I went out of my way to look through the things you said. Some of which I could debunk, and some of them I couldn't.
One of those things I couldn't debunk was that the OT God seems to be really angry and genocides people way too much. But hey, maybe that will keep all the people whining about "there are too many humans on this planet!" happy.
I don't think you're trolling, because no one is that bad at it. I think you are just a legitimately concerned human being, and that's good. It's good to be concerned and question things sometimes.
If you ARE trolling, though... Troll harder. Sorry.
1. I know some people will object to my statement about the NT, but Paul was not Jesus. Also Paul was talking about how he wanted to run the church. He straight starts the section with "I desire therefore that..." and not "God said..." so this is what Paul wants, not God.
2. The OT was pretty violent, yeah. God was really angry with anyone who messed with Israel or perverted their ways. It really is a shame that he ordered genocide, though. I never really understood why God wanted to practically kill everyone in the OT, so I take the "God said to kill ___" thing with a grain of salt myself.
3. Exodus 22:1 says "If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep."
So I thought you made a typo and checked Exodus 22:11, 2:11, and 2:1, and none of them have anything to do with sorcery, but then I realized you were talking about 22:18.
The ancient Jewish people had a lot of laws, what can I say? Moses wanted to keep society in order. And if sorceresses were going to upset that balance, it made sense to do the caveman-style thing and kill them. That's how they dealt with most of their problems back then before Jesus came along and told them to cut it out.
4. This was the last verse of a song about the Israeli people being in Babylon. Because Babylon is going to be destroyed (by whom it doesn't specify) the verse says that whoever is going to destroy Babylon is going to be delighted to do so. Here's the last section of the song:
"O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock!"
5. Just because one Jewish guy took a hooker doesn't mean we should take hookers. It's telling a story, not condoning what happened. Yeah there's some awful stuff that happens in the OT, but most of it is storytelling. Also yeah, for some reason the Jewish guy cut her up into pieces in the end. Honestly I have no clue what the point of this story was, but I'm pretty sure we're not suppose to take hookers and cut them up.
6. Yeah people did that a lot, actually. And they still do. I hear it was actually very common in the Mediterranean world at the time. Can't figure out what you're trying to say here.
7. Yeah burnt human sacrifice is pretty jacked up. But apparently the daughter agreed to it. God probably had a big hand to play in setting his daughter in place to be the one to be sacrificed. Chances are it was a lesson God was trying to teach Jephthah about not vowing to do stupid things.
Also, apparently this event was lamented by Israel, as evidenced by Judges 11:39-40
Nonetheless, I think it can be said that Jephthah made a very dumb vow.
8. Yeah I guess God really really likes burning people. Can't argue there.
9. Once again, Paul. Yeah he is a misogynist. But if it's any condolence to you, if you'd read the rest of that section, it also says "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her."
Unfortunately, it's we don't live in a perfect world without domestic abuse and power abuse in general, otherwise the whole "husbands treat your wives great, and women treat your husbands great" thing would actually work out.
10. Peter, not fond of him either. Also, maybe it's because I use NKJV (I'd like to read original Greek text someday to get a more accurate translation for everything), but I see "servants" instead of "slaves" written in mine. A servant has a really broad definition, as it could mean anyone from a slave to a worker to a housemaid to an indentured servant to a whole slew of other people who "serve" someone. Also, like the wife/husband thing, there are also parts of the Bible that mention a master should be good to their servants! Unfortunately, very few "masters" seem to follow that rule, which is just as important. The problem with people who think they're "elite" or having someone submit to them is that they often interpret it as a "I'm better than you so the rules don't apply to me!" kind of thing.
- About God hating everyone, you forget that Psalms is a book of songs. David (who was probably one of the worst kings in history, for so many reasons) wrote the song you're referring to here. The section which says "The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity." which is basically putting words in God's mouth. Which ironically enough, is also a sin.
Also, supposedly Mary was blameless, too. So that's 2 out of 2, I guess. Also, even though Job suffered like probably no one else on this earth, God rewarded him for dealing with it like a boss by giving him back all the things he took from him, times two. Read Job 42:10-17, which is the end of the book.
- I like how you take one thing about Jesus and take it out of context.
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but division. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her month, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be those of his own household.
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."
It's about dedicating your life to Christ and doing good deeds. And because not everyone is a good person, sometimes someone in your family won't want you to go out and do these things. I've found this to be true with my family. Some of them are not happy that I converted to Christianity and want to go out and help the poor because they aren't really into helping the poor, so that's the kind of division Jesus was talking about. It is an inevitable division. It can't be classified as something good or bad, it's just something that happens when you fight for what you think is right.
Anyways, most of your post doesn't seem to have as much to do with Christianity as it does ancient Judaism. Which, as you will notice, is very different from the teachings of Christ. Hence why Christianity is called Christianity.
Also, you seem to be going on the assumption that God wrote every last page and letter and verse of the Bible, and that every verse is translated perfectly. While a lot of Christians do believe that, I remain a skeptic about the Bible's 100% accuracy and truth as a whole. I only believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the teachings of Christ. The Bible didn't even exist when Jesus was around, and I believe the physical church that was established years after his death has corrupted a lot of the original teachings and purpose and meaning behind Jesus. It's not a popular opinion I have, but it should give you a background on where I'm coming from.
But most of all, do yourself and the world a favor and don't read Sparknotes/cliffnotes/whatever. If you're gonna read a book, no matter how boring and chunky and long, just read the damn thing. If you don't have time to read, that's fine, just straight up admit it and move along.
