The Christian God is malevolent.

1. SlaveryBoth references to the Bible discourage slavery of Christians. Just like in the Old Testament it was moral to slave non-Israelite, but enslavement of Israelite was forbidden. This is a double standard. Freedom for Christians and Jews, but not for heathens. Terrific, so as a heathen living in a Christian society you get to spend your life in slavery and then in your after life in eternal damnation. This is pure evil in my opinion. "This is Pro strongest point, partly because it is the only time he accurately stated what the Bible says, and partly because in our culture slavery is immoral. But it is important to understand that this is our society. We are dealing with a change in values, not a change in ethics. Values deal with what people or cultures think is important. Ethics deal with what is right and wrong. Post-enlightenment western society highly values individual self-determination. As such, slavery is one of the greatest evils since is removes self-determination. Pre-enlightenment Middle Eastern society valued the society over the individual and placed significantly lower value on self-determination. Self-determination was still valued in that culture, so being in slavery was a negative. However, people valued a functioning society over self-determination, even for themselves. Our society has changed. We value different things. This doesn't make God evil. It just means that the people He was dealing with at that time valued things that are different than what we value. " PeiliAnother point of view is slavery was always immoral and will always be. God, the omnipotent, could have easily abolished slavery before Rome was founded. This is well within his power. Yet, why didn't God ban slavery? Why is it not in the ten commandments "thou shall free as many slaves as possible. " This is a question that will haunt believers. There is no good answer. Either God doesn't exist and the religion was made by human hands or God is malevolent in nature. 2. Interracial marriages and racismClaim: People have used Christianity as a case against Interracial marriagesWarrant: "“Ross Barnett, a former Mississippi governor, once used religion to justify Jim Crow laws by calling God ‘the original segregationist. ’ Religious arguments have also been used in our nation to oppose women’s suffrage, interracial marriage, the acceptance of Asian immigrants, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the abolition of slavery,” the coalition said in an emailed statement. “Bryant’s choice is clear: Either follow the path of progress or turn back the clock to the time of Ross Barnett. The civil rights community strongly urges him to veto HB1523”" [12]Impact: Whether or not the Bible actually is against interracial marriages or not, people have thought so and used it to pass oppressive laws. With any religious text, the interpretation is often ambiguous. Meaning, two people can come to exact opposite conclusions from the same passage. This damages God's character because racism is considered immoral and he did not take a strong stance against racism. "Now we get into the much larger part, where Pro entirely misrepresents what the Bible says. Pro claims that the Bible is against interracial marriages. This is blatantly false. Consider Pro"s support for this. He cited Daniel 4:43, which is about the symbolic meaning of a statue made of clay and iron. The verse says, "And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. "[3] The passages is about how the people of a nation will be divided, and their lack of national unity will be detrimental to the nation. It has nothing to do with marriage. Then he cites the parable of the sheep and the goats [4], and says that this is about interracial marriages. I honestly have no idea how he came to the conclusion that this parables has anything to do with marriage. It obviously does not. The Bible is not opposed to interracial marriages. " PeiliClaim: The Jim Crow laws used Christianity as an excuse. Warrant:"His remarks about slavery and Jim Crow also left out an important fact. While many Americans did attempt to use Christianity to justify slavery and Jim Crow, true Christian teachings played an important role—and I would argue an essential role—in eradicating those two scourges. " [13]Impact: The Bible is too open to malicious interpretation. The same is true with other religions. Why would God write the Bible in such a way? I can think of only three answers in-confidence, malice, or God doesn't exist.3. Homophobia"“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death. ” (Leviticus 20:13)" [14]This is a quintessential example of homophobia. Death penalty is way over the top. "His third point (section IV in his argument) is that he accuses the Bible of Homophobia. It is true that the Bible includes sexual ethics, and calls homosexual actions a sin. That"s not what homophobia is. There is no aspect of fear or hatred, only a moral statement about sexual ethics. The existence of sexual ethics does not make the Bible homophobic, and a disagreement with Pro"s personal view does not make God malevolent. " PeiliIf the Bible stated "confess homosexuality and pray for forgiveness" I would agree, but the death penalty is way too harsh. 4. Woman hating"Next, Pro claimed that Jesus Christ hates women, which as far as I can tell is just something he made up. There is no evidence for it in the Bible, and since Jesus regularly interacted with women and showed them great kindness, the suggestion that Jesus is a misogynist runs counter to all evidence and reason. Pro"s only support for this claim a statement from Paul that women should not teach in a certain church. First, that itself is not hateful. Second, it seems be a specific command for a specific situation, since Paul support female teachers and leaders in other places. Both Pricilla and Phoebe were female teachers whom had Paul"s support. [5][6]" PeiliRunning out of characters. There is contradictory passages in every religious text. The fact that the Bible so contradictory in nature harms God's character.5. Anti-animal rights. "Then Pro said that that Bible is anti-animal rights. He said that the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament would be illegal today. Stop for a moment and think about who Pro is suggesting here. Pro is attempting to say that today it is illegal to kill animals. Seriously. Perhaps Pro has made up some elaborate form of cruelty that was involved in the sacrifices, but again this is only Pro"s imagination at work. The sacrificed animals were slaughtered and eaten, which is common place today and generally seen as moral (with all due respect to any vegans out there). " PeiliFirst, I am a vegan who has a strong opinion that non-vegan foods should be banned worldwide. Second, the title of the passage is the burnt offering. Setting an animal on fire is a horrid example of animal cruelty that is illegal. Impact, this shows extreme animal cruelty on God's part further damaging his character.6. Totalitarian "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. " [15]This passage states that Stalin and every other malicious tyrant was established by God. This definitely promotes autocracy. Thanks for the debate. Sources12. . https://richarddawkins.net...13. . http://www.weeklystandard.com...14. . https://www.biblegateway.com...15. . http://biblehub.com...