this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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They tried to retcon Yahweh, but blood gods are not fit for rehabilitation
Don't get me wrong, lots of criticisms of the Abrhamic religions are valid...
But they were explicitly not a blood cult.
Like, the foundational myth that they're built on, that Yahweh commanded Abraham to kill his son but at the last minute granted a "pardon"....
That was so important because a lot of religions back then were doing human sacrifices.
By today's standards they're backwards as fuck. But 3-4 thousand years ago that was super progressive.
Also, hell and flames aren't anywhere in the Bible.
That was made up later to scare people into conforming with the group once Christians became the dominant religion.
I mean, we're just gonna ignore how the Hebrew war parties were supposed to collect the foreskins of the men they killed then, I guess?
What's he even doing with all those things anyway?
By no means am I an expert...
But I would be shocked to hear that in the Torah recommended that, or that real life raiding parties often did that.
In the myth it was a certain number from a country they were actively at war against, and taken because only non Jewish men and had one, a scalp could come from anyone, only the invading Philistines had foreskins. But that's why they wanted them, the easiest way to prove you killed an invading warrior because at the time everyone living in the area had been circumcized at like a week old. (Quick note: it was also meant to be a ridiculous and impossible request to allow David to marry a princess and become King)
But I mean, it almost certainly never happened, just imagine trying to actually separate them and count them, it wouldn't be an exact science. That's why I think someone just thought "how could he prove he killed a bunch of warriors" and just rolled with it. Don't forget this isn't history, it's mythology.
From what I know tho, Saul was a pretty shitty King, because every King 3,000 years ago was fucking crazy. Game of Thrones didn't have shit on real life back then.