Christian God = Loving Father

Rather, I was trying to establish our basis for morality. Most of your arguments will deal with the Mosaic Laws in the Old Testament. However, if you adhere to moral relativism, that means that each culture or society decides what is right. This means that you have no right to judge the laws of the ancient Hebrews, as their time and culture is different than yours. Those laws may seem unjust to you as a modern day citizen, but back then, those laws may have been the best moral code for people living in that time period. Unless you can point to some basis for an objective moral code (something higher than societal constructs), you cannot win this debate, as I have established my objective moral code which does allow me to prove you wrong. Con, you again equate different conceptions of God into the same mythological being. The ancient Hebrews attributed their God to the Creator of the universe, while Greek and Roman Gods were created deities that were gods of different natural processes. This is entirely different. The ancient Hebrew God is similar to the ancient Greek philosophers Prime Mover (and it should be noted that those philosophers, like Plato, rejected all of the polytheistic notions of the gods of their surrounding cultures). Even though Con is arguing from moral relativism (which means he has no right to argue against another culture's laws), I will answer his claims based on an objective perspective. Con argues against the law of the Sabbath, against slavery, and God condoning rape. However, thise are misunderstandings. In the ancient Hebrew culture, they did not have the privilege of having a criminal justice system. They did not have a police force. When people violated the laws, they were stoned. This was the best way to deal with lawbreaking at that time in history. They did not have jails to send the wicked to, nor did they have an elaborate judicial system- the manpower was seriously lacking. Breaking the law of the Sabbath was going against a covenant that the Jews made with God. God declared that no one should work on the Sabbath, and if they did, they would be punishable by death. Yes, I'm sure this seems cruel to you. However, only a fool would work on the Sabbath after that law was established. That person was asking for death. If you lived in a culture where it was against the law to work on a Saturday, would you break that law? No, because you value your life. Slavery in the Bible is not akin to the slavery that took place in America. Slavery in the Bible was akin to being an employee at a job and having a boss. You were treated well. And after six years you received enough money to go free and live on your own. It's actually a wonderful system that allowed almost no poor people. God did not condone rape. Rape is a horrendous thing. God made laws that, provided the terrible thing of rape having occured, then there were ways to deal with it. Con quotes from the Scriptures that describe a fiery place for where the wicked will go. But that is it- it described a fiery place. Jesus says "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. " Jesus clearly says that the soul of the wicked is destroyed in hell. That is, hell is not a place of eternal torment- it is a place that destroys the soul. You become annihilated; nonexistent. This is fair for those who reject God and wish for no afterlife. Con, I strongly urge you to find some sort of objective morality (that is, something to appeal to that is higher than you and higher than society) to base your argument on. If you continue to use moral relativism, you will contine to render your objections against the Christian culture meaningless, as one society cannot critique another under moral relativism. Please consider this point, lest you lose any chance of winning this debate.