THE JEWISH HISTORICAL BOOK OF JOSHUA:
A COMMON RELIGIOUS DILEMMA

One of the problems with Sacred Texts from many of the world religions
are sections which deal with gross brutality and war in the name of God.
The Jewish historical book of Joshua is an example.

The problem here is that within the Sacred Texts of Judaism is this book of
Joshua which is in essence a book about genocide. It is a book about
genocide committed in the name of their God by the Israelites when they
crossed the river Jordan after the death of Moses to take possession of the
land of Canaan which their God had promised to them when they left
Egypt.

In this book, God tells Joshua to take possession of Canaan and to kill
everyone there. No one was to be spared. Men, women and children who
lived in Canaan were to be utterly slaughtered; no exceptions. This is an
extremely brutal and remorseless command from their God.

The problem with these stories, which are an intransigent part of many of
the sacred scripts of the world's religions, is that they seem to justify
contemporary brutality. These stories are seldom denied, explained or
apologized for. They are embraced as part of a religious heritage.

I have used the book of Joshua because it presents some very
contemporary issues regarding present day Israel.

The first question has to do with a comparison of the acts of genocide of
Joshua with the acts of genocide of Adolph Hitler against the Jews in
Europe during World War II. We have a contemporary situation where
the Jews spend a great deal of effort reminding the world of the atrocities
committed against them by Hitler and yet there has been absolutely no
effort to account for the genocide committed by Joshua. There has been
no effort to distinguish how the acts of Joshua can be justified.

Genocide needs to be given immediate attention because it is presently
going on in Africa and just stopped in Bosnia. It is a real and horrific
problem. But what about a people who vehemently denounce genocide
committed against them and yet refuse to even remotely deal with their
own history of genocide.

This is a serious and common problem with religions. There many times
seems to be a double standard: " What we do, we do in the name of our
God, and what you do, you do not do in the name of God."

The second problem is a question of whether the contemporary Israelis are
intent upon repossessing the land originally promised them by their God?
Since there has been no apology regarding the genocide of Joshua, does
this mean that Israel will again attempt to drive everyone out of the old
land of Canaan? This is a legitimate question and it is currently and directly
relevant to the hope for peace in the Middle East. Is there an unspoken
determination to ethnically cleanse Canaan? If the stories coming out of
Jerusalem are correct regarding removing Arabs from Jewish
neighborhoods, these questions must be addressed in the name of peace.

The point of all this is, "can there be hope for WorldPeace unless religious
texts are edited so as to eliminate racism and genocide?" Unless there is a
formal statement that this mindset is presently rejected, will it not be passed
down to future generations as acceptable future behavior?

As I said, this problem encompasses all religions. Has any Pope apologized
for the cultural genocide that was committed to the Inca, Aztecs and
Mayans in the name of the Christian God? Consider that the Jewish book
of Joshua is incorporated into the Christian Bible. Or has there been an
apology for verses in the Koran which sanction the ongoing bloodshed in
the name of the Islamic God?

These are real issues that, in the name of God, take lives every day. Unless
the religious causes of racism and genocide are removed, WorldPeace will
never manifest.


EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK OF JOSHUA


After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to
Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, "My servant Moses is dead.
Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that
I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot
will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the
wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all
the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory.
No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life.
Chapter 1: 1-5

Joshua then said to the Israelites, "Draw near and hear the word of the
Lord your God." Joshua said, "By this you shall know that among you is
the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the
Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and
Jebusites.
3: 9-10

On the seventh day they rose early, at dawn, and marched around the city
(of Jericho) in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that
they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when
the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For
the Lord has given you the city. The city and all that is in it shall be
devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who
are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers we sent.
6: 15-17

So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the
people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the
wall fell down flat; so the people charged straight ahead into the city and
captured it. Then they devoted the destruction by the edge of the sword all
in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and
donkeys.
6: 20-21

Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed; take all the
fighting men with you, and go up now to Ai. See, I have handed over to
you the king of Ai with his people, his city, and his land. You shall do to
Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king.
8: 1-2

When Israel had finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of Ai in the open
wilderness where they pursued them, and when all of them to the very last
had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai, and attacked
it with the edge of the sword. The total of those who fell that day, both
men and women, was twelve thousand - all the people of Ai. For Joshua
did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the sword, until he
had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and they took his
body down from the tree, threw it down at the entrance of the gate of the
city, and raised over it a great heap of stones.
8: 24-29

Then the five kings of the Amorites - the king of Jerusalem, the king of
Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon -
gather their forces, and went up will all their armies and camped against
Gibeon, and made war against it.
10: 5

The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have handed them over
to you; not one of them shall stand before you." So Joshua came upon
them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gigal. And the Lord
threw them into a panic before Israel, who inflicted a great slaughter on
them.
10:8-11

Meanwhile, these five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at
Makkedah. And it was told to Joshua, "The five kings have been found,
hidden in the cave at Makkedah." Joshua said, "Roll large stones against
the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them.
When Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a very great slaughter on
them, until they were wiped out,
Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out to
me from the cave."
When they brought the kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the
Israelites, and said to the chiefs of the warriors who had gone with him,
"Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings." Joshua said to
them, "Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous; for thus
the Lord will do to all the enemies against whom you fight." Afterward
Joshua struck them down and put them to death, and he hung them on five
trees. And they hung on the trees until evening.
10: 16-27

Joshua took Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge
of the sword; he utterly destroyed every person in it; he left no one
remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king
of Jericho.
Then Joshua passed on from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to Libnah,
and fought against Libnah. The Lord gave it also and its king into the hand
of Israel; and he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in
it; he left no one remaining in it; and he did to its king as he had done to the
king of Jericho.
Next Joshua passed on from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish,
and laid siege to it, and assaulted it. The Lord gave Lachish into the hand
of Israel, and he took it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of
the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.
Then King Horam of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua struck
him and his people, leaving him no survivors.
From Lachish Joshua passed on with all Israel to Eglon; and they laid siege
to it, and assaulted it; and they took it that day, and struck it with the edge
of the sword; and every person in it he utterly destroyed that day, as he had
done to Lachish.
Then Joshua went up with all Israel from Eglon to Hebron; they assaulted
it, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its
towns and every person in it; he left no one remaining, just as he had done
to Eglon, and utterly destroyed it with every person in it.
Then Joshua, with all Israel, turned back to Debir and assaulted it, and he
took it with its king and all its towns; they struck them with the edge of the
sword, and utterly destroyed every person in it; he left no one remaining;
just as he had done to Hebron, and, as he had done to Libnah and its king,
so he did to Debir and its king.
So Joshua defeated the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the
lowland and the slopes, and all their kings; he left no one remaining, but
utterly destroying all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded.
10: 28-43

When King Jabin of Hazor heard of this, he sent to King Jobab of Madon,
to the king of Shimron, to the king of Ashshaph, and to the kings who were
in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in
the lowland, and in Naphothdor on the west, to the Canaanites in the east
and the west, the Amorites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the
Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. They came out, with all their
troops, a great army, in number like the sand on the seashore, with very
many horses and chariots. All these kings joined their forces, and came and
camped together at the water of Merom, to fight with Israel.
And the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at
this time I will hand over all of them, slain, to Israel." So Joshua came
suddenly upon them with all his fighting force, by the waters of Merom,
and fell upon them. And the Lord handed them over to Israel, who
attacked them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephothmaim,
and eastward as far as the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them down, until
they had left no one remaining.
Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and struck its king down
with the sword. Before that time Hazor was the head of all those
kingdoms. And they were put to the sword all who were in it, utterly
destroying them; there was no one left who breathed, and he burned Hazor
with fire. And all the towns of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua
took, and struck them with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them,
as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded.
All the people they struck down with the edge of the sword, until they had
destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. As the Lord had
commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so
Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded
Moses.
11: 1-16