Yahweh was a right old Bastard

If Christians are going to pray to, and even love, Yahweh, they should picture him in their mind’s eye. Some conclusions about Yahweh can be made after reading about his exploits in the Old Testament.

He had nearly all the most unattractive features of a primitive tyrant. He was violent, sexist, racist, egotistical, power-hungry, capricious, jealous, homophobic, and not particularly intelligent. He allowed and encouraged rape, even of children. He sanctioned slavery, war, murder and the unnecessary killing of animals. He took sides and interfered in proceedings like a meddlesome, mischievous bully. He passed judgment on the most trivial of issues and insisted the Jews worship him. Yahweh was a right old bastard. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG0PDuUdhAc). (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwf6QD-REMY).

He was similar to Islam’s god, Allah, who was also jealous, violent, sexist, and obsessed with snuffing out any competition. Yahweh and Allah were, in fact, hypothetically the same character. Judaism had its priests and prophets who were inspired to write the Old Testament, Islamists had Mohamed who was allegedly inspired to write the Koran, and they were both supposedly referring to the same nasty god.

Yet, Yahweh was not all bad. Different authors depicted him differently. There are some places where he was merciful or gracious or forgiving or loving or kind. If he had consistently behaved this well, belief would be a more benign delusion – but he did not. God showed his true colors too often.

Most Christians rarely read the Old Testament, or if they do, only pick parts of it, and so gloss over the fact their God is so evil. Yet Yahweh has always been there, quietly lurking in the background, insidiously poisoning Christians’ attitude to their fellow men, women, and children. A few fundamentalists still justify their own prejudices by quoting the Old Testament (http://www.catholic.com/library/Homosexuality.asp).

 

 

Aristotle may have said

“Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but also with regard to their mode of life.”

(Aristotle 384 BC – 322 BC.)

There is no evidence that the God of Scripture exists, and the burden of proof lies with those who claim he does.

It can be argued that “God” is nothing more than a fabricated figure that has always been all about power. One of man’s main ambitions is to be powerful, to rule over others. “God” was, and is, nothing more than a sock puppet for priests or other religious raconteurs. The “God” concept was originally used for the benefit of the Jewish clerical caste; to give priests prestige, power and wealth.

These priests had Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP.) [1] The priests talked about a “God,” who they pretended was an all-powerful entity. This God exaggerated or fabricated problems, such as sins; thoughts or actions, that supposedly upset him. This “God” could then “save” the sinner from his own disapproval, that is from a problem that was not real.

Priests created a role for themselves by claiming they talked on this God’s behalf. The priests thereby made themselves, and those associated with them, appear to be very important.

In later times the Roman government and the Christian priesthood promoted God’s existence for the same reasons – to control and profit from a gullible public.

“God” kept commoners bowing to priests and kings, the peasants paying their tithes and taxes, slaves in shackles, women submissive to men, and wayward adolescents obeying their parents.

Things are much the same today, as Christian leaders in governments, armies, churches, schools, and families are still using “God” to control others. Consider dying for one’s country, Sunday school, sermons from the pulpit, the confessional box, “gay rehabilitation” centers, and the pressure put on people to fork up money every Sunday.

If enough people woke up to the fact that “God” is nothing more than an invention used by raconteurs to profit from people, the Christian juggernaut would grind to a halt.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Münchausen_syndrome_by_proxy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtEsQT5M2IQ (highly recommended viewing)