How many has God killed?

[Henry]

Dear Sajih,

I am offended at your accusations and assumptions about me. You keep falling back to Exodus 20:3-7. Here is my response to that passage:

WORSHIP NO GOD BUT ME...I only Worship the one God.

DO NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELVES IMAGES OF ANYTHING IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH OR IN THE WATER UNDER THE EARTH...I don't do this.

DO NOT BOW DOWN TO ANY IDOL OR WORSHIP IT...I don't do this.

BECAUSE I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD AND I TOLERATE NO RIVALS...I only Worship and believe in the one God.

I BRING PUNISHMENT ON THOSE WHO HATE ME AND ON THEIR DESCENDANTS...I don't hate God.

BUT I SHOW MY LOVE TO THOUSANDS OF GENERATIONS OF THOSE WHO LOVE ME AND OBEY MY LAWS...I love God, and I follow my concscience (which tells me right from wrong).

DO NOT USE MY NAME FOR EVIL PURPOSES BECAUSE I THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL PUNISH ANYONE WHO MISUSES MY NAME...I don't do this.

So there you have it Sajih, I am not violating anything from Exodus 20:3-7.

I respect your beliefs and your enthusiastic spirit. However, you cannot blindly obey a man-made book just because it mentions God in it. You are confusing the Bible for the introduction of God. You asked us how we could know God if not for the Prophets and messengers telling us about him. I put it to you that long before the Bible was written, there has always been folklore and spiritual beliefs, even before spoken language existed for that matter. My only explanation for this is that God created us with an instinctual knowledge of him. He also created us with a conscience that tells us right from wrong. Why do we need a book to tell us not to kill someone or steal from someone? Our conscience already tells us that these things are wrong. Maybe God did send us angels and other messengers long ago, who told us about God and perhaps showed us miracles to prove their authority…long before the Bible was written. But I don't believe that Constantine knew about these things as it would have occured thousands of years before he was born.

If Constantine and his committe showed us proof (like some fantastic miracles) that they were authorized by God to write his book, then I would believe the Bible. But what miracles did Constantine show anyone? What miracles has any Pope ever shown anyone? What miracles has any Church authority ever shown anyone? None at all. So why should we listen to them about God? After all, they are getting their information from a book full of hatred and violence and murder.

Mankind has always had a connection and fascination with God. The only reason the Bible was so successful when it was published is because people already had a strong knowledge about God. Suddenly there existed an “official” book about God, a manuscript that they can read from to feel closer to God. This official God book was sanctioned by the powerful ruler Constantine, as well as all the religious leaders from the committee. No wonder it was such a smashing success. It probably would have been a crime punishable by death for anyone to ignore this book at that time.

It would have died out in popularity if not for the invention of the printing press. Churches all over the world suddenly had a way of printing mass quantities of Bibles quickly and cheaply, and all the same exact copies word-for-word (some scribes made changes either by accident or intentionally). Prior to the printing press, a book had to be written by hand and took a very long time to complete, and the skilled scribes of the time were not cheap to hire.

I am puzzled as to why you are confusing the Bible as being the word of God, simply because it mentions God? It was written by a cruel dictator and by a committee of fools from different sects and cults of the time (like the pagans and the druids). Many of the people on this committee were uneducated and illiterate. During this gathering, paganism was the legal religion in Constantine’s land, and Constantine himself was a pagan follower. This explains why so much from the pagan beliefs made it into Christianity (like the cross, the trinity, etc).

God would consider many of the stories in the Bible about him as being evil and cruel, and not something he would approve of. For example, the killing of innocent children & animals, the raping of virgins, the numerous instances of genocide…these are not the actions of a peaceful and loving and merciful God. For anyone to blindly accept these stories simply because it is written in Constantine’s book, is a fool. I am sure that God has been deeply hurt from these sickening stories attributed to him in the Bible. For those of you that don’t believe what I just wrote, here are the Bible passages where I got the above examples from:

In Joshua 6:20-21, God helps the Israelites destroy Jericho, killing “men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. [this is genocide and cruelty].

In Deuteronomy 2:32-35, God has the Israelites kill everyone in Heshbon, including children. [this is genocide and cruelty].

In Deuteronomy 3:3-7, God has the Israelites do the same to the people of Bashan. [this is more genocide and cruelty].

In Numbers 31:7-18, the Israelites kill all the Midianites except for the virgins, whom they take so they can rape them later. [here they are saying that God gave his blessing for them to committ murder & rape).

In 1 Samuel 15:1-9, God tells the Israelites to kill all the Amalekites – men, women, children, infants, and their cattle – for something the Amalekites’ ancestors had done 400 years earlier. [this is very cruel, very unjust, and more genocide].

At least you openly claim that you found evidence of the lies and pollution of the bible. But you were mistaken. You see, the whole Bible itself is a made-up collection of texts taken from the beliefs of various religions of the time. What you found was the first sign of evidence that the Bible is not sanctioned by God, and he would be ashamed of that book at the way it portrays him. I have watched your video documentary. You have conveniently dismissed parts of the Bible as being “tainted” or “polluted” by various people in the past, and you are conveniently trying to salvage the bits in the Bible that you like and accept. It is too bad you did not see the whole truth and come to the same conclusion as I did…that the Bible is a man-made book that has nothing to do with God, and does not deserve your loyalty.

I know what you are probably thinking right now. That I'm a servant of the Devil and I'm trying to lure you away from God, or something along those lines. I know this because this is what others have told me when I tried to explain that they are being deceived by the Church and by the Bible.

Well, I can assure you that I mean you no harm, and I don't want you to worshipp satan or kill chickens or do any evil voodoo or whatever it is that devil worshippers do. I also don't want money from you or for you to join any church or cult or anything like that.

All I want from you is to just love God and do the right thing by your conscience that God has created you with. You will automatically not committ any sins simply by following your good conscience that God has given you.

I will pray for you Sajih. I pray that you see the light and start thinking for yourself some more.

With Love & Peace,
Henry Paine