I feel like I'm just writing summaries of all the crazy stories. I still haven't found anything that I want to incorporate into my life.
Genesis 20 - Abraham and Sarah move to a new region and Abraham introduces his wife Sarah as his sister, again. He clearly didn't learn that lying wasn't a good thing the first time. Abimelech, the king of the new area took Sarah as his wife. In Geneses 20:3 God comes to Abimelech in a dream and says to him "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman." God also closed up every womb in Abimelech's household because of Sarah. Once again, God doesn't punish the liar Abraham. The only thing I learn from this is that God plays favorite.
In Genesis 21 Abraham and Sarah finally have a kid. At this point Abraham is one hundred years old. They name him Isaac. Sarah gets jealous of Hagar's kid, the one she told her to have with he husband Abraham. So Abraham sends Hagar on her way with some food and water. More strong family values here. Abraham, God's favorite, has a kid out of wedlock then kicks her out. This is more of an example of a dead beat dad.
Speaking of bad dad stories, Abraham and God, the so called heavenly father, both take it to another level in Genesis 22. In Genesis 22:2 God said "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering." WTF!!! Then Abraham says ok and has Isaac carry the wood that is going to be used to sacrifice him up the mountain. Isaac asks where the lamb for the burnt offering is and Abraham, the perpetual liar, tells him that God will provide the lamb. Abraham gets the altar set up with Isaac on it, and he is ready to sacrifice his son. Only then does an angel come down and tells him not to. Yuck Yuck Yuck. I hope parents are not reading this story to their children. Kids should know that if anybody, but especially a parent, says they are talking to God and He says that the kid needs to be sacrificed they should RUN and scream and kick and bite. Don't go along with the craziness. Also, what is with this loving God asking Abraham to prove his love by killing his kid?
Even worse is the story of Jephthah in Judges 11:29-40. In that one, the father actually sacrifices his daughter as a burnt offering, because she makes the mistake of coming out of the house to greet him after he returned victorious from a battle (seriously!). But she is very understanding and accepts her fate. Nice girl.
ReplyDeleteDawkins mentions several of these perverse passages in his book "The God Delusion". Worth reading.
I didn't read these passages involving sacrificing innocent children to my young kids, although I still may, just to show them how stupid the bible is. But I did read them Genesis 9:21-27 where Noah gets drunk and lies naked in his tent. Ham makes the mistake of entering the tent and sees Noah naked (yikes). Noah subsequently finds out and so curses Ham's son Canann and all his lineage (taking it out, again, on the children and even the childrens' children ad infinitum). This passage was later used by bigots throughout history to justify slavery. Again, not kidding. My kids loved that story - they thought it was hilarious that the Noah was so pissed off that someone accidentally saw his privates when he was passed out drunk.