Capital Offense in The Bible: Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:10-16)

Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel; and the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel quarreled in the camp, and the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name (of the Lord), and cursed. And they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelo'mith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be declared to them. And the LORD said to Moses, "Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And say to the people of Israel, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. -Leviticus 24:10-16 RSV

Of course the Bible would have this as a capital offense. You would think that a god that is as powerful as this one claims to be, would have a little thicker skin. But this only shows the lack of confidence the writers had in their ideas (all good ideas are open to criticism). The religious claim that God gave us free-will — we have free will to do everything God wants or be killed/tortured forever, and of course to never talk badly about him. These verses also provide another example for why God is far from being all-loving: "And the LORD said to Moses, "Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him". God is all-loving to those that do everything he says; odd how an all-loving god's love is conditional. I suppose the writers didn't think that far ahead when they were writing about him.

Capital Offense in The Bible: Not Obeying a Priest (Deuteronomy 17:12)

The man who acts presumptuously, by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel. -Deuteronomy 17:12 RSV

Priests are viewed here as being somehow better then all other people. This verse makes priests out to be like kings, they could ask people to do anything, and if people do not obey them, the death penalty is given. Hypothetically, if a priest was trying to molest a little boy, if the child resisted, that child (under biblical law) would be put to death, and would be considered evil.

Intolerance in the Bible (Part 4): Kill Those That Do Not Believe.

They sacrificed to the LORD on that day, from the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; and that whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. They took oath to the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns. -2 Chronicles 15:11-14

 "Believe in our god or we will kill you!". This is another great example of intolerance in the Bible: killing people that do share your beliefs. A fanatic wouldn't have to look hard to find verses to justify murdering people. Hardly a book of morality and compassion — more like a book of immorality and hate.

Bible on Slavery (Part 4): Exodus 21:7-11

"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt faithlessly with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money. - Exodus 21:7-11 RSV

This verse is a great example for why the Bible is absolutely not a book on morality. These verses condone a father selling his daughter as a sex slave.

"If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt faithlessly with her" So if the sex slave does not please the master any more, he can sell her to a non-foreigner. In the Bible women apparently can be used as currency.

"If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter." Hint of incest?

 "If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money" This is where the authors draw the line, they view it as immoral to not feed and clothe a sex slave!

People should never brag about getting morality from the Bible. That is like bragging about a getting health-food from a candy store.

More Pillaging and Rape (Judges 5:30)

"They are only finding things to capture and divide, a woman or two for every soldier, rich cloth for Sisera, embroidered pieces for the neck of the queen." -Judges 5:30

This is another example of how the Bible portrays women as being mere property. In this case being divided up like all of the other loot. Raping and pillaging is not an evil action, just so long as God is on your side (that was sarcasm). But if Believers are on the receiving end of the rape and pillaging, those committing it are viewed as immoral and evil. Hypocrites! Actions are actions — just like how believers will attempt to justify such verses (people that do such a thing are similar to holocaust deniers), doing so is an immoral action in my opinion.

The All-Jealous God: Zephaniah 1:2-6

The LORD said, "I am going to destroy everything on earth, all human beings and animals, birds and fish. I will bring about the downfall of the wicked. I will destroy everyone, and no survivors will be left. I, the LORD, have spoken. "I will punish the people of Jerusalem and of all Judah. I will destroy the last trace of the worship of Baal there, and no one will even remember the pagan priests who serve him. I will destroy anyone who goes up on the roof and worships the sun, the moon, and the stars. I will also destroy those who worship me and swear loyalty to me, but then take oaths in the name of the god Molech. I will destroy those who have turned back and no longer follow me, those who do not come to me or ask me to guide them." Zephaniah 1:2-6 GNB

Breaking this quote down starting off with: "The LORD said, "I am going to destroy everything on earth, all human beings and animals, birds and fish". So destructive, but insightful at the same time, I suppose birds and fish are not animals.

"I will destroy everyone, and no survivors will be left". Isn't that a little redundant? If everyone is destroyed wouldn't it be obvious that no survivors would be left?

"I will destroy the last trace of the worship of Baal there, and no one will even remember the pagan priests who serve him." Here God acknowledges the existence of another god, and naturally he is super jealous — poor guy. But, why an all-powerful, all-loving, all-knowing god would be jealous of something is strange; he created everything, including this god.

"I will destroy anyone who goes up on the roof and worships the sun, the moon, and the stars" — that's a bit harsh...

"I will destroy those who have turned back and no longer follow me, those who do not come to me or ask me to guide them" Destroying all of those that do not come to you for advice; I have some words of advice for you God: you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar (but an all-knowing god should already know that).

Bible Bull!@#$ (Part 3): Poison Immunity, Healing sick.

This here is another great example of Bible bull!@#$. 

He said to them, "Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all people. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons in my name; they will speak in strange tongues; if they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be harmed; they will place their hands on sick people, and these will get well." -Mark 16:15-18 GNB

 These verses claim that Believers have the ability to preform miracles, drive out demons, speak in strange tongues (about all they can do), and have poison immunity. You can have all the faith in the world, you drink poison, you will die. If a Christian wants to prove me wrong, go drink some poison and get back to me (don't really do it). These verses also make the claim that believers can "place their hands on sick people, and these will get well". Forget the finding the cure for cancer! All we needed was for Christians to touch us!