Today on his blog at Atheism Is Dead Mariano is going to cover the faulty assertion that the Bible condones and advocates rape. Whenever I hear some stupid idea such as that I wonder what orifice the writer pulled such an idea out of. In keeping with Mariano's theme I will be looking at one particular case concerning rape from the Bible found in Judges chapters 19-21. The story is very horrific a man allows a group of men to rape and murder his concubine to save his own life. The Bible only reports that this happened...in no way does God or anyone condone the act. As a matter-of-fact it leads to a civil war among the Israelites. I challenge anyone to find a verse that prescribes that this is what we should do. I'm even referring to the Levite announcing the crime by cutting his dead concubine up into 12 pieces and sending one to each of the tribes of Israel's territory. God did not tell him to do that. Based on what the rest of the Bible says I can't find anything that tells us it's good, God glorifying behavior. I'm also referring to the way the rest of Israel allowed surviving Benjamites to take wives. God did not tell them to do that! All the nation was outraged by the crime and the aftermath. Why report the story? The story underscores the cultural reality of the time summed up in Judges 21:25 which says:
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
This is scary and sums up the state of our own country. When a society is left to itself and does not respect God, this is what you get.
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