. Kill the kids before they’re old enough to be held responsible.

It’s the only way you can guarantee that you’re bringing their souls to Christ.

Yes, you’re putting your own soul at risk, and I understand God said “Thou shalt not kill,” but you can always repent later.

It’s an amazingly selfless act to send millions of souls to be with God, and send all these souls to Heaven, and save them from the fires of Hell – while knowingly sending yourself directly to those fires.

Most parents out there would willingly jump in front of a semi-truck if it meant they could throw their kid out of the way, even if they knew it would cost them their life doing so.

Is your eternal life so much different than your physical life?

Would you be willing to cast your own eternal life to Hell in order to save your child and make sure that they got to live in an eternity of bliss? If not, why?

TOUGH QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANS #14:

WOULD YOU RISK ETERNITY IN HELL IF IT WOULD GUARANTEE YOUR CHILDREN WOULD SPEND ETERNITY IN HEAVEN?

originally posted on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/azatheist

Tough Questions for Christians #13: Reluctant God

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According to most Christians, God is omnipotent. He knows all. He knows the past, the present, and the future. He knows the outcome of every decision anyone will ever make. In fact, the entire history of the world was known to God before he even created it.

He knew Adam and Eve would fall, and he knew that the ONLY way he could forgive sin would be if he sacrificed himself – to himself.

But he waited 4,000 years to do so.

As I see it, when you read through the Bible it’s a history of God doing everything he can to GET OUT OF SACRIFICING HIMSELF. He is a reluctant God.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God didn’t immediately offer himself as a sacrifice and take sin out of the picture, no – he did everything he could to try to civilize the world and then when that failed he just drowned billions of people.

Then you have the Tower of Babel, you’ve got the Israelites in slavery, God used the Kings, the Judges, and the Prophets, everything he can to try to get out of this. Then FINALLY he decides that nothing else is working, so he comes down in the flesh.

The day before he is to die, he goes and prays to himself and begs himself to get himself out. “God please remove this cup from me.” “Please, let me out of it, I don’t want to do this.”

If God already knew that the only way he could convince himself to forgive sin would be if he came down and killed himself for us, then he should’ve come down as Abel, the very first human born to Adam and Eve. He could’ve consequently been slain by Cain, and could’ve been “slain for our sins.”

There was no need, and no benefit to waiting 4,000 years and issuing laws that he’s just going repeal later.

If your God is not a reluctant God, why did he wait 4,000 years before coming down and offering himself as a sacrifice? Why not do it immediately? And why did he try so many other plans before finally deciding that the only way he could do it would be to come down himself? Why after he was here did he beg himself to let himself off the hook?

Why do you worship a reluctant God?

TOUGH QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANS #13:
WHY WAS GOD SO RELUCTANT TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF FOR YOUR SINS?

originally posted on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/azatheist

Tough Questions for Christians #12: Evil God

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God is good, God is great, God is infinitely merciful, or at least that’s what everyone tells me when they send me emails saying he’s going to burn me in Hell forever.

This “great” “good” God has personally drowned millions of people, he’s killed people for infractions as minor as simply looking the wrong direction, and if God created everything, then he is personally responsible for the ebola virus, the bubonic plague, flesh eating bacteria, and bad breath.

If that’s “good,” then what’s "evil?"

That’s my question for you this time. What action could God commit, or what action could God do that you would consider evil?

TOUGH QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANS #12:

WHAT ACTIONS WOULD BE “EVIL” OR “IMMORAL” IF COMMITTED BY GOD?

originally posted on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/azatheist