Violence in the Bible: Greatest Hits

For many, the Bible (both the Hebrew Bible [aka the Old Testament for Christians] and the New Testament) is a moral touchstone and a guide to a peaceful life. Yet such a use of the Bible relies on a rather selective reading of its stories, since the Bible also contains numerous disturbingly violent tales. These violent stories are often passed over altogether or explained away as cultural remnants of the time when the stories were transmitted and written down. Yet it is worth knowing that these unseemly accounts still exist in the Bible, because some tend to treat this book as a homogeneous document that has a consistently nonviolent message. In fact, the Bible is far from a non-violent book. Here are the Top Ten most violent stories from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament:

 1. The Rape of Dinah (Genesis 34)

 2. Genocide in Joshua (Joshua 1-12)

 3. The Dismembered Concubine (Judges 19)

 4. The Murder of John the Baptist (Mark 6)

 5. The Killing of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5)

 6. Wilderness Slaughter (Exodus 32)

 7. The Parable of the Unfaithful Slave (Luke 12

 8. Revelation’s Bowls of Wrath (Revelation 16)

 9. Jephthah’s Human Sacrifice (Judges 11)

 10. Sexual Violence Against Jacob’s Wives’ Slaves (Genesis 30)

And some also ran;

1. Cain Kills Abel (Genesis 4)

2. Jesus Crucified (Mark 16 and parallels)

3. Judas’ Deaths (Matthew 27; Acts 1

4. Drowning Pharaoh’s Army (Exodus 14)

5. Paul Wishes Castration on his Opponents (Galatians 5)

The above, along with a description of the list item can be found at:Violence in the Bible: Greatest Hits | HuffPost

 And what would be Biblical violence without some mass killings?

1. The Flood (Genesis 6-8)
2. The cities of the plain, including Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19)
3. The Egyptian firstborn sons during the Passover (Exodus 11-12)
4. The Canaanites under Moses and Joshua (Numbers 21:2-3; Deuteronomy 20:17; Joshua 6:17, 21)
5. The Amalekites annihilated by Saul (1 Samuel 15)

See also; How Many Has God Killed?

A Chaplain and an Atheist Go to War

By Michael M. Phillips
The Wall Street Journal 

Sept. 4, 2010

SANGIN, Afghanistan—They say there are no atheists in foxholes. There's one on the front lines here, though, and the chaplain isn't thrilled about it.

Navy Chaplain Terry Moran is steeped in the Bible and believes all of it. His assistant, Religious Programs Specialist 2nd Class Philip Chute, is steeped in the Bible and having none of it.

Together they roam this town in Taliban country, comforting the grunts while crossing swords with each other over everything from the power of angels to the wisdom of standing in clear view of enemy snipers. Lt. Moran, 48 years old, preaches about divine protection while 25-year-old RP2 Chute covers the chaplain's back and wishes he were more attentive to the dangers of the here and now.

It's a match made in, well, the Pentagon.

 "He trusts God to keep him safe," says RP2 Chute. "And I'm here just in case that doesn't work out."

The 460 Army, Navy and Air Force chaplains deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are prohibited from carrying weapons, counting on their assistants and the troops around them for protection. It can be a perilous calling. On Monday, Chaplain Dale Goetz, 43, of White, S.D., and four other soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb near Kandahar. Capt. Goetz is the first Army chaplain killed in action since the Vietnam War.

Violence in Defense of Christian Privilege

Posted for Christians. 

Watch the whole thing. Pay particular attention to the Christian responses to people that have a different outlook and dared to speak out.

Please pay particular attention from the 34:30 mark
 

BTW, this is nothing new. O.H.

“I’ll tell you what you did with Atheists for 1500 years. You outlawed them from the universities, or any teaching careers, besmirched their reputations, banned or burned their books or their writings of any kind. Drove them into exile, humiliated them, seized their properties, arrested them for blasphemy. You dehumanized them with beatings and exquisite torture, gouged out their eyes, slit their tongues, stretched, crushed or broke their limbs, tore off their breasts if they were women, crushed their scrotums if they were men, imprisoned them, stabbed them, disemboweled them, hung them, burnt them alive. And you have nerve enough to complain to me that I laugh at you.”
—Madalyn Murray O’Hair


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