The Old Testament of the Bible: A Depressing Paradigm

First of all, I would like to point out that there were no Catholics when the Old Testament was written. In fact, there were no Christians at all. Christianity did not arise until the coming of Christ. But I assume you know that. I can't say I'm familiar with the Catholic Bible's VERSION of the Old Testament, which is what I assume you're referring to, but I have studied other ancient religions; such as the Greek and Babylonian ones, and I can assure you that they are very different from the Bible. Judaism in its ancient form, with the five books of Moses as its creed [the other books of the Old Testament, which the Jews generally say were not inspired by God, are in the same mold] was a far more benevolent religion than anything the Babylonians, Greeks, or any other ancient culture could make up. In fact, to my knowledge it was the ONLY Monotheistic religion in the Pre-Christian world. I don't want to sound like an "ignorant zealot," but I worship the God of the entire Bible, not just of the New Testament. You are correct, however, in saying that the books are very different from one another. The Old Testament was written in an age of works, before Jesus died on the cross. This meant that the people had to atone for their own sin with animal sacrifice, which I assume is what you find to be a "grave injustice." This seems barbarous and wasteful to us, but I don't need to point out that most of us eat meat, and that can hardly be less cruel than sacrificing it, although I don't think either of them ARE cruel. You claim that the God of the Old Testament was an "Ethnic cleanser, a tyrant, and an insatiable, insufferable, morally questionable leader." Furthermore, you claim to base this assumption on logic. First, you say that God was an "ethnic cleanser." By this I assume you mean that he was more disposed to his own favored nation than to the others in the world, and frequently killed them without what you would view as just cause. This is debatably true, but let me again stress that this is a different age. Now, EVERYONE'S sins our forgiven by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Before that sacrifice, however, the Israelites were the ONLY ones to follow God's commands and to sacrifice to him in the proper way. God was not racist in that he did not accept into his fold believers who were not descended from Abraham, indeed he welcomed them, as in the case of Rahab, Ruth, and many, many others. Second, you claim that God was a "tyrant." According to my dictionary, a tyrant is "an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or constitution." (Merriam-Webster) In that sense, then, God is most certainly a tyrant. God is God, and he is omnipotent. He is not restrained by anyone except himself. Therefore, he keeps his promises. However, he is not cruel or oppressive, which is the other generally accepted definition of "tyrant." Thirdly, you claim that God was a "morally questionable leader." This is really your most interesting point, because in my view there are no morals if God does not exist, and as he does the morals were his creation. As I said before, God binds keeps his promises because he is God and perfect. God is not immoral because immorality is the antithesis of God. If God is immoral, therefore, God is not God.