Reply #29: The myths are one thing, but it's hard to defend cherry-picking the teachings [View All]

[jgraz]

There are many, many websites that talk about the degenerate, savage teachings of the Old Testament, so I won't bore you with them here. Many Christians dance around this issue by saying that Jesus established a new relationship between humanity and their god, replacing the old barbarisms with peace and love.

At least that's what I was always taught in Sunday school. So you can imagine my surprise when I found that Jesus himself advocated killing children who did not properly honor their mother and father:

Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

He goes on to lecture the Pharisees for their hypocrisy of insisting that people wash their hands before eating when the Pharisees themselves ignore God's word by refusing to execute misbehaving children. For some reason, the Pharisees seem offended by this (Matthew 15:15).

Now, this ain't some old chestnut pulled from Leviticus or Deuteronomy (although those books are horrifying in their own right). This is Jesus Christ, your Lord and Saviour, telling you that you should kill your children.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm glad the Christians have decided to ignore this particular piece of parenting advice from the Lamb of God. But where in the doctrine of Christianity are you allowed to ignore it? And if you can ignore these words spoken directly from the mouth of the Messiah, how are you able to establish an imperative to follow any of the Bible's teachings?