Agnosticism, Atheism, Christianity, Faith, God, Morality, Religion, Sacrifice, Truth

A Modern-Day Abraham

Nate

Well, it’s no longer a scenario we have to imagine. I’m sad to say that there’s a case currently underway not far from where I live concerning a man who murdered his daughter because “Yahweh” told him to. You can read the full story here.

Stephon Lindsay killed his 20-month old daughter Maliyah in March 2013 and confessed to it not long after. As he explained to police, “I only did what he told me to do to her… he wanted me to get rid of her.” According to Lindsay, “Whoever did not have the family name will die.” And “I tried to make her right by him. He didn’t want her.”

It’s a horribly tragic story, but it’s also hard to not comment on the irony. The article I linked to makes no reference to this story being similar to the story of Abraham and Isaac, and they don’t even acknowledge that it’s the same God. As the article says, “he claimed he was told to do it by his god, Yahweh.” Most people in Etowah county, where this is being tried, are Christian, yet I doubt any of them have stopped to wonder if Lindsay might have actually been following an order from God. I have heard so many Christians over the years comment on Abraham’s great faith, without considering how terrible that story actually is. Now they see a real life example, and they immediately know that what Lindsay did is an atrocity. Sadly, most of them won’t think as deeply about this as they should.

What’s the difference between divine revelation and just a voice in your head? How could Lindsay have possibly known that God wouldn’t stay his hand just as he supposedly did for Abraham? The only real differences between these two stories is that one actually happened only 3 years ago, and the other is ancient legend. It’s the same god, and it’s the same action. Yet millions of Jews, Christians, and Muslims revere Abraham and his “great faith.”

As atheists, many of us have asked people to imagine how they’d react if they heard a voice telling them to kill their own child. Or how they would react if they heard about someone doing that because “God told them to.” Sadly, we no longer have to discuss this as mere speculation.

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Published by Nate

63 thoughts on “A Modern-Day Abraham”

  2. well, i’m trying to be on the internet as little as possible these days. for Nate and Carmen who were facebook friends, I just deleted my account because I couldn’t take another minute of the things I was seeing when I signed in. I barely watch any television anymore, it’s 24hours of Donald trump. now i’m just watching dvd’s or playing video games. currently Dead Space 2, it’s ok, perhaps Natge can give me some suggestions, i’m still on xbox 360

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  5. Hmm, I think you’ve said that you played Red Dead Redemption, right? And maybe Mass Effect? If you haven’t played the Mass Effect games, I highly recommend those. They’re my favorite on the 360. The first one has a good story, but the play controls aren’t as great as the 2nd and 3rd games… you don’t necessarily have to play the first.

    If you like The Walking Dead, you might enjoy the Walking Dead video games from TellTale games. Great story lines, and you have some choice about how they play out.

    Also, while it’s technically meant for kids, the Lego Marvel video game is really, really good. Came out a few years ago. The sequel came out just a month or two ago. Very fun. 🙂

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  9. hi Nate, Nan, Arch. well, I went to see a therapist yesterday regarding the issues with my sister and nephew. turns out she was a Christian.
    I said to her, “If I told you I knew of a child that was being abused sexually and I could do everything in my power to stop it, but instead I just sat back and watched it happened, she would think I was a bad person and would by law be required to call law enforcement on me. But if god does the same thing, she would say, Thank you, jesus.”
    LOL
    She suggested to me to find another therapist.

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  12. It’s already been shown a number of times that some states simply don’t care. They want to insert their god into any and all aspects of government (and personal, if possible) life and will do what it takes to do so.

    And until someone makes a stink by pointing out the Constitutional laws, they’ll get away with it because most of their constituents support their actions..

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