There is at Least One Person on the Earth Who Believes that Parts of the Bible Are Despicable

FrameworkLarz tells us that I must prove that the passages I discuss actually say what I claim in order for me to win. This is completely false because in order for someone to find something despicable, he simply has to feel strong negative emotions towards the thing that he hates. His reasons for hating it do not have to be true. I can find Obama despicable if I think that he is Muslim, but the fact that he is actually not Muslim does not mean that I cannot find him despicable for that reason. So, I do not have to prove that the person in question is correct about her interpretation. I just have to prove that she is interpretating the passages in a fashion that makes her believe that the Bible is despicable.Larz also says that I have to prove that the men who wrote the Bible also found the actions despicable. This is not true because it is based on the fallacious notion that the Bible's moral system is the one that everyone follows. If morality is universal and even one person believes that the Bible is despicable, then the Bible's moral code is not universal. Members of non-Abrahamic traditions, for example, would find some of the laws in the Bible to be barbaric. So, even if morality is universal, the Bible's morality is not the universal morality that I speak of. Instead, the writers ignored universal morality while they were writing the book. The impact is that my opponent cannot simply undercut my case by using my own observations against me. This argument only works if he can prove that every single provision in the Bible is part of the universal moral system that I discussed.Finally, I have one observation. In order to make arguments that claim that actions are moral if God endorses them, Larz must conclusively prove the following:1. God exists2. There is only one God and multiple gods cannot exist.3. God’s moral system is outlined in the Bible. All other religions are false.4. The Bible has not been altered in any fashion since it was written.5. Morality is internal to God. In other words, actions are not seen as good only because God says so, and there cannot be any external means through which actions can be judged. Failure to prove any of the above means that he cannot use this argument. If God does not exist, then actions are not moral because he does not endorse them. If there are multiple gods, then there is no reason that we have to follow the moral systems of the Bible god. If God’s moral system is outlined in another text, and is not part of the Bible, then the Bible’s moral system is false. Affirmative CaseThe standard that I will be advocating for despicability is the harm principle. According to the Harm Principle, a person may do as he pleases, except when he causes unconsented harms to others. Rape, for example, is despicable because it is an action that violates an individual’s sexual and bodily rights without his or her consent. Similarly, slavery and murder are despicable because they violate the individual without his or her consent. Violating the individual without her consent is despicable because morality is fundamentally contractarian in nature. I agree to allow Larz to have rights as long as he agrees to grant me the same rights. Contractarian theory is the only form of morality that explains why individuals inherently follow moral code, namely, they want to protect themselves. If Larz wants to advocate any other moral system, he needs to tell us why people would inherently want to follow that system.Contention 1: The Bible Permits SlaveryIn Exodus 21:1, God lays down laws for the Israelites to follow and also tells them what actions he deems permissible. One of these actions is slavery, both regular and sexual.Passage 1: “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.Larz will tell you that the slavery advocated here is consensual, but this is not the case when we examine the fates of the women and children who are born from slave unions. Slavery for HEBREW men involves voluntary servitude, but slavery for the women who are married to men by the master and slavery for the children of that union is perpetual and forced.This perpetual enslavement of women is further proven here:7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.”Furthermore, masters can beat slaves without their consent. God in Exodus continues:20 “If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, 21 but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.”This is also a clear violation of the harm principle because it allows masters to murder slaves without fear of repercussion. Finally, in Exodus, brutal treatment of foreign slaves is permissible.44 ” ‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.”Slavery is despicable because it violates the Harm Principle.Contention 2: The Bible permits rapeThe Book of Deuteronomy also outlines laws passed down from God to Moses. Some of these laws permit rape, which is a violation of the Harm Principle. First, the Bible punishes rape victims along with rapists. In doing so, it treats rape victims as morally accountable for the rape. “If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife.”Now, I realize that this case does not apply to women in rural areas, but the fact of the matter is that the Bible is treating a certain subset of rape victims, namely those in the city, as morally blameworthy for their rape if they are unable to cry for help. Deuteronomy allows for the rape of female captives."When you go out to war against your enemies and the LORD, your God, delivers them into your hand, so that you take captives, if you see a comely woman among the captives and become so enamored of her that you wish to have her as wife, you may take her home to your house. But before she may live there, she must shave her head and pare her nails and lay aside her captive's garb. After she has mourned her father and mother for a full month, you may have relations with her, and you shall be her husband and she shall be your wife. However, if later on you lose your liking for her, you shall give her her freedom, if she wishes it; but you shall not sell her or enslave her, since she was married to you under compulsion."Thus, the Bible is despicable because it allows for rape and slavery. Since I find it despicable, there is at least one person on the Earth who finds the Bible despicable, and you affirm. Thank you.