The Holy Bible, when read literally, has many illustrations of God killing and destroying people for how they live and what they believe. Remember “Sodom and Gamorrah”, the flood, and many many others. Yet the Bible also implies that people should not kill other people. It says, “thou shalt not kill” in Exodus 20:13, as part of the ten commandments. Is God implying to us that it is ok for God to kill people, but not ok for people to kill people? But it also says in Psalm 82:6 “…Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”. So if we are gods this would imply it is also ok for us as “gods” to kill since God does it. Is this a contradiction, or is it telling us God is a hypocrite (I can do it, but you can’t)? There are religions that do not see this as a contradiction and disregard the commandment not to kill with respect to people who are “evil” in their eyes. According to their other holy books, people should do as God did and kill those who are “evil” and living their life against how they believe everyone should live.
Luke 6:41 “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.”
Are we hypocrites when we judge another for having a mote in their eye, when we may very well have a beam in our own? Or are we hypocrites when we judge those that would kill as God does [in the Bible} stories] because they are just following what they see as a good example in the Holy Bible and/or in their very own holy books? What is wrong with the doctrines such that they appear to condone killing people who would appear “evil”? When read literally, they are full of contradictions and also illustrate how it is ok to hate and kill another (aside from the law and/or commandment) if it is in the name of war, the “greater good”, or some religious dogma. However, they only teach us this when they are read literally. So what do the holy books teach us about reading them literally? “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” It clearly says here in 2 Corinthians 3:6 that the literal “letter” of the scriptures kill.
So if the Bible and possibly other religious books should not be understood literally, how should they be understood? Well, the Bible itself tells us how to interpret it.
The whole world should heed the advice in Luke 6 above. Pull out the beam of obstruction to peace with respect to religious dogma. And what are these beams and motes in our eyes?