Is The Christian God Of The Bible Moral?
Part Three: The Danger of Morality From A Book
An InDepth Look At Morality From An Atheist Perspective
Written By: Jason Rimbaud

Would you kill 70,000 soldiers with one push of a button to save 1,000,000 soldiers?

With a single push of a button, 70,000 soldiers die, burned out of existence as if they were never there. And you were personally responsible for every single one of them perishing. But the caveat is, you would also be responsible for over 1,000,000 soldiers saved. What would you do if you were faced with this seemingly impossible choice? 

Maybe the pendulum of your moral compass swings closer to “not sure I want to kill anyone but to save more lives”. 

Would you kill 70,000 civilians with one push of a button to save 1,000,000 soldiers? 

Maybe your moral compass swings back to the center and then towards “I don’t think that is a fair choice at all”. 

Would you kill 70,000 civilians with one push of a button to save 1,000,000 lives, lives on both sides, soldiers and civilians? 

Are the choices getting easier or harder? 

This isn’t a hypothetical question either. With a single push of a button, men, women, children, grandparents, animals, birds, fish, insects, gone in a blink of an eye. And many in the world saw it as completely justified because it saved so many lives.

To the loved ones that survived, who witnessed first hand the devastation that was the result of a single push of a button, it was an act of cowardice, of hubris, of war crimes. And then when those same loved ones started dying slowly, painfully over the next year from radiation poisoning and other health related issues that accompanied the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, that initial 70,000 turned into 210,000, dead. Would you press a button to be the author of all that death? Could you live with yourself knowing that you killed more people in an instant then had ever died before? 

I was talking to a friend of mine about this series and we somehow ended up at this point in time during World War II. It really doesn’t surprise me, it is one of our favorite topics to discuss/debate/argue. And at one point of the conversation, he mentioned that World War II was a war as much about racism as it was about land expansion. And it got me thinking along those lines and I started to see some parallels between World War II and the question is god moral. 

Hitler was a christian and had a deep seated hatred for the Jews. Hitler idolized Carl Lueger and once said he was the greatest German mayor of all time. Lueger was overtly anti semitic and Hitler learned about the Jews and how they were an aberration of christianity and needed to be removed from the earth.  

In context, Jews had been persecuted throughout Europe long before Hitler came into power. Largely due to the fact that Europe was predominantly christian and the Jews killed christ. This was a deep seated hatred going all the way back to biblical days. Many christians thought that ideology even if they did not go to the extremes Hitler did. 

Because as early as 1941, the Allies were getting reports of the treatment of the Jews. They either did not believe just how bad it really was or couldn’t envision the scope that was inflicted on this particular race. It wasn’t until late 1944 when some of these camps were liberated and then in 1945 when all of them were liberated did we learn the awful truth about the horrors the Germans did on the Jews. And this was all based on religious principles and when those principles go unchecked, one could do a lot of damage in god’s name. 

For those holocaust deniers, claiming the number is way too high, missed the point completely. The fact that any amount of Jew’s were killed simply because they were Jews, German Jews, or any other type, is gross enough. Simply put, human beings were killed because they did not fit the mold of the christian ideology of the day. Religion can make good people, the Germans, do some pretty bad things. 

In a good portion of the propaganda that came out about the war in Europe, a lot was said how we must defeat Hitler. We weren’t saying we had to defeat Germany, we put Hitler on the pedestal and said if we can knock him off, the rest of Germany would go back to normal. America really never hated the German people. 

In December of 1937, the Japanese were ready to launch probably the worst single attack on a city in either World War II. I’m not saying what we are about to discuss overshadows what the Germans did to the Jews. But in a single city, in six weeks time, the Japanese were definitely going to throw their proverbial hat in the ring to give the German’s a run for the title of douchiest act in modern history. 

Japan harbored deep resentment of Western influence in Asia. With UK, American, and Russian colonies in Asia, Japan felt that Asia should be run by Asians. Of course, the Japanese believed they should be the ones in charge. The slogan Asia for Asians should have been a rallying cry for all Asians, but the Japanese would prove to be worse than any western occupier, a lot worse. 

The Japanese could have accomplished what they truly wanted was Asia free from Western influence if they would have treated other Asians as equals. Fortunately for the world, they did not treat them as good as dogs. 

The Samurai lived by a code called Bushido, the way of the warrior. But in the early 1900’s that code of honor and morals was perverted by a new Bushido code, honor above surrender, it is better to be a corpse than a prisoner. There are reports of Japanese soldiers being captured and begging to be allowed to commit suicide rather than to live with the shame of being captured. This was the mentality of the entire population. Well it was after the Emperor watched all his advisors who argued for coexistence with the West be murdered by the warmongers of the Imperial Army. 

The Japanese people used this perverted Bushido code, their belief that the Emperor was one step removed from divinity, and their steadfast belief they were the rightful rulers of all Asia to move into China and teach those Communist loving “brothers” what it meant to be a true Asian.

In 1937, after what could only be described as a terror campaign, the Japanese marched across China murdering entire villages and killing any Chinese prisoners they captured. By the time they reached the city of Nanking, the army was tired, a bit hungry, and pissed off about their brothers in arms that had died thus far into the campaign and then fought for several days in intense fighting as the defenders tried to fight them off. 

Once the Chinese soldiers withdrew, but not before they ordered the citizens to resist until the last man, Japanese flooded into the town where they went on a six week rampage, burning down almost the entire town, killing anyone they deemed to be Chinese soldiers enmasse, and a lot of civilian males thought to be soldiers who had taken off their uniforms to escape the carnage, and raping over 20,000 women, little girls, elderly women, and even infants in some cases. Once the soldiers were done raping the woman, they usually killed them. Sevearl reports say that many women after being gangraped so violently actually died. Those soldiers fucked someone literally to death. 

And the leaders of the Army, who failed to prevent and refused to do anything to try to stop it,  would later be charged with war crimes and put to death, but the head guy, Prince Asaka, was pardoned due to his connections to the royal family. Other military leaders responsible were never tried as they committed ritualized suicide.

Some reports that once the carnage was over, over 200,000 Chinese citizens were dead, and anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 women were raped. This is disputed today by Japanese historians who claim it wasn’t near as bad as the propaganda claimed while still acknowledging the mistakes Japan made during the war. 

But Tillman Durdin, a long time foreign correspondent for the New York Times witnessed first hand the atrocities committed by the Japanese in Nanking. Even as he fled the capital, Durdin witnessed some 200 Chinese soldiers being executed en masse by Japanese troops. 

The culture, fueled by the fascists Generals and Admirals, created a religion around the Emperor and the perverted Bushido code. The Emperor was not considered to be a supernatural being but rather a descendent of the gods, giving him quasi divinity. The populace of Japan had been so brainwashed into this new religion, they would happily die for the Emperor and for the honor of Japan. The danger of giving up oneself to an idea, the acceptance to deviate from the acceptable moral code of the day, results in an entire people losing their mind. 

The Germans fueled their hatred and racism through the prism of christianity while the Japanese used their hatred and racism through the prism of ancestors, honor, and the Emperor. Two different approaches to religion yet both groups did almost the exact same thing. 

By the time Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, their Armed Forces had been fighting the Chinese for almost ten years, ran into the Russians a few times, and had vastly superior tactics, weapons of war, and some of the best pilots in the war. 

In China, they would train new recruits how to bayonet enemy soldiers by using Chinese prisoners as dummies. They would take pictures of themselves beheading prisoners with their Samurai swords, they would literally murdered thousands of Chinese soldiers rather than take them prisoner. They were fierce fighters who refused to surrender, and believed it was better to die than to be captured. 

I know I am over-simplifying the Japanese culture but that was what the Allied forces were facing in the Pacific. 

So when Colonel Paul Tibbets Jr took off in a B-29 bomber he named Enola Gay, after his mother, and headed towards mainland Japan in the early morning hours of August 6th, 1945, he was faced with the dilemma that started this whole third part. 

And in that point of history, no one had ever dropped an atomic bomb on any living target, much less a civilian target. So Tibbets received that distinction at 8:16am when he reported back that Little Boy was away. At 8:16, kids would be going off to school, fathers would be heading into work, mothers would be doing the breakfast dishes, dog would be doing what they do, shitting in the yard, it was almost as if they wanted to do maximum damage. In the first moment, in the initial blast, 70,000 lives were eradicated. In the first four days, another 50,000 would die either from radiation sickness, or injuries they received during the blast or the panic that ensued right after, or the fires that consumed the city. 

Three days later, Major Thomas Sweeney would drop another bomb, this time on Nagasaki. Another 100,000 dead. But unlike Tibbets, Sweeney had read the reports of the devastation at Hiroshima, he read the reports about the radiation poisoning, he knew full well the destruction he was about to inflict on another civilian target. He understood the direct ramifications for the innocent lives that were on the wrong side of the bomb before he pushed the button. That takes a different kind of person to have that responsibility and still complete his mission.

Tibbets and Sweeney had heard about the rape of Nanking. They heard from Marines that the Japanese would rather die than surrender. They heard from the Navy Captains that Japanese pilots would load their planes up with explosives then dive bomb onto the deck of ships. The medics told them about wounded Japanese soldiers, rigged with explosives, who would cry out for help and when the Allied medic approached, the soldier would blow both of them up. They saw the photos Japanese soldiers had taken of themselves beheading Allied soldiers. Death before dishonor right, how do you fight against that type of soldier?

In one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific, on a small little island with no real strategic value for either the Japanese or the Allies, Peleliu, over 10,000 Japanese troops died because they employed a tactic called delay and bleed. Inflict so much damage on the enemy they just give up the will to fight. On Peleliu, only 202 prisoners were captured, out of that, only 19 were soldiers. The entire garrison died defending an island that wasn’t worth the blood they poured into it. 

Tibbets and Sweeney understood the type of war the Japanese were waging. Make the cost of conquering them so high the Allies would just call a truce and they would be able to keep all the land they took in the initial phase of the war. 

Tibbets and Sweeney, armed with all this knowledge, also knew the staggering amount of Allied life it would cost if they were to invade mainland Japan. Over 100,000 Allied troops dead in the Pacific, 240,000 wounded, 20,000 prisoners captured, and they knew what the Japanese did to prisoners so you could add that to the total of dead. Maybe 210,000 dead wasn’t that high a price when you look at the alternative. 

Then you have those like Admiral Nimitz, who believed the Japanese were already on their knees due to the naval blockade and conventional bombing they were already doing. By no means a supporter of the atomic, admitted the bomb hastened the end of the war but it was no means the “reason” they surrendered. 

It is believed by many historians that Russia entering the Pacific theater, now that Germany had surrendered in May 1945, was the real catalyst for ending the war. The Russia the Japanese faced and defeated a few times in 1940 and 1941, was not the Russia they faced in 1945. The Russians basically ran over the Japanese army with not much difficulty. Before the bomb was dropped, Japan had already sued for peace but walked away from the negotiating table because they did not get what they wanted yet. 

The dropping of Fat Man and Little Boy left a scar on the nations of the world. Many called it immoral, some wanted to prosecute us for war crimes because we didn't drop it on military targets, others thought it was just too horrible a weapon to ever use again. Many involved with either the inventing, construction, planning, or dropping the bomb, regretted their part in developing the atomic bomb. 

For Tibbets, he would go to his grave calling the very idea he did something immoral as “hogwash” and claimed to never have regretted it for a single moment as he believed it saved countless lives. 

In 1995, Sweeney, when asked in an interview if he regretted dropping the bomb, “If you saw what they did to our people, you would never ask that question. He would also say that Truman was right in dropping the bomb. 

In his memoir, Wars End: An Eyewitness Account of America’s Last Atomic Mission, Sweeney would recalled visiting the town of Nagasaki a few days after the surrender with Tibbets, he wrote, “I took no pride or pleasure then, nor do I take any now, in the brutality of war, whether suffered by my people or those of another nation. Every life is precious. But I felt no remorse or guilt that I had bombed the city where I stood. The true vessel of remorse and guilt belonged to the Japanese nation, which could and should call to account the warlords who so willingly offered up their own people to achieve their visions of greatness.”

What can you say to that? 

Remember the propaganda was all about how we had to stop Hitler? The propaganda regarding the Japanese was a bit different. We didn’t attack their Emperor Hirohido, or the Admiralty, we attacked their entire race. We called them monkeys, or sub-human, vicious, murderers who had to be stopped at all cost. We portrayed them as sneaky, with slanted eyes and big teeth. We called them “japs”, “nips”, “yellow man”, “monkeys”, “slants”, “gooks, we hated the entire Japanese culture and wanted to destroy them for what they had done during the war. We didn’t single out one instead we hated as a group. 

Remember that bombing raid we did with Tibbets? One of the worst propaganda films I have ever seen stars Cary Grant called Destination Tokyo. It’s a fictionalized version of a submarine Captain (Grant), who sneaks an observer on mainland Japan to gather intelligence for military targets for the first American air raid on Japan after Pearl Harbor. It is so hard to watch due to the language on how they portray the Japanese. And to see Cary Grant called them “nips” and the way he describes them as basically being subhuman with no decency. 

The hatred for the Japanese was so strong, we rounded up about 120,000 Japanese immigrants from the West Coast, 70,000 of whom were American citizens and put them in what we called relocation camps. They were overcrowded, surrounded by barbed wire, and were not allowed to leave under force of armed guards. All of those people lost all their rights, their businesses, money, property, houses, and they had no legal right to appeal. It wasn’t until 1945 when the Supreme Court ruled the camps to be disbanded. It wasn’t until 1988 that any attempt at apology or reparations were offered to those we punished for being Japanese.

This was the cultural environment Tibbets and Sweeney were thrust into when they had to drop the bomb. Neither man would know just how right they were in dropping the bomb. Over 2,000,000 Japanese citizens had already died by August 1945 largely because they believed they would lose honor by surrendering. Not having to invade Japan did save millions of lives, because they would not have surrendered and would have made the Allies pay for every inch they took. Just like they did on that worthless Island in the Pacific. 

Where is your pendulum leaning towards now? 

And for anyone that questions how do we know they wouldn’t have surrendered, because the second to last Japanese soldier still fighting World War II, Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, didn’t surrender until 1974. A full twenty-nine years after the cease fire was ordered by the Emperor. He had been waging his own personal war in the Philippine Island where he had racked up a kill count of 50 dead and over a 100 wounded. 

When he was told the war had been over, shown Japanese papers, he believed it to be a lie by the Allied. Because if Japan had lost, there shouldn’t have been a Japanese paper because he grew up in the culture that they would fight until the very last Japanese died. It wasn’t until they had to fly Onoda’s commanding officer, the one that sent him there and instructed him to never surrender, over to convince the man the war was really over before the man surrendered to authorities. And he wasn’t the last, just the most famous because he wrote a book. 

In 1944, on the Island of Saipan, Allied troops witnessed a banzai charge where nearly 4,000 Japanese soldiers charged their lines and fought to the death. They were following the last orders of their commander, Lieutenant General Yoshisugu Saito, who have called for this all out surprise attack in the honor of the Emperor before commiting ritual suicide. Allied troops also witnessed a different atrocity when they saw women grabbing children and jumping from cliffs rather than submitting to capture. 

Okinawa was particularly hellish because nearly one-third of the population died. Ota Masahide, a survivor and Okinawa historian, wrote in an article for the Asia-Pacific Journal in 2014, “that the military distributed hand-grenades to the civilian population as a means to commit suicide with loved ones. Those that survived the grenades worried about being alive and found other ways to kill themselves with other weapons such as scythes, razor blades, ropes, rocks, and sticks. Military propaganda had warned the civilian population that if they were captured the Americans would torture, rape, and murder them.”

“As the mayhem unfolded, they found all sorts of ways to kill…Men bashed their wives and parents bashed their children, young people killed the elderly and the strong killed the weak. What they felt in common was the belief that they were doing this out of love and compassion.”

Another survivor Kinjo Shigeaki, who took 20 years before he spoke about his experience, identified three factors that created this mentality, “The ideology of obedience to the Emperor, the presence of the Imperial Japanese Army, and being on an island with no way to escape.” 

“Back in those days, 100 million Japanese citizens were supposedly being prepared to fight to the very last man, everyone was prepared for death. The doctrine of total obedience to the Emperor emphasized death and made light of life. The willingness to die for the Emperor on a faraway island resulted in a whole new sense of identity.”

This is a perfect example of what happens when anyone blindly follows along with a moral code that might actually go against your better judgement. When 100 million people is willing to die for “their god”, and will happily do anything that “god” tells them to do, even if its against their own self interest, you have things like the raping of Nanking, the murder of millions of Jews, the bombing of a civilian city with an atomic bomb. 

Right after the call for surrender went out to the Japanese, as many as 5,000 Japanese soldiers refused the order. Many of them died of starvation due to lack of supplies. But they would rather die than ever face dishonor. This was the world Tibbets and Sweeney inhabited when they dropped the bomb. 

How does any of this pertain to the topic I proposed? It’s an example how blind faith and strict adherence to anything can result in dire consequences for all involved. Because the question I posed might be answered in many different ways depending on who you ask. For many, that answer can only be a resounding yes. 

After all, god sent his only son, jesus, down to live among us, teach us, show us how to live a proper moral life. Then that son was put to death on a cross, to abolish all the sins of everyone who had lived up to that point, and for everyone who would ever live after that. On the surface, that does sound like a moral god. 

But when you actually take the time to read the bible, that sentiment falls apart rather quickly. Because in Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Let’s not worry about the creation myth. Let’s focus on the part where god made everything in the universe and saw that it was very good. Considering what happens next, I believe god’s definition of very good differs greatly from mine. Because his very good creation, the one he made in his very own image, has some chit and some chat with a serpent and eats from the one tree god had forbidden them to eat from, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

So Eve eats from the tree, gives some to Adam, then suddenly, in Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.

I’ve read that passage maybe a hundred times in my life. And it wasn’t until right now, at this seventh re-write, that I realized god said, man has become like one of us. If there is only one god, who is the us he is referring to? Maybe the trinity and he was speaking to his other parts? Or maybe it was Yahweh’s wife, Asherah? Or maybe this part was written before the Hebrews fully switched to monotheism. 

Anyway, god finds out they ate from the tree because when he’s walking amongst the garden one day, Adam and Eve are embarrassed to come out of the bushes because they were naked. So they covered their dirty bits with leaves. Apparently having knowledge of good and evil means that you have the understanding that being naked is wrong…somehow.

Did that mean that god walked around naked? I wonder if he was cut or uncut? Probably uncut, he reminds me of a person that would just demand that his people lose 80% sensitivity in their cocks while he continued to enjoy the full sexual experience. He seems to be so obsessed with sex I can totally see this happening. Or maybe he was preparing for the future when his chosen people fucked so many animals he had to write two different laws about animal fucking. Maybe if they could enjoy the full experience, they’d never stop fucking those sheep. The bible doesn’t say but you know those sheepherders were some sheep fuckers too. 

So his creation, the people he made in his own image, knew good from evil. What knowledge did they have before? Were they just blind idiots, mindless and did whatever god told them to do? Because he saw they were good until they knew right from wrong, then they were…bad? To put it another way, maybe they started thinking for themselves and we all know from reading the bible, god hates it when people start thinking for themselves. As Hulk once said, puny god.

Genesis 3:16 To the woman he said, I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. 

Every time men get involved with anything relating to women’s rights or bodily autonomy, they fuck it up. This is mansplaining away why women have pain when a ten pound human shoots out a girl’s hoo haa, ripping her from “V” to A”, not because some idiot creation from a rib of a boy seven thousand years ago ate a damn piece of fruit. 

And if this was true, god’s a dick, punishing every woman who ever lived because one person made a mistake. That’s not a puny god, that’s a petty god, spiteful and childish. You broke my toy, so I’m going to break your toys and all your children’s toys for the rest of time. 

This single verse is the beginning of the misogynistic trend women are relegated to by men throughout the entire bible. It starts right here with the christian god of the bible. And it gets worse. Don’t believe me, I’ll show you.

The early christians, had an interesting view of the role women could occupy in the church. In 1 Corinthians 11:7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man

8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;

9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.

So all you men, next time your wife starts giving you shit, point out this verse, she was created for you and you have every right to tell her to shut the fuck up! Don’t believe me, I’ll prove it.

In 1 Timothy 2:11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission

12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet

13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve

14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became the sinner

15 But woman will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with proprietary

So even a thousand or so years later, god’s curse is still plaguing all those descendants of Eve. But luckily, all those deceived women can still be saved if they get knocked up and pop out another kid to brainwash into serving god. 

I really could go on but then I’d run out of jokes. But just as your mom used to say, women should be seen and not heard. 

On a side note, in my church when I was growing up, women still weren’t allowed to be over men in any capacity. And this was the reasoning all women should be subservient to men. The only “job” women could have, was teaching Sunday School, and leading the choir, playing instruments, but a man was always the worship leader. Facts.

Genesis 3:17 To Adam he said, Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, you must not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the day of your life

So Eve does something, god curses her and every woman that ever lived. Adam does the same exact thing, god curses the ground. I guess the big takeaway from the concept of original sin, men, never listen to your wives. 

So god cursed everyone, the serpent, who forevermore had to crawl on its belly, Eve enjoyed bleeding once a month and ruining her “V” to “A”, and Adam became a farmer. 

Think about it in the strictest of terms, that an all powerful god, all knowing god, who just created the entire universe in six fucking days, failed to see that Adam & Eve would end up eating from that damned tree. If he’s all knowing, he had to have known they would do that, and he still put the fucking tree in the garden to tempt them. He still made the serpent that led them to “sinning”. 

And why does one need a tree that contains all knowledge of good and evil anyway? If god created everything, why the fuck did he create evil? Why didn’t he just forgive Adam and Eve? Or why didn’t he kill them and start from scratch? None of this is logical and only desert dwelling primitives, intellectually speaking, would ever think this was a good story with good outcomes. 

And why is it wrong to understand the difference between right and wrong? My parents began teaching me right from wrong from the moment I could understand. So if christians today are always preaching about this right and that wrong, why is it okay now to know the difference between the two but not back then? 

This is just like the story of The Tower Of Babel, when humans are given the knowledge to reason things for themselves, there is no longer a need for a god. And instinctively, the ancient authors of the bible understood that concept. It was the same during the dark ages, where only the priests could read the bible and the common man had to just accept whatever the men in the funny robes said every Sunday. And no one, not god, not the religions of the world, want anyone to think for themselves. That is why they start brainwashing you from birth, that kind of indoctrination is hard to break.  

So there you have it, the origin story of humanity as laid out by the bible. God creates human, thought he done good, realized he fucked up, refused to admit his mistake, spends the next seven thousand years punishing his creation for rules he made up, rapes a virgin, sends his son to die in a blood magic ritual, offers a solution of forgiveness for everyone, but then offers up zero evidence for anyone to really believe he ever existed, promises he’ll torture anyone that doesn’t believe in him for all eternity, and then becomes the all time champion for hide-n-go-seek. 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Most of us understand that morality is a very complex system of beliefs and there are numerous factors that go into what it means to be moral. But according to a lot of people in Congress, Senate, on local, state, and federal levels, we don’t have to look any further than the bible for the most important moral code the world has ever seen. Of course I’m talking about the Ten Commandments. 

Not only do they claim that this list is the basis for all laws in America and possibly the entire world, this list is so important to our daily life that they are writing laws to force everyone to post this list in schools. So let’s break down the list shall we and see how it stands up. 

1. Thou Shalt Have No Other God’s Before Me

So assuming that about 600 million atheists exist around the world, this is less than important. But I have to admit, I don’t put any gods ahead of humans, period, full stop. But this commandment makes me laugh, because christians believe in only one god, so this is kind of pointless to be included. If there’s only one, you can’t really put one before the other. 

And in keeping with the theme that all laws in America are based on this list, I can’t find a single law that says you can’t worship other gods. I did find something problematic that I’m sure those in Congress and the Senate are going to be trying desperately hard to correct over the next few years, but here in America, we have the right to worship any god we choose. 

2. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image

So I really did a deep dive into this one, and the only place I could find that anyone had made a graven image of gold lately, was at the Republican National Committee when they made a gold statue of Trump. But since the Republicans are god’s party, and since the Evangelicals follow Trump like he is the Messiah, I’m sure that graven image was one god overlooked. Right?

Also couldn’t find a law anywhere in America where it is unlawful to make a statue, graven or otherwise. Though we are tearing down statues left right and center in certain parts of the country and that has made a lot of Evangelicals pretty upset, so I’m all sorts of confused.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy god in vain

Had to do some research for this one. The very light, almost non-existent research, do not take god’s name uselessly, for example, oh for god’s sake. That’s bad, except it’s not, because god isn’t really a name it’s more of a title. Now if you said, oh for I AM THE I AM sakes, bad. Or you could utter, oh for Yahweh’s sake when you break a nail, that would be in vain. Otherwise, not a single law on the books says you can’t say oh for god’s sake for fucks sake. 

4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy

Unless you are Orthodox Jew, working on Sabbat is just another fucking day one can watch football, drink too much, and eat hot wings. (I know Sabbat is on Saturday but the jokes work better for Sunday) Not really a good basis for a commandment. Nor would anyone in America, christian or otherwise, ever stop sports from being on Sunday much less make it illegal.  

Because everyone in power understands what Roman Emperor’s knew all those thousands of years ago, keep the masses entertained, invested in imaginary contests, so they won’t pay attention to what those in power are actually doing. And yes, every one of you fuckers that support any sports team while our schools are underfunded, people are dying without health care, and drug addicts wander the streets like zombies are all fucking culpable in the decline of our country. Go Mets!

5. Honor thy father and mother

Clearly the writers of the bible never met my parents. Because neither of them deserved an ounce of honor. When I went to my fathers tombstone to let it know that I was happy and getting married to the most wonderful boy in the world, I never wished so hard that tombstones talked back. I guess I did show him honor, I didn’t dig his rotting carcass up and light it afire in the middle of the street just so I could piss on it to put out the flames. 

As for my mother, she’s no picnic either, but that’s another story for another when. And no law says I have to honor my parents. 

6. Thou shalt not kill

Finally a commandment that we can all get behind. I guess the bible isn’t a complete waste of ink, paper, and ideas. Though if we were honest, we have moved past the simple don’t kill in the last four thousand years. We changed that little, tiny nugget into something that fits our current understanding of how the world works. We know there are different circumstances for unaliving someone. 

We have at least six different types of murder, each one carrying its own burden of proof. There is a difference in one person setting out to cause harm to another person then say accidentally killing someone. We understand that so we alter the punishment to fit the seriousness of the crime. So even thou shalt not kill isn’t a law we use. 

The Hebrews killed all the time. And when they did it, it was usually a fucking genocide and ordered by Yahweh. 

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery 

This is another one of those “laws” that Republicans break all the time. And while a few states still have anti-adultery laws on the books, those are rarely enforced as most modern thinkers believe that an adult has the right to do as they please. 

Though more than likely, the reason adultery laws aren’t really enforced, because more men than women commit it. And while men love telling women what they can or can not do with their own bodies, they’ll never actively hinder themselves from getting a piece of ass. And abortion isn’t even in the bible, that’s just for Evangelicals to keep women as second class citizens. How dare those women have sex for the sheer pleasure and not how god intended for procreation only? Horny women are the worst, right? 

8. Thou Shalt Not Steal

Oh, so two out of eight thus far as actual laws and dare I say, a good one. Don’t steal other people’s shit. We all share the same space and should be doing everything to help one another out. 

Unless you are a democrat, then you’ll be helping everyone out whether they want your help or not or even agree with your type of help. Or a Republican who wants you to live exactly like they want you too, otherwise you are persecuting them by being different.

9. Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness Against Your Neighbor

Basically means you shouldn’t tell a lie. Probably a good way to live your life but not a law anywhere in the world as far as I know. Our entire justice system is built on whoever is the best liar probably wins. Both of our nominees this time around lied all the time, one more than the other, but both were fucking liars. Trump was just better at it than whatever her name was…see what I did there? 

Plus, I lie to my neighbor all the time. Especially when they stop me in the hall and ask how I’m doing. I’m great but I have to go do a thing, see you later. All three of those statements are usually a lie but she never catches on and no one is hurt, except maybe god, but I don’t believe in him so we all live in harmony. 

10. Thou Shalt Not Covet

Definitely not a law. Matter of fact, I would say the success of America is based solely on the idea that we covet what others have. I do know that every influencer owes their success to people coveting them, so that’s another one that has no basis in laws. 

So that’s it, our list of perfect morals that god felt everyone should live by, matter of fact, when you don’t live by them he kills you. Commit adultery, both the man and the woman should be put to death, make a graven image, death, kill, death, steal, death, god seems to be extremely serious about this list except for the one thou shalt not kill. 

Out of the ten, the first five have no bearing on the modern human, 7, 9, 10 are probably a good way to live your life but not really moral or immoral. So we have “don’t kill”, and “don’t steal”, most of us really care about those two and the rest is just a bunch of gobbly gook.

The Hebrews broke several of these commandments all the time, they made graven images, they worshiped other gods, they killed without remorse, they stole from those they killed, they committed adultery and got rewarded for it. 

At the beginning of this part, I asked the question how two men who were responsible for more deaths in a morning than any other human in history lived their entire life without a single regret. Both men were devoutly religious and believed the Japanese were sub–human, less in god’s eyes, so whatever they did to them could not be wrong. They didn’t kill Germans like they killed the Japanese. They didn’t put Germans in camps, they wrongfully imprisoned Japanese Americans. Why? Because the Germans were white, christian based, and the Japanese basically worshiped a man. It’s easy to have no remorse in the murder of hundreds of thousands of people if you get your moral code from the bible where it was done all the time

That is the single biggest problem I have with the bible, the christian religion, and what it has to say about morality. 

It is all about us vs them, we are the chosen people and since you aren’t, you are a gentile and deserve whatever we do to you. The bible was the justification for slavery, matter of fact, they gave their slaves a special bible to keep them uneducated, the bible was the justification for the genocide of the indigenous people that lived in America before the whites. The “red man” didn’t even have a soul so the christians felt they didn’t have to keep their word, they could murder them, and none of it mattered because they believed in a different god. 

We created most of the problems currently facing us in the Middle East because after World War II, we created the Nation of Israel because Jesus Christ could never come back to save us if there was no Israel. We remain a friend to Israel because they have to be a country if Christ is ever going to come back and punish all those fucking Islamists who believe in the wrong god. So we fight wars that don’t have anything to do with us, support Israel in almost anything they do, all in the name of the christian god of the bible. 

So when I get messages from people claiming it's not fair for me to be so dismissive of the bible and how I should burn in hell for being blasphemes against god, it is that very line of thinking that has caused so much damage to the world. When your religion is too fragile to allow questioning or when its believers claim they are being persecuted for their beliefs in the freest country in the world, there is a fundamental flaw in your religion. 

And since this nonsensical book gives you your worldview, and you frame your thinking in what would jesus do, and vote with your christian goggles on, based on what a bunch of tent dwelling shepherds who believed the world was created in seven days thought, then I have a big problem with the christian god of the bible. When your reasonless belief in this book affects me, minorities, immigrants, and whether or not there is a war on christmas, then I am going to push back and push back as hard as I can. 

When does believing in a lie become immoral? 

It’s an important question. Moral is defined: a person’s standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do

If you are getting your morals, the way you affect others because you deem it unacceptable, then the place you got those morals is suspect. 

I fail to see how any reasonable person could even believe in the christian god based on the history of their religion alone. But then most christians never read the book for themselves, or if they do, they read it from a place of acceptance that everything inside it is good, and true. So I will soldier on in this quest to discover if the god of the christian bible is at least moral. 

I know I said Part Three was going to be on the Exodus, but as I researched it ballooned to over 14,000 words so I decided to break it up. So consider this as a bonus entry in the series as we continue our quest to find morality in the bible.