
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed..."== | ==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed..."== | ||
{{IndexClaimItemShort | {{IndexClaimItemShort | ||
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*[[Question: How can one approach reconciling confusing, seemingly disturbing, or otherwise troubling texts from the scriptures?]] | *[[Question: How can one approach reconciling confusing, seemingly disturbing, or otherwise troubling texts from the scriptures?]] | ||
*[[Question: Why does God act so violently in scripture and especially the Old Testament?]] | *[[Question: Why does God act so violently in scripture and especially the Old Testament?]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed murder, genocide...pillage, plunder...2. Numbers 31...3. 1 Nephi 4...7. Numbers 21: 5-9"== | ==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed murder, genocide...pillage, plunder...2. Numbers 31...3. 1 Nephi 4...7. Numbers 21: 5-9"== | ||
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*[[Question: How can one properly view scriptural texts that appear to endorse genocide, pillage, and plunder in the Bible?]] | *[[Question: How can one properly view scriptural texts that appear to endorse genocide, pillage, and plunder in the Bible?]] | ||
*[[Question: Do the scriptures endorse murder?]] | *[[Question: Do the scriptures endorse murder?]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...rape...selling daughters into sex slavery, polygamy...sexism... 8. Judges 19:22-29"== | ==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...rape...selling daughters into sex slavery, polygamy...sexism...8. Judges 19:22-29"== | ||
{{IndexClaimItemShort | {{IndexClaimItemShort | ||
|title=Letter to a CES Director {April 2013 revision) | |title=Letter to a CES Director {April 2013 revision) | ||
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*[[Question: Did God endorse rape in the Old Testament?]] | *[[Question: Did God endorse rape in the Old Testament?]] | ||
*[[Question: Are the scriptures misogynistic/sexist?]] | *[[Question: Are the scriptures misogynistic/sexist?]] | ||
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==Response to claim:"To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...slavery"== | ==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...slavery"== | ||
{{IndexClaimItemShort | {{IndexClaimItemShort | ||
|title=Letter to a CES Director {April 2013 revision) | |title=Letter to a CES Director {April 2013 revision) | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to question:''' | '''Longer response(s) to question:''' | ||
*[[Question: What is the best way to understand servitude in the Old and New Testaments?]] | *[[Question: What is the best way to understand servitude in the Old and New Testaments?]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...racism"== | ==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...racism"== | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to question:''' | '''Longer response(s) to question:''' | ||
*[[Question: Do the scriptures promote racism?]] | *[[Question: Do the scriptures promote racism?]] | ||
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==Response to claim:"To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...human sacrifice"== | ==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...human sacrifice"== | ||
{{IndexClaimItemShort | {{IndexClaimItemShort | ||
|title=Letter to a CES Director {April 2013 revision) | |title=Letter to a CES Director {April 2013 revision) | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to question:''' | '''Longer response(s) to question:''' | ||
*[[Question: Does the Bible endorse human sacrifice?]] | *[[Question: Does the Bible endorse human sacrifice?]] | ||
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==Response to claim:"To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...child abuse"== | ==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...child abuse"== | ||
{{IndexClaimItemShort | {{IndexClaimItemShort | ||
|title=Letter to a CES Director {April 2013 revision) | |title=Letter to a CES Director {April 2013 revision) | ||
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'''Longer response(s) to question:''' | '''Longer response(s) to question:''' | ||
*[[Question: Do the scriptures endorse child abuse?]] | *[[Question: Do the scriptures endorse child abuse?]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "that Laban would send his servants after Nephi and his brothers is ridiculous considering that the same God who had no problem lighting stones and taming swarms of bees"== | ==Response to claim: "that Laban would send his servants after Nephi and his brothers is ridiculous considering that the same God who had no problem lighting stones and taming swarms of bees"== | ||
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*[[Question: Did Nephi commit "cold blooded murder" when he killed Laban?]] | *[[Question: Did Nephi commit "cold blooded murder" when he killed Laban?]] | ||
*[[Question: Why didn't God simply preserve Nephi's life using divine power instead of requiring him to kill Laban?]] | *[[Question: Why didn't God simply preserve Nephi's life using divine power instead of requiring him to kill Laban?]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "God kills all the firstborn children in Egypt except for those who put blood on their doors?"== | ==Response to claim: "God kills all the firstborn children in Egypt except for those who put blood on their doors?"== | ||
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}} | }} | ||
{{appeal to emotion}} | {{appeal to emotion}} | ||
'''Longer response(s) to question:''' | '''Longer response(s) to question:''' | ||
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*[[Question: Why would a loving God kill the firstborn of Egypt?]] | *[[Question: Why would a loving God kill the firstborn of Egypt?]] | ||
*[[Joseph Fielding Smith: "This was also in the similitude of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ"]] | *[[Joseph Fielding Smith: "This was also in the similitude of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ"]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...stoning disobedient children...killing people who worked on the Sabbath, death penalty for those that mixed cotton with polyester...Got a rebellious kid who doesn’t listen? Take him to the elders and to the end of the gates and stone him to death!"== | ==Response to claim: "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...stoning disobedient children...killing people who worked on the Sabbath, death penalty for those that mixed cotton with polyester...Got a rebellious kid who doesn’t listen? Take him to the elders and to the end of the gates and stone him to death!"== | ||
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}} | }} | ||
{{appeal to ridicule}} | {{appeal to ridicule}} | ||
'''Longer response(s) to question:''' | '''Longer response(s) to question:''' | ||
*[[Question: Why are Old Testament penalties for disobedience so harsh?]] | *[[Question: Why are Old Testament penalties for disobedience so harsh?]] | ||
*[[JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy: "Filial insubordination is a grave offense because respect and obedience toward parents is regarded as the cornerstone of all order and authority"]] | *[[JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy: "Filial insubordination is a grave offense because respect and obedience toward parents is regarded as the cornerstone of all order and authority"]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "1. D&C 132"== | ==Response to claim: "1. D&C 132"== | ||
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*[[Question: Was Emma was promised "annihilation" if she didn't accept plural marriage?]] | *[[Question: Was Emma was promised "annihilation" if she didn't accept plural marriage?]] | ||
*[[Question: Was the only purpose of polygamy to "multiply and replenish the earth" and "bear the souls of men"?]] | *[[Question: Was the only purpose of polygamy to "multiply and replenish the earth" and "bear the souls of men"?]] | ||
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==Response to claim: "I’m asked to believe in not only a part-time racist god and a part-time polygamous god but a part-time psychopathic schizophrenic one as well"== | ==Response to claim: "I’m asked to believe in not only a part-time racist god and a part-time polygamous god but a part-time psychopathic schizophrenic one as well"== | ||
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{{appeal to emotion}} | {{appeal to emotion}} | ||
{{appeal to ridicule}} | {{appeal to ridicule}} | ||
'''Longer response(s) to question:''' | '''Longer response(s) to question:''' | ||
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*[[Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe in a "part-time racist" and "psychopathic schizophrenic" god?]] | *[[Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe in a "part-time racist" and "psychopathic schizophrenic" god?]] | ||
{{ | {{FAIRAnalysisHeader | ||
|title=[[../|Letter to a CES Director]] | |||
|author=Jeremy Runnells | |||
|noauthor= | |||
|section=Scriptures Concerns & Questions | |||
|previous=[[../Science Concerns & Questions|Science Concerns & Questions]] | |||
|next=[[../Other Concerns & Questions|Other Concerns & Questions]] | |||
|notes= | |||
}} | |||
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<!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> | <!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> | ||
[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]] | [[Category:Letter to a CES Director]] |
[[../Science Concerns & Questions|Science Concerns & Questions]] | A FAIR Analysis of: [[../|Letter to a CES Director]], a work by author: Jeremy Runnells
|
[[../Other Concerns & Questions|Other Concerns & Questions]] |
Summary: The author states that "To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed murder, genocide, infanticide, rape, slavery, selling daughters into sex slavery, polygamy, child abuse, stoning disobedient children, pillage, plunder, sexism, racism, human sacrifice, animal sacrifice, killing people who work on the Sabbath, death penalty for those who mix cotton with polyester, and so on."
Jump to details:
To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...
[…]
As a believing Mormon, I tried to rationalize some of the craziness by saying, “Oh, this is in the crazy Old Testament when the Law of Moses was in force. Christ came and fulfilled the Law of Moses.”
The problem with this is that the crazy god of the Old Testament was Jehovah. Who’s Jehovah? The premortal Jesus Christ. So, Christ is the crazy god of the Old Testament. The Christ of the Old Testament and the Christ of the New Testament are light years different.
Longer response(s) to question:
To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed murder, genocide...pillage, plunder...2. Numbers 31...3. 1 Nephi 4...4. Exodus 12:12...7. Numbers 21: 5-9...
Longer response(s) to question:
To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...rape...selling daughters into sex slavery, polygamy...sexism...8. Judges 19:22-29
Longer response(s) to question:
"To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...slavery"
Longer response(s) to question:
To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...racism
Longer response(s) to question:
To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...human sacrifice
Longer response(s) to question:
To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...child abuse
Longer response(s) to question:
The Lord commands Nephi to murder (decapitate) Laban for the brass plates. Never mind that Laban was drunk and defenseless. The argument that Laban would send his servants after Nephi and his brothers is ridiculous considering that the same God who had no problem lighting stones and taming swarms of bees (Ether 2-3) for the Brother of Jared can also preserve Nephi.
Longer response(s) to question:
4. Exodus 12:12 God kills all the firstborn children in Egypt except for those who put blood on their doors? What kind of a god is this? Like the flood, what kind of a loving god would kill innocent children for the actions of others?
Longer response(s) to question:
To believe in the scriptures, I have to believe in a god who endorsed...stoning disobedient children...killing people who worked on the Sabbath, death penalty for those that mixed cotton with polyester...Got a rebellious kid who doesn’t listen? Take him to the elders and to the end of the gates and stone him to death!
Longer response(s) to question:
D&C 132: I’m supposed to believe in a god who issued an FLDS style revelation that states stuff like: the only form of polygamy permitted is a union with a virgin after first giving the opportunity to the first wife to consent to the marriage. If the first wife doesn’t consent, the husband is exempt and may still take an additional wife, but the first wife must at least have the opportunity to consent. In case the first wife doesn’t consent, she will be “destroyed.” Also, the new wife must be a virgin before the marriage and be completely monogamous after the marriage or she will be destroyed
Longer response(s) to question:
God doesn’t like to hear whining and ingratitude so he sends out a bunch of snakes to kill the people. When the people had enough of the snakes, they ask Moses to tell God to quit it. God decides Moses is persuasive and tells Moses to put a snake a pole and tell the people to look at the pole and they won’t die. So, the pole is built, the people look at it and they don’t die. The moral of the story? Don’t whine or God will send in the snakes. (Numbers 21:5-9: )
....
I’m asked to believe in not only a part-time racist god and a part-time polygamous god but a part-time psychopathic schizophrenic one as well.
Longer response(s) to question:
[[../Science Concerns & Questions|Science Concerns & Questions]] | A FAIR Analysis of: [[../|Letter to a CES Director]] A work by author: Jeremy Runnells
|
[[../Other Concerns & Questions|Other Concerns & Questions]] |
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