A few of the numerous examples of violence toward others in the name of God are discussed in this chapter.
The Old Testament
The Bible itself shows that God can be jealous, angry, wrathful, vengeful, brutal, sadistic, murderous and violent. [As one exmple]
Exodus 10: “Thus saith the LORD God of Israel. Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.” [p568]
The New Testament
…the apocalyptic verses in the New Testament present Jesus as returning as the cosmic judge. Those who pass his test live happily everafter with Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who fail the test will be subjected to years of a horrendous, hell-like Great Tribulation. [p569]
Islam
Wahhabinism forms the basis for the beliefs of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. Its philosophical anti-secular, anti-modernity, anti-infidel underpinnings are largely responsible for the hatred toward Western culture seen in modern Islamic terrorism. [572]
A rational first step toward toning down the violence done in the name of religion would be to promote the understanding that the sacred texts were not written by Yahweh, God or Allah, but by man. They should be viewed as metaphorical, with the realization that one metaphor is not inherently better than another.
Without such an understanding it is more likely that mankind will self-destruct over religion than over any other issue. [p578]
