psycho: Being that you do not contribute facts or arguments, merely insults and snide comments, makes you a troll. We have been over how I feel about your non-input in the past and I don't want to repeat myself on this issue. I never name-call any who make actual statements worthy of discussion, as Dawn has. Please don't put words into my mouth it is not appreciated. I will not respond to your next post, which will most likely be more of the same.

Dawn:

There is no justification for the violent and merciless slayings of innocent people, ordered at the hands of an "all loving God."
Most certainly not, and I'm glad you used the word 'innocent' in your statement. Innocence is, however, difficult to determine by mortals which is why we must go through a rigorous process of judgement before a potential execution. Divine Decree is exempt from this process as God is fully capable of making full and correct judgement of a person's worth and innocence. If He says someone is worthy of death then who are we to argue?

Women were treated as property.
Now this is not true. Neither women nor slaves are treated as property. There are some overlapping laws between ownership and slavery but none between ownership and marriage. For example, property can be sold; women cannot be sold but rather must marry of their own volition. Even an arranged marriage and forced marriages such as by rape victims must be agreed upon by the woman or else it can't be completed (this law isn't mentioned explicitly from the text but is explained in the Gemara in detail; a good example of why learning and assuming on your own is perilous). Another example is that property can be used however the owner sees fit, while the man has certain contractual obligations to his wife, such as keeping her happy, satisfied and comfortable. In fact the marriage contract is mostly about what the man must do for his wife and very little is said about what the woman must do for her husband. If anything we should say that it's unfair for the man.

The life of an infant girl was worth less than an infant boy.
Not sure to what you are referring. Are you referring to the value of infant slaves? If so then it's based on the amount of physical labour they can perform. If not - please let me know where I can find the verse/passage/law to which you are refering.


A woman was stoned to death if she was not a virgin on her wedding night. Oh, but if she was raped, then no worries - because she was usually forced to marry her rapist, so he wouldn't expect her to be a virgin.
I addressed this point in an earlier post.



But men were allowed to have sex outside of marriage (and before marriage) - the only exception was that the woman had to be single and not 'belong' to another man.
Untrue. Men are not allowed to have relations out of wedlock either. Leviticus 19:29 “‘Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness."

Women could be bought and sold into sex slavery. Although it's not called 'sex slave' in the bible. It's called 'female servant,' and the master was allowed to have children with his female servant - hence a sex slave.
A female servant is a female servant. There is no subtext. Earlier in Leviticus 19 it mentions that it is forbidden to have relations with a slave that is promised to another. It is unmentioned what would be the law for one who has relations with a woman not promised to another. I believe the law is that if this happens the man is to marry the woman and/or free her immediately... I don't remember this one so well but I can look it up if you'd like.

In one battle, men were allowed to take the virgin women of their enemies as their own wives, but the pregnant women, and their children, and married women of their enemies, were to be killed.
I don't remember this one so clearly. Can you remind me where I can find this story?

The true creator of the universe, or "prime creator" as I like to call it, is one of love. There is no demonstration of love based on the characteristics of the God of the OT.
Love is not showering a person with kisses and saying 'there there'. Love is ensuring that another can be the best possible version of him or her self. The God that is always with us is not a God who gives us everything that we want. This is evidenced by the fact that we don't always get what we want. When it needs to happen, God allows or even urges that cars crash, bridges collapse, earthquakes rumble, tsunamis destroy coasts, etc. Everything that happens in this world is God. He is not a pushover. He is not happy when we do bad things. He is willing to purge individuals or groups from our midst if it is necessary for our betterment. He still loves us, of course. A parent doesn't love his child less when forced to enact a grounding or a spanking for the child's correction. No parent enjoys punishing a child but sometimes it is necessary. Don't forget that God is bigger than us; He thinks and acts on a much larger scale than we little individuals can conceive.

Don't take my word for all of this; open your eyes and look around. In this world, all is God... and in this world we can find some seemingly terrible things.