The Logical Atheist

In an earlier incarnation many, many years ago, I would be getting ready to celebrate Passover . This is the holiday that commemorates Yahweh's liberation of the children of Israel from enslavement in Egypt (long before the Arabs got there). Yahweh did this, according to the Good Book, by inflicting collective punishments on the Egyptian people -- ranging from turning the Nile River and other water sources into blood, to sending swarms of frogs, gnats, flies, and locusts throughout the land, to killing all first-born persons and cattle, even those of slaves (non-Israelites, presumably) -- 10 "plagues" in all. As unjust as that collective punishment seems, it was Yahweh's response to the recalcitrance of Egypt's absolute ruler, the Pharaoh. According to the story, he repeatedly changed his mind about "letting [the Israelite] people go" after promising Moses he would do so. That's why Egypt, that is, all Egyptians, kept getting hit with plagues.  Howe...

The Jewish festival of Passover starts at sundown today. Is this the holiday that praises Yahweh for repeatedly "harden[ing] Pharaoh's heart" in order to change his mind about freeing the enslaved Israelites?  Or is it the holiday that praises Yahweh for inflicting collective punishment on all  Egyptians through the horrible ten plagues, culminating in the smiting of every firstborn Egyptian? ( Exodus 11:4-7  - "And Moses said: 'Thus saith HaShem [The Name; that is, Yahweh, which you're not supposed to say]: About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of cattle. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there hath been none like it, nor shall be like it any more.    But against any of the children of Israel shal...

The Jewish holiday of Passover is coming up. (It begins at sundown on April 5.) The first two nights are spent at family or community gatherings called seders ( seder is Hebrew for order ), the ritual meals where the story of the exodus from Egypt is recounted. The book containing the story and the steps in the ritual is called the Haggadah, which is believed to have been first assembled in 1000 CE. I don't wish here to explore the reasons we can be confident that this story is a mere fable. Suffice it to say that archaeologists have yet to find evidence that the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt or that 2-3 million Israelites spent 40 years crossing the Sinai wilderness before invading Canaan and slaughtering its inhabitants because Yahweh had promised the land of "milk and honey" to the chosen tribe. Here I want only to draw attention to one important aspect of the seder, namely, the description of four sons, or types of children. The "wise" child wants to kn...

Passover begins tonight, that joyous time of year when Jews the world over remind themselves of how great Yahweh is. At least that's what Yahweh wants them and the adherents of the offshoot religions, Christianity and Islam, to do. In the relevant text, Yahweh repeatedly reminds readers that he is the one who led them out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. The warning is clear: do not forget what Yahweh did for you -- not only your distant ancestors but you  -- or you're a bad person and will suffer severe consequences. But is that the whole story? In this post I am taking the book of Exodus, which is excerpted in the Haggadah, which Jews read at their two seders (I've been there), at face value. Needless to say (?), there is little or nothing of historical accuracy in that book. Archeologists have failed to find evidence of any kind to support the claim that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt or that a mass exodus from Egypt to Canaan ever occurred. But let's w...

Why would Yahweh demand that "his chosen people" celebrate his repeated brutal collective punishment of the Egyptians (the 10 plagues), including his killing of all firstborns, even infants, especially when he himself admits that eight times he "hardened Pharaoh's heart" after Pharaoh promised to let the Israelites go, and Yahweh did this just so he could display his awesome power? (Hint: he's a narcissistic, megalomaniacal psychopath?)