[Basilissa]

Originally Posted by Veiled Beast a.k.a. Bernie

Still a better read than the crusty old door-stopper you devout your existence to.

Do not judge book by its covers, dear. How can you proclaim with any degree of certainty that Tolkien is better than the Bible, if you haven't read the latter?

While I admit that parts of the Bible are a bit dry (especially the genealogies), there are a lot of parts with some great action. Battles (just don't think too much about iron chariots, Judges 1:19), sieges (Joshua 6), slavery (including captive sex slaves, Deuteronomy 21:10-17), genocide (Exodus 17:14-15), rape (including rape of own sister, 2 Samuel 13), human sacrifice (Judges 11:30-31, 34, 39-40), crushing babies' heads into rocks (Psalm 137:9), pimping own wife/sister out to the Pharaoh (Genesis 12:11-16), a few role model prostitutes (such as Rahab, Joshua 6:17), and much, much more! Bible is much more interesting, gory, and scandalous than you seem to believe!

Though you gotta admit, those basic aspects of the story are extremely common and surely, the Christians were not the first ones coming up with it. So let's not reach too deep here, yes? Anything can be a biblical allegory if you're looking at it through christ-coloured glasses.

Well, if you ever are ready to actually discuss Manicheism (or any earlier Persian religion), Egyptian religion, Mesopotamian religion, or any other belief system that pre-stole Christian beliefs (rather than just hypothesize about it), I'll be here all week.

Do you also think clowns and Halloween are scary?

Not scary, just dumb.

And here I thought negative mayhem/chaos was a staple trait of the Devil?

Put your thinking cap on for a minute and answer me this: Who created the devil?

So the bible is a big pick-and-choose of what you abide and what you ignore, then? What happened to "Thou shalt not kill" and "Respect all men"?

Those apply within the community. Outside of the community, God approves of genocide.

Deuteronomy 7:2-6
2 And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

Almost sounds like your dear Lord™ isn't that sure of what he really wants.

He wants absolute submission without questioning His Logic. He hates rational thinking.