Given the Bible, God is Morally Repugnant and Undeserving of Praise.

He has chosen a topic that is becoming all too familiar on this site. Calling into question God's justice/decency/moral character etc seems to be an increasingly "fun" topic to discuss. As I've had enough of these, I would like to take this argument and show that my opponent is very extremely wrong. So, to make things perfectly clear, I am arguing in the negative (which is positive since the topic is in the negative) that God is not morally repugnant and is deserving of praise. I realize that my first point will fall on deaf ears but, if you are going to use the Bible on the basis of what God is, you cannot claim that the all powerful being that: created the universe, created humanity, created a way for humanity that had sinned to be with him anyway by sending his own son to die a terrible death so that you and I may live eternally in paradise is in anyway morally repugnant. Crying about God's unfairness just ridiculous, it's the cry of a five year old who feels it is unfair that he should be put to bed without supper for breaking a lamp because it was too bright. In the child's mind, he is justified. The light was bright, the child preferred the darkness, ergo the lamp must die. The child does not think he was in the wrong, and so finds his punishment to be unfair, his parents to be unfair, and the whole system to be unfair. Never mind the fact that the child is laying in a warm home full of toys that have been bought for his amusement. Never mind the fact that the child owes it's literal life to his parents. The child feels that it was in the right, and therefore the parents have never done a good or decent thing in their lives. But, that being the ultimate point, I will begin with a few minor points. Many of my opponents verses were taken out of context. And, by adding a little history, it becomes even less repugnant than my opponent tries to make God appear. Gn 27:29a is a blessing from a father to a son. Try to imagine a father saying to his son, "The whole world is yours, you just have to have the guts to take it! " It's the same idea. This is a father hoping for all the best things for his son. This is not the words of God, but of Issac. Dt 7:1a, 2b is God telling the people of Israel to destroy the nations that have taken over their land. Before the Israelites were in Egypt (watch Prince of Egypt) they were in Cannan. These people groups had taken over their land. They also worshiped false gods (as we are using the Bible as our context, I will use the Judeo-Christian God as the one true God) and God did not want them to intermarry or begin to take on their customs. These customs included child sacrifice, self-mutilation, and the enslaving and torturing of other nations. I have used the Hittites as an example. (. http://danwagner.homestead.com...). The Israelites did not obey these commands and intermarried and adopted the same customs. Because of that, their civilization was eventually overtaken by their supposed religious brothers. As far as "unjust retribution" I believe I have shown why God demanded obedience. He knew what would happen if they did not obey. Side thought, verse 60 (what my opponent must have forgotten to put in I'm sure) explains that the same plagues that God used on Egypt to free the Israelites from a crushingly overbearing rule would be used on them if they strayed too far. Though, again, this is not God talking to Moses, this is Moses talking to the people. Lev. 20:13 is not homicide. It is a penal justice from a government. To call that homicide is to call the execution of a murderer murder. It is not. Enough said. It had also been decided by the people, this is not one of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses. Again, not God actually talking to the people. 2 Chronicles 15:12-13 is again not God talking at all, but the actions of humans. It is King Asa reforming the land, they were in waste because they had ignored God's commands not to mix with the other people groups around them and he set up reforms. Once again, 2 Kings 2:23-24 is just recording what happened. Though, if God is the master of the universe that he can control nature, I again question what right my opponent has to assume that God is amoral. And it most certainly shows that God is worthy of praise no matter his morality. I've never controlled a bear, have any of the other readers? Trying to use Jesus' words (who all religions accept to be the very model of what a human should be) to prove this point is just ridiculous, I won't even dignify it with an answer. Tempting Abraham to commit filicide. Again, my opponent seeks to sway the reader by not giving all the information. God never wanted Issac to die, he already had a goat waiting when Abraham and Issac got to the alter. My opponent is seeking to support his opinion with lies and distortions. Gen 22:11-13 Again, did God make Jepthah make a vow? No, my opponent tries to color God as Puck, but that is not the case. It is fairly clear from reading the REST of the passages, or even READING the passages that God is not morally repugnant and that not only is he worthy of praise for what he does in our lives, but for the way all of history has played out to bring us to him. To explain the point one more time. The Bible is called "The Word of God" because it is the words God wanted written by man, not because God said every word that's in the Bible. People did many terrible things that are in the Bible, God just made sure their actions were written about. Another point, people take God's words and tend to elaborate on them. All God gave Moses was the 10 Commandments. After that, the people began to elaborate heavily. The same thing happens in our culture today. The only "commandments" Jesus gave us was "Love the Lord your God with all your heart" and, "love they neighbor as thyself. " We as humans have made all the extras since then.