An interesting fictional religion I came across was that of the "Blood God"; that is, a god of violence and war. Hate and battle are his worship.

Seems obviously fantastical, but I noticed something when I was reading the Old Testament. The Book of Joshua is a good example; it is basically a chronicle of how Joshua "put to the sword" all of Canaan. Every few verses he would come to a new nation, and the text would glory in the destruction he wrought; gleefully chronicling the number of people he killed, adding that none were spared; happily detailing the despoilation (yes, I know that's not a word) visited upon the homes and dwelling-places of the enemy.

This is not the only place in the Bible that such violence is praised and gloried in. These passages could easily be written about the fictitious god I mentioned; fantasy literature designed to describe a god of blood and skulls is nearly indistinguishable from books of the Old Testament!

More interesting is the resemblance the passages I read hold to Assyrian inscriptions. Famed for their brutality and propensity for violent excess, even the famous tablets of Sennacherib or Assur-Nâsir-Pal II "the Merciless" don't exceed some Biblical stories of conquest. The Assyrian kings wrote of how they slaughtered the inhabitants of a city, then even broke the very buildings of the city and left no stone standing upon another. Joshua did this not once, not twice, not even three times, but to every nation he conquered!

Not sure where I'm going with this, really... just thought it was interesting. I don't intend it as an attack upon the Bible, Christians, so just cool down. Maybe all of those children killed were unrighteous, eh?

Kind and loving god, Hmm?

To quote one of the Popes...

"Kill them , KILL them ALL! God will know his own"

It really gets the blood goin', don't it? :p Makes me want to grab an ax and go take skulls. I'm actually going to suggest on a certain fantasy forum I frequent that devotees of the Blood God might want to use the Old Testament as some inspiration for their fanfiction.

I know this sounds like I'm mocking the Bible, but that's really not my intention. I guess I'm a little bloodthirsty myself, because I find this fascinating and wanted to share it. This is a good chapter to start on (http://www.awitness.org/biblehtm/jos/jos8.htm), 8:19 to 8:29 especially, and it continues for several more. Compare to the inscription of Sennacherib, which I will transcribe for you from my little book of militaria*:
I levelled the city and its houses from the foundations to the top; I destroyed them and consumed them with fire. I tore down and removed the outer and inner walls, the temples and the ziggurats made of brick, and dumped the rubble in the Arahtu canal. And after I destroyed Babylon, smashed its gods and massacred its population, I tore up its soil and threw it into the Euphrates so that it was carried by the river down to the sea.
The only difference lies not in the brutality but in the imagination shown!

*Essential Militaria, Nicholas Hobbes.

Yeah, the God of the OT best matches the mainstream Christian idea of Satan.

I totally got sad reading over joshua because of course killing is not a good thing.

However, I think assuming that all Christians agree with the courses of action taken by joshua is wrong. Also its impossible to interpret the situation of circumstances or cultural relevance of something written thousands of years ago. Not that its not scary but its silly to think that a literal interpretation of a 3000 year old book is representative of a contemporary religion, individual, or religious group.

Joshua made me sad though....honestly I imagine an old jewish leader thousands of years ago trying to write about the glory of israel and getting waaay to into the massacreing parts and not enough about the moral relevance.

In a sense this is true, because from what I've read, the entrance to Canaan was not followed by great wars, but rather a gradual integration of cultures. I'll see if I can find where I read this.

In a sense this is true, because from what I've read, the entrance to Canaan was not followed by great wars, but rather a gradual integration of cultures. I'll see if I can find where I read this.
That's actually how the book of Judges depicts it. I haven't heard an explanation for this discrepancy yet.

***

An idea that occurred to me - maybe YHWH was originally a god of war? The Assyrians' main god was a war god, after all, and look at the similarity of their celebrated records. Perhaps the worship of YHWH achieved supremacy through violent conquest.

That's actually how the book of Judges depicts it. I haven't heard an explanation for this discrepancy yet.

***

An idea that occurred to me - maybe YHWH was originally a god of war? The Assyrians' main god was a war god, after all, and look at the similarity of their celebrated records. Perhaps the worship of YHWH achieved supremacy through violent conquest.

Or maybe YHWH and other male-war like gods came about because of a drastic climate change some oh say ten thousand years ago or so which led to a lot of shrooms growin' around thusly a lot of "pre-civilization" gynocentric societies which existed in peace and harmony (cities didn't even have walls), but then once the shrooms died out a bit and people started drinking alcohol, it became male dominated...and thus, WAR! And GLORY!

Or maybe YHWH and other male-war like gods came about because of a drastic climate change some oh say ten thousand years ago or so which led to a lot of shrooms growin' around thusly a lot of "pre-civilization" gynocentric societies which existed in peace and harmony (cities didn't even have walls), but then once the shrooms died out a bit and people started drinking alcohol, it became male dominated...and thus, WAR! And GLORY!
Drugs decide the course of history! :o

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! KHORN KHORN KHORN!

sounds like someones been reading the warhammer 40k book.

Damn right! I probably have every bit of Warhammer material ever published.

DEATH TO THE FALSE EMPEROR!

Drugs decide the course of history! :o

Actually women do.

Or a man's lust for a certain woman does.

Actually women do.

Or a man's lust for a certain woman does.

The distractions or lack thereof in capable men.