Is this mercy or emotional blackmail?

Question

I was just told that God's infinite mercy can be found in this passage:

5th Commandment: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:5-6)

Isn't that kind of like me saying "If you do what I say, I'll stop beating the crap out of you and killing your children"?

Hey Julia! You're one of the ones who told me that the god of the Old Testament is the god of the New! Which is it? Make a choice already! You're always quoting Leviticus, so what is it? Only right when you want it to be? You're not a Christian at all.

Oops, sorry Julia! Wrong Julia!

Answer 1

Oh, it's emotional blackmail, all right. If I'm not mistaken, the portion of the passage which reads "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them... I the LORD thy God am a jealous God" confers the existence of other deities. So much for Christianity's being a monotheistic religion.

Answer 2

A reinforcement or pay off and not knowing alternatives like assertiveness. Mars Mission. 14th Year Psychology Student. 4th Year Hypnotism Student. 4th Year Self Taught Music Student. 32 Years Qualified Automotive Technician. And Part Time Human Being.

Answer 3

Christianity is NOT a supercessionist religion... in order for Christianity to be true, Judaism must be true. If Judaism is false, then Christianity must also be false.

The message is not so much about putting our absolute trust in God to come through for us or else. It’s about believing in ourselves, and having the courage to look beyond the reality of “what is” or “what has been” to “what can be.” God never promised us a rose garden. He gave us the roadmap to get there and the capacity to plant and cultivate the seeds of a better world.
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Answer 4

Once again, ignorance by Christians and other non-Jews about what is in the JEWISH Torah. Please, stay out of our book. Go steal the Native American's books, or someone else's for a while, and twist theirs all to hell for once.

This verse, first of all, doesn't quite say that in Hebrew. Close enough though, that we'll go ahead and go with it.

This verse refers to reincarnation. Yes, Judaism has reincarnation, always has. We don't have a burning eternal hell type of thing, the Christians got that from Zoroastrianism apparently. We also don't have Original Sin, or messiahs born of virgins and gods, or human virgin blood sacrifices for sin as the role of the messiah, or any of the other nonsense that the church took from ancient pagan religions.

But, in any case, back to the verse in question.

When it talks about committing idolatry there, bowing down to whatever that isn't God, we blemish our souls. When we blemish our souls, then we need to cleanse them. In order to cleanse them, it takes at least a next lifetime, and usually more than that.

If you don't commit idolatry, then you don't have any blemishes that idolatry would cause. So you don't need to reincarnate to heal a blemish that isn't there.

This is why those who don't do it are "shown mercy", which simply means "no need to reincarnate and have to go through all this crap again."

It's very simple.

This is the Universal Law, what we reap is what we sow; we create our own situations, and our own reasons to have to reincarnate.

Answer 5

so far as the bible is concerned--only listen and read the red print where Jesus spoke--the rest was most likely written by people who didn't want people to leave their religion--after all --if God were really jealous--we wouldn't be here with boyfriends, girlfriends etc. He is the farthest thing from jealous--God is all about love --pure love--God is good--good comes from the word God--God has nothing jealous or mean about him-He gives everyone freedom to do what they like and love Him--due to love alone not by force or fear!

Answer 6

Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! But He loves you.
— George Carlin

Answer 7

Your question is based upon an incomplete text.
It is referring to the worship of false gods
.........and anyway it wasn't written by God.
It was written by a Jew called Moses who was trying desperately to get get some discipline back into the unruly mob of slaves, who had gotten themselves well and truly lost, after fleeing their Egyptian masters.
Moses invoked the name of God to lend validity to the 'mind-control' rules he had devised.

Answer 8

That reflects the mind set of the people of that time. They believed that if you were good, good things happened, if not, bad things happen to you and the following generations. It's called "retribution dogma." After the exile, the people realized that even innocent people can suffer, e.g. Job. It helps when we stop reading the Bible as God's direct word to us, and realize that it was written by human beings who were part of a particular community, and shaped by their beliefs and worldview.

Answer 9

Neither, the law say this, you brake it you will be punished, that a fact of life. When you create life, you have the right to create law. Many will NOT care what happens to them but they do have a differnt attitude when thier off spring are involved. it a chose blessings or curseings, which do you want?

Answer 10

Sounds a little like something someone who was a little paranoid, insecure & controlling might say.....

He even admits to being jealous....shame god is not above some of the most basic human emotions.....including one of those he listed as bad.......