Disclaimer: Make your own judgements, make your own decisions. The purpose of this page is to enlighten you, and to teach. This is not a mission of conversion, deconversion, hatred, or any other form of coersion. One should look inward to find the true spiritual self.

So, let's look at the OT:

I find it amazing that the OT is even accepted. What I find more amazing is that a lot of Christians even accept it as literal. Not only are the stories it contains unbelievable, but the principles and precedence it sets are not only inhuman, but frightening. The god of the OT, Yahweh, is vicious and unforgiving. The Halacha obedient Jews are proud to be the only ones who have a special covenant with their god Yahweh. Yahweh, in his book of laws depicts himself as a god, who mandates his people to commit genocide (1Samuel 15:3), fratricide (Exodus 32:27-28), cannibalism (Leviticus 26:29), robbery and theft (Exodus 3:22), to keep slaves (Leviticus 25:44-46), to discriminate against women, to despise children (Leviticus 27:2-8), to demand all gold to be delivered to himself and foster avariciousness (Exodus 25:3). Yahweh is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5), who not only hates all peoples on earth, but even his own Jews (Exodus 33:20). He threatens his own people with annihilation should they turn to Aryan-gods, or try to know him (Deuteronomy 6:15)(Genesis 2:16-17). So, with threats of extermination of his own people, he keeps them fearfully at his side. Yahweh’s laws state clearly that Aryan Gods exist.(Genesis 3:22; Deuteronomy 6:16, 32:12). His jealousies then, would appear to stem from the fact that there apparently are 'other gods'. Someone once pointed out to me that the 'cannibalism' that I am alluding to is not 'mandated by God', and they were correct. After further reading, it appears that Yahweh threatened the Israelites that He would

Leviticus 26

27 "`If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me,
28 then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.
29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you.

This is much better I agree. While we are at it, we need to verify the other scriptures that I sited.

First, genocide.

1 Samuel 15

1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD.
2 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.
3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy [1] everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"
4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim--two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah.
5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine.
6 Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt.
8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.

This is not the only scripture that denotes a direct command from Yahweh to basically annihilate an entire group of people. Take a look at what Yahweh commanded of Joshua. Here is a summary of what occurred in Joshua Chapter 10:

Josh 10:10-27 With the help of the Lord, Joshua utterly destroys the Gibeonites.
Josh 10:28 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the people of Makkedah.
Josh 10:30 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the Libnahites.
Josh 10:32-33 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the people of Lachish.
Josh 10:34-35 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the Eglonites.
Josh 10:36-37 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the Hebronites.
Josh 10:38-39 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the Debirites.
Josh 10:40 (A summary statement.) "So Joshua defeated the whole land ...; he left none remaining, but destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded."

Here are direct quotes:

Joshua 10

28 That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it.
30 The LORD also gave that city and its king into Israel's hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.
31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it.
32 The LORD handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.
33 Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army--until no survivors were left.
34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it.
35 They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish.
36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it.
37 They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.
38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir.
39 They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.
40 So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.
41 Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon.
42 All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.

Destroying other cultures that did not worship Yahweh as the one true god was a running theme. He was bloodthirsty and relentless. War was a central theme for all major characters in the OT.  Let's now move on to fratricide. If you are wondering, Webster defines fratricide as: "one that murders or kills his or her own brother or sister or an individual (as a countryman) having a relationship like that of a brother or sister." Even if these verses are referring to the latter definition, it is still unsettling to hear these words, and to try and fathom this type of activity.

Exodus 32

22 "Do not be angry, my lord," Aaron answered. "You know how prone these people are to evil.
23 They said to me, `Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him.'
24 So I told them, `Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.' Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!"
25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.
26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me." And all the Levites rallied to him.
27 Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.'"
28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

So Yahweh commanded the Levites to kill his 'brother and friend and neighbor.' Why? Because Yahweh was frustrated with the people. They never learned. After all of the trials and tribulations they had endured, they still strayed from Yahweh. So, in FRUSTRATION, He has them kill all of their family and friends. Once again, this does not sound like an all powerful god. This sounds like a lesser god, which we can touch on in more detail later.  Let's move on to robbery and theft, for we have already discussed cannibalism.

Exodus 3

19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.
20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21 "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.
22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

This is the first verse brought forth here that might be open to interpretation. It states that the Egyptians will be 'favorably disposed' toward the people. Did they give all of their silver and gold to them? I seriously doubt it. I doubt it most especially because of the end, which says they will 'plunder' the Egyptians, or, as the KJV states, "ye shall spoil the Egyptians." Now on to slavery. This one bothers me a great deal. This is a running theme in both the OT and the NT. Although the NT goes into long statements as to how to treat slaves, it never ONCE denounces it. Thus, we have the history we have. How could a god who is for all support such and institution? That has been a long time question I have never answered, and also plays into the theme we will touch on once again about morality and God. What is interesting is the next two themes I mentioned are both dealing with slavery. The discrimination has to do with the price of slaves:

Leviticus 25

"`If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave.
40 He is to be treated as a hired worker or a temporary resident among you; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee.
41 Then he and his children are to be released, and he will go back to his own clan and to the property of his forefathers.
42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves.
43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
44 "`Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.
45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property.
46 You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
47 "`If an alien or a temporary resident among you becomes rich and one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells himself to the alien living among you or to a member of the alien's clan,
48 he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his relatives may redeem him:
49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.
50 He and his buyer are to count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for his release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired man for that number of years.
51 If many years remain, he must pay for his redemption a larger share of the price paid for him.
52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he is to compute that and pay for his redemption accordingly.
53 He is to be treated as a man hired from year to year; you must see to it that his owner does not rule over him ruthlessly.
54 "`Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee,
55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 27

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.
3 And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
4 And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.
5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
6 And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver.
7 And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
8 But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.
9 And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy.
10 He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.
11 And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest:
12 And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.
13 But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.
14 And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.
15 And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.
16 And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

Note that Yahweh's own people were NOT to be slaves, but the surrounding peoples he was fine with. Also note that the women slaves are to cost less than a 'homer of barley seed.' Interesting how Yahweh gives women no credit. Let's quickly move on to Yahweh's demand that all gold to be delivered to himself and his foster of avariciousness.

Exodus 25

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
5 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

First, you need to understand what avariciousness means. According to Webster: "greedy of gain : excessively acquisitive especially in seeking to hoard riches." That seems to fit here. What does an all encompassing god need all of these things for? This is also the scripture that precursors the building of the ark of the covenant.

Exodus 20

1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 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;

Deuteronomy 6

13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

Genesis 3

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is 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:

This last topic is rather interesting, and widely debated. These verses comment on a touchy subject, 'monotheism'. In these verses, Yahweh clearly states, "Thou shalt have no other gods...", "Ye shall not go after other gods...", "...the man is become as one of us..." These all infer that there are 'other' gods. This is plain and simple language. In fact, the last verse (Gen 3:22) sounds ironically like the Greek and Roman accounts. The conversations between Zeus and other gods (esses). Is this what it really means though? The Christian perspective in hindsite was that this is evidence of the 'trinity', a concept never fleshed out until the 'Gospel' of John, which we have already mentioned to have been written ~120 CE. How was this accounted for before this time? I am not really sure, and am still studying this issue. What fascinates me is the relationship between this verse's accepted concept of the Trinity and the others, which repeatedly state in the OT "For the LORD thy God is a jealous God." This must not correlate to the Trinity in this case, for why would the Father be jealous of the Son, or of the Holy Spirit, or vice versa? These contexts which are repeated so often in a running theme of the OT must refer to 'other' gods. The reply posed by advocates of the Bible is this however: 'These vereses and references to 'other' gods are pointed out to be 'false' gods, such as graven images." A point to be considered of course. This does not, however, explain Yahweh's vicious and vehement demands for monotheistic behavior. For example, if He was most concerned with people bowing to 'false' gods such as objects, and statues, then why does he find it so threatening that He must state: "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", or "...lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth." These are not the words of someone who wants people to 'stop playing games' and serve the only God, but are actually the words of a god who fears competition, and is violently jealous (as He stated). Here are other examples:

Exodus 34
13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.
14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15 "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.

Deuteronomy 4
23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time--if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger,

Deuteronomy 32
19 The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
20 "I will hide my face from them," he said, "and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful.
21 They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.
22 For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that burns to the realm of death below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains.
23 "I will heap calamities upon them and spend my arrows against them.

These are examples of someone who is truly jealous. In modern society, we would fear a person who said such things in anger against anyone.