Those heathen Canaanites sacrificed some children

[Zzyzx]

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Those heathen Canaanites sacrificed some children so we 'children of God' invaded, slaughtered everyone, killed ALL their children, and enjoyed smashing babies against rocks.

We are the good guys because we're God's chosen people and he told us to kill those people – and besides, they lived on land that we wanted; and they worshiped Baal.

Everyone should worship our God because he is the God of love and righteousness.

References:

Numbers 21:3 And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

Deuteronomy 20:17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

Deuteronomy 7:1-5 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

Psalm 137:9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.


How can this be justified or excused -- let alone be made to sound noble or heroic?

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 1 by Zzyzx]

They didn't just sacrifice "some" children; child sacrifice was an integral part of the the national religion. The Canaanite religion and culture were brutal and sacrificing babies to their gods was an ingrained part of their social structure.

Historian Henry H. Halley notes that archaeologists excavating the area “found great numbers of jars containing the remains of children who had been sacrificed to Baal [a prominent god of the Canaanites].� He adds: “The whole area proved to be a cemetery for new-born babes. . . . Canaanites worshipped, by immoral indulgence, as a religious rite, in the presence of their gods; and then, by murdering their first-born children, as a sacrifice to these same gods." Thousands maybe hundreds of thousands of innocent victims over the centuries would have therefore been the tip of the iceberg of the sheer scope of human suffering, the raped women, virgin girls and boys (used for sex worship) and scarred and traumatized individuals that would be perpetuated generation after generation could not be ignored indefinitely.

“The brutality, lust and abandon of Canaanite mythology is far worse than elsewhere in the Near East at the time. And the astounding characteristic of Canaanite deities, that they had no moral character whatever, must have brought out the worst traits in their devotees and entailed many of the most demoralizing practices of the time, such as sacred prostitution, child sacrifice and snake worship. . . . The character of Canaanite religion as portrayed in the Ugaritic literature furnishes ample background to illustrate the accuracy of . . . Biblical statements in their characterization of the utter moral and religious degeneracy of the inhabitants of Canaan.� -- Archaeology and the Old Testament, Merrill Frederick Unger , archaeologist,

“Archaeologists who dig in the ruins of Canaanite cities wonder that God did not destroy them sooner than he did.� - Halley’s Bible Handbook, Henry Hampton Halley

[Willum]

The people who became the people who wrote that they killed the Canaanites WERE the Canaanites.
They created an non-existent genocide to erase their own history.

[Zzyzx]

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Willum presents an interesting point. Let's see where it goes.

They didn't just sacrifice "some" children; child sacrifice was an integral part of the the national religion. The Canaanite religion and culture were brutal and sacrificing babies to their gods was an ingrained part of their social structure.

Some is correct. If they sacrificed all their children the culture would disappear in one generation.

[JehovahsWitness]

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Willum presents an interesting point. Let's see where it goes.

They didn't just sacrifice "some" children; child sacrifice was an integral part of the the national religion. The Canaanite religion and culture were brutal and sacrificing babies to their gods was an ingrained part of their social structure.

Some is correct. If they sacrificed all their children the culture would disappear in one generation.

Obviously they didn't sacrifice all their children and I neither said nor implied this was the case; neither did I claim that "some" was INcorrect, I justifiably shifted the emphasis as the "some" implies it was an insignificant amount, the sacrificing of babies was a prolific and widespread practice, something that was not incidential or minimal and not something that could be separated from the national identity.

However, feel free to ignore the first clause of the first sentence of my post and address the rest of the content should you feel so inclined.

JW

[Talishi]

Some is correct. If they sacrificed all their children the culture would disappear in one generation.

Their religion was about sex. Sometimes sex results in unwanted pregnancies. Today we terminate them with drugs or surgery. They simply gave birth to the children and then terminated them.

[Willum]

[Replying to post 4 by Zzyzx]

Isaac and Abraham, the story, demonstrate that the proto-Jewish were familiar with and comfortable with the sacrifice of children, and needed to be told that it was no longer necessary.

We, except for Bible enthusiasts, know the the Canaan became what would become the Jewish.

What is the literary technique for removing that kind of sin, or problem? Erase it.

Some investigation in to child sacrifice by those who would be Jewish (the Canaan) reveals, they sacrificed, like every other culture of the day, children with birth defects or born unlawfully, etc.. So, like Jdubbya, says, they didn't sacrifice everybody's children, just the mentally chalenged, twisted and born out of wedlock.

Jesus wouldn'tve done so well back then.

[JehovahsWitness]

they sacrificed, like every other culture of the day, children with birth defects or born unlawfully, etc.. just the mentally chalenged

Do you have some academic reference for this (by that I mean apart from a particularly accommodating imagination)?

JW

[Zzyzx]

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However, feel free to ignore the first clause of the first sentence of my post and address the rest of the content should you feel so inclined.

Okay. 'We disapprove of your religion and your practices therefore we are justified in slaughtering your entire population -- and besides, we want your land.'

[Willum]

[Replying to post 9 by Zzyzx]

Or that, yes.

[Replying to JehovahsWitness]

Honestly, I am tired of looking for stuff that is easily 'Googled,' so that you reference seeking types can disparage otherwise sufficient source, by claiming that because there was a flamingo flying by one Tuesday, that you can ignore the reference.

Why would you believe that the Canaan had a practice that was exceptional from what continued even until modern times?

Just gotta hate? Need some reason to justify the fictitious genocide of the Canaan?