If there is a heaven and the killed firstborn went there, then killing them (or anyone else, for that matter) is quite harmless. And killing is wrong for people not because it causes harm, but because God forbids it. It’s a strange view, but not an obviously inconsistent one. On the other hand I’ve always shied away from moral attacks just because the counterargument of “So, God’s not benevolent, now what? You still had to worship it for a few decades or you are going to literally burn for eternity” seemed so obvious. Like it seems pointless to argue that Dumbledore is evil when you’re trying to prove he never existed.
But if somebody is willing to admit that their respective bible or holy book lied about their God being benevolent, that should raise the probability that other parts of their book lied as well. Most of all, unlike everything else that it has been pointed out was inaccurate in the bible, that one cannot be explained by saying it was a metaphor. It would be something it could not be denied was either a severe exaggeration or a lie. That starts touching on uncomfortable territory for most theists because they have admitted part of their ‘side’ is flawed.
If there is a heaven and the killed firstborn went there, then killing them (or anyone else, for that matter) is quite harmless. And killing is wrong for people not because it causes harm, but because God forbids it. It’s a strange view, but not an obviously inconsistent one. On the other hand I’ve always shied away from moral attacks just because the counterargument of “So, God’s not benevolent, now what? You still had to worship it for a few decades or you are going to literally burn for eternity” seemed so obvious. Like it seems pointless to argue that Dumbledore is evil when you’re trying to prove he never existed.
But if somebody is willing to admit that their respective bible or holy book lied about their God being benevolent, that should raise the probability that other parts of their book lied as well. Most of all, unlike everything else that it has been pointed out was inaccurate in the bible, that one cannot be explained by saying it was a metaphor. It would be something it could not be denied was either a severe exaggeration or a lie. That starts touching on uncomfortable territory for most theists because they have admitted part of their ‘side’ is flawed.