In other words, the Bible is not literally true and you have to "interpret" what it means.
2) Notice it is the parents and not the children who are being punished with the childrens' deaths. (This seems rediculous on its face, but there are a couple of things to remember. First, God is able to fully compensate for the evils of this life so that murdered infants could presumably look back on their demise without horror. Secondly and furthermore, even the beloved saints of God are said to be blessed even in the face of horrific persecution, and scripture implies saintliness is in some way modeled on childhood.)
You'll have to pardon me, but it would be a middling horrible God who tortures children to make the parents feel bad. Are you sure you should be worshipping such an entity? As for loving such a god, well maybe, given that Winston Smith learned to love Big Brother.
3) The infants are actually being saved from a pagan life that would condemn them.
Ick. This recommends that Christians go about murdering babies of non-believers whereever they can be found. Pardon me if I politely decline allowing you to babysit my kids!
Considering you took the verse from a book of songs I don't know why you should be surprised at that. It is generally speaking not hard to tell what to take literaly and what not to.
You'll have to pardon me, but it would be a middling horrible God who tortures children to make the parents feel bad. Are you sure you should be worshipping such an entity? As for loving such a god, well maybe, given that Winston Smith learned to love Big Brother.
Like I said, if you reject the construct of an afterlife, it is just a bunch of savages killing each other and hardly noteworthy. If you accept the construct of an afterlife where the horrors of physical life seem insignificant compared to the reward, then it makes sense. Besides, God is not torturing children.
Ick. This recommends that Christians go about murdering babies of non-believers whereever they can be found. Pardon me if I politely decline allowing you to babysit my kids!
No, that doesn't recommend that. Murder is not condoned. Killing is only allowed in defense or at the direction of the state (war, criminal prosecution.) Unlike Muslims, Christians are forbidden to do evil that good may result.
The reason is rather obvious and part of the reason why Christians oppose abortion. You don't know who you are killing and what positive effects they might have had on the world. God does.
God, on the other hand, can take an earthly life because God does have your best interest in mind. There are even instances where God takes the life of someone He finds pleasing in order to spare that person certain horrors that are coming.