Circle Squared
A Textual Analysis of the Book of Mormon
Chapter 20: "Moral Mish-Mash"
Chapter Summary:
The destruction of Assyria is a type of the destruction of the wicked at the Second Coming--Few people will be left after the Lord comes again--The remnant of Jacob will return in that day--Compare Isaiah 10. About 559–545 B.C.
Cosmic justice is a very appealing aspect of religion for many people. Some even argue that if there is no god, then many people who do bad things will get away with it--Scott-free. This appeal to emotion, although compelling on the surface, is fallacious. Any injustice caused by a lack of cosmic justice is simply a reason to get things right while we are here on earth.
Cosmic justice allows believers to assume god will settle certain scores after death, so it isn't a big deal when a bad guy gets away with murder or rape or theft. In some cases, this can lead believers to inaction.
Isaiah lists a few more ways which will ensure damnation: failure to take care of the poor, stealing from the needy, ignoring widows and fatherless children. To be sure, these are terrible things to do, and cosmic justice tells believers that these injustices will be sorted out in the afterlife, much like how god will torture genocidal maniacs who escape life without appearing before a court, like say, Adolf Hitler. So, why worry about social programs designed to use tax-payer money to help people in need? Heaven has a tax-free welfare system!
Speaking of getting away with genocide, Isaiah describes various atrocities that will happen to people who fight against god and the Jews, including being destroyed like the Midianites.
This is a reference to a section of the book of Judges wherein Gideon is told by an angel to desecrate an altar of the Midianite's god in order to start a war. During the battle the Jews killed over 100,000 Midianites, and at the end Gideon slays two princes and displays their bodies to indicate Jewish victory. When all is said and done, the Midian people are essentially extinct.
If you ask believers how they reconcile this genocide--and let's be perfectly clear that this is genocide--often times they will retort that because god issued the order, it is justified. Sometimes believers, such as Christian apologist William Lane Craig, will make up mythical excuses that those whom god commanded the Jews to obliterate had mixed their seed with fallen angels cast out of heaven. As half-breed demonic spawn, they deserved to be destroyed.
Other believers, such as members of my own family, will say it was a different time with different standards and morals. God was much harsher in biblical times because the Jews were more barbaric and wouldn't understand the more palatable ecumenicism of Jesus. They needed strict rules to ensure righteousness.
Regardless the apologetic, according to the bible god ordered genocide. His reasons may be up for debate, but it was genocide. Now believers are stuck having to come up with excuses for why a Bronze Age tribal war-god would do such a thing. Here's a possible explanation: the god of the bible doesn't exist, and the ancient Jews used religion to justify their wars.