God as Moral Monster

“Butler Rebuttal”
Is God a Moral Monster?
A few years ago a Mr. Butler wrote a guest column in the Siskiyou Daily News (2/20/12) that was brought to my attention from a parishioner.  He laid the blame for centuries of warfare at the feet of religion.  He saved his biggest shots for the Bible as a “manual of wanton bloodshed” and accused the God of the Bible to be monstrous. I responded with the following letter to the editor.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Butler ascribes a moral equivalency to all religions illustrated in the history of warfare.  He has every right to his own opinion, but he does not have the right to his own facts.  Throughout America’s history she has fought many wars against nations but not a single war has ever been to spread Christianity.  Recent wars in Kosovo and Bosnia were actually fought to protect Muslim minorities from ethnic cleansing.   Butler tries to bolster his case with stories from the Old Testament and “suggests we read it sometime” but he does not cite a single passage location.  His understanding sounds a lot different than my readings.  

In the interest of space, the Old Testament can be summed up as:
1.     God exists
2.     God owns what He created
3.     God gave a portion of the earth to Abraham’s descendants through his grandson, Jacob
4.     God removed the squatters who refused to repent from that portion  

Each of these can be argued, and defended, but that will have to wait.  My interest is to invite Mr. Butler to read his sources more carefully.  He speaks of God as a “tyrannical monarch” who ordered His troops to rape inhabitants of the land.  Where?  He gives no citation.  Perhaps he was reading the Quran at the time and confused the two.  God never orders anyone to rape women.  He condemned it then and He condemns it now.

Butler talks about “pretending to make peace and then slaughtering the inhabitants at their most vulnerable.”  He again gives no citation but this one is easy to find in Genesis 34.  Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, is raped by an inhabitant who later wanted to marry her.  Dinah’s brothers hatched a plot with “deceit” to get the males of his tribe circumcised.  While they were at “their most vulnerable” two of Dinah’s 12 brothers fell upon them and killed the males.  While such treachery might be hailed by Mohammed as brilliant, this act was condemned by God, and Jacob, and never repeated.

Another case Butler marshals is Joshua and Rahab.  Since the land was given by God to Israel it was Joshua’s responsibility to take possession.  Any good commander knows he needs recon.  Joshua’s spies happened upon Rahab, a harlot by trade, and willing accomplice in Israel’s invasion.  She heard what God did for Israel on the other side of the Jordan and wanted no part of the fight.  She hid the spies in exchange for her family’s safety.  Joshua’s extension of mercy to her, a sinner, is evidence that no one had to die if they would cooperate with God removing the squatters.  Joshua did not end up with all “the prostitutes for himself” as Butler alleges.  Again, he is mistaking Joshua for Muslim Jihadists expecting 70 virgins to meet them in paradise for their murders.

God’s desire is that the wicked repent.  In fact, He gave the Canaanites over 400 years to do so, sadly they refused.  Israel frequently extended opportunities to inhabitants who asked.  God commanded Israel to “utterly destroy” Canaan (Dt. 7:2-5) but He follows with a prohibition “not to intermarry” with them.  This suggests some hyperbole in the command and non-combatants were spared.

Observing recent bloodshed, it is clear who the perpetrators are.  It is not Christians who are flying airplanes into tall buildings, or burning schools with children in them, and churches with mothers in them, or “fragging” their own comrades wearing the same uniforms, or rampaging in the streets of Cairo to Kabul killing any infidel that happens along because some defaced copies of the Quran were improperly disposed of at Gitmo.  Now some GIs will be put on trial.  When will we bring our brave troops home?  Unlike the Ayatollahs and Mullahs, I haven’t heard any Christian leader applaud the bloodshed Butler bemoans. 

Unlike Jihad, the violence in the Old Testament was limited to a particular people, in a particular place, for a particular period, to achieve God’s particular purpose.  Many followers of Mohammed claim the right to murder in the name of Allah is universal.  Notice what is going on in the Sudan where recently independent Christian south is being slaughtered by the Muslim north.  These bloodthirsty cowards claim Allah demands the retaking of any former Muslim territory.  Observe that our State Dept. reported that not a single Christian Church or school remains in Afghanistan -  a place where many Christian soldiers risked their lives and have spilled their blood – for a nation of ungrateful murderers.

As one Christian philosopher said, “Both Islam and Christianity were spread at the point of a sword, but the swords were pointing in opposite directions.”  Jesus said in the New Testament, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who spitefully use you,” (Mt. 5:43, 44).  Mr. Butler, I suggest you read it sometime.

First published May 2012 reprinted 2017 Rev. William Hofer  

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