FilAm Rapper Bambu Objects That God Killed Tons Of People In The Bible: Over 2,000,000
*Originally I was going to leave Bambu’s name out of this article, because he was going to give me his thoughts on my answers. But he has said nothing and I feel he needs to be held accountable for his destructive worldview that affects impressionable Filipino American kids and young adults. His propaganda needs to be exposed.
Recently I had the pleasure of engaging in a discussion online with a far left leaning, Filipino-American rap artist about religion. Bambu is a rapper and hip hop artist who expresses his views through his music. Like an enthusiastic evangelist for his cause, he is a man with passion and strong conviction. He is someone who stands up for his beliefs and promotes them wholeheartedly. He is a creative individual who uses his talent to promote something he truly believes in, which is unlike a lot of hip hop artists that exist today. This man has an actual message he wants to get across and is not in the game so much for the money and fame as most popular rappers are. Bambu raps more about injustice he claims is oppressing his race as well as ethnic pride. He promotes the overcoming of adversity and progression for Filipino people and other Asians everywhere. He also raps about growing up in his neighborhood (hanging out with his homies in the “hood”) and the things he went through in life. He is a man with a lot of experience and a lot of things to say. The only problem is he has some incorrect conclusions and wrong answers, most notably with his stance on religion.
The thing that stood out most in the short discussion we had was his offense against the Bible and Christianity. Bambu explained that he does not have a problem with the doctrine of Christianity, but he has a problem “with the dogmatic rhetoric that Christians use to justify things that aren’t pro-people…like Bureaucratic Capitalism.” He goes on to say that he has issues with the Bible itself and has “a hard time bringing [himself] to believing (sic) that there is an all-seeing, all-knowing mystical force watching over us like chess pieces…” He later claims he does not understand the Bible. He has read the bible 7 times in his life and admits the last 3 readings he was only looking for “objective things” to find in the Bible that he disagrees with to accuse it of being wrong. He also holds to the opinion that Filipino tribal religions (which factually are only spiritist and animismistic: magic, witchcraft, and sorcery) are acceptable religions for Filipinos; a positive trait of indigenous culture that Christian missionaries destroyed and oppressed. He believes that Christians destroyed their way of life and forced them to convert. He is against missionaries going to the Philippines to spread the teachings of the Bible.
Bambu lastly said,
“Why don’t I believe in the book. Simple, (sic) it wasn’t written for me. Did you know that the (sic) in the bible God kills over 2 million people… and the devil kills 2. This is all written. This is all documented. Isaiah 34.3, Jeremiah 25.33, Ezekiel 35.8, Amos 8.3, Nahum 3.3, the flood of Noah, Abraham’s war to rescue Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s wife, Onan death, the Lord smoting (sic) all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. This is not a book for me, brother. This is a book of fear. A way to police a people before civility. I’m all about moving forward — and we cannot do so if we still hold on to a book that is based on myth and not FACT.”
This article will address the issues this gentleman raised against the Bible in hopes that Bambu as well as others, who have heard these arguments before, will realize the truth of the Bible and the righteousness of God as well as His thirst for justice against oppression and all kinds of evil. I hope God will reveal His truth to this man that there is hope in Christ and true salvation and freedom from oppression for all ethnicities and people groups.
Dogmatic rhetoric that Christians use to justify things that aren’t pro-people…like Bureaucratic Capitalism
I have not met a lot of Christians who promote a bureaucratic capitalism by using the Bible. It is not clear in the statement what is meant by bureaucratic capitalism. If by bureaucratic capitalism, it is meant a capitalism that is run by people who are not elected directly by the people, then I have a problem with that too. A Democratic Republic is supposed to run on policy makers who are elected by the people and who remain subject to the judgment of the people. The Bible does not promote such ideas of bureaucratic capitalism. The bible does not have any commands that government should be run like a bureaucracy (in its modern idea), however it does mention that governments exist and people are subject to authorities in whatever country someone lives. It gives no opinion on the righteousness or unrighteousness of whatever government system. Anyone who does use the bible to promote a forced system of government is twisting the Bible. Even so, historically there have been unbiblical results that were directly caused by certain types of governments (tyranny, dictatorships, elitist control etc.) but this is another topic all together. So to be clear: the bible does not teach that a certain form of government is the only option for God honoring nations.
The Bible actually is pro-people and not against them. God may be against wicked people, but humanity has an important part in God’s plan. God looks out for his children and provides life for everyone. God is pro-people because God loves people. Psalm 144:3 “O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?”Psalm 8:5 states, “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” If the Bible was not pro-people why does it speak of people as having so much value to God? After all humans were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26). Matthew 10:29-31 speaks about God’s concern for animals and states that humans are even more valuable and God takes care of them all even to the number of hairs on our head. God is a God of detailed love for people.
An all-seeing, all-knowing mystical force watching over us like chess pieces
The Bible does not teach that God is a force. God is a rational mind and a personal being. He actively participates in His creation and nothing is done out of chance. God knows all things, sees all things, and is everywhere present and absolutely nothing is hidden from God. Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” God does have power and is sovereign over all creation (1 Chronicles 29:11, Acts 17:26, Isaiah 46:10) but that does not mean God is simply playing chess and that God is a deity of fatalistic determinism who does not know what his future decisions will be. In fact, God cares about creation and does things for good. God is unchanging and there is no possibility He would decide to do something different. If God did actually control creation like meaningless pawns on a chess board it would mean the future is unknown to God and He makes His decisions purely by chance; and has to work it all out and manipulate it in order to guide history where He wants it. It implies a lack of control. Such an idea would also mean He has the possibility to change His mind. The Bible tells us that God is absolutely unchanging and is the same eternally in the past, present, and future (Psalm 102:25-27, Hebrews 1:10-12 &13:8, Malachi 3:6, Isaiah 40:8, Psalm 33:11). This doctrine is called God’s immutability which simply means “God is unchangeable.” So we have a God who does what He promises and has an actual plan for life and the world we exist in.
God is not indifferent about his created order and the people living on the earth. God cares and loves His creation and has its best interest in mind. Psalm 33:5-6 states, “He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the LORD’s unfailing love. The heavens were made by the word of the LORD and all the stars, by the breath of His mouth.” Psalm 145:9 expresses simply, “The LORD is good to everyone, His compassion rests on all He has made.” And verse 17 further says, “The LORD is righteous in all His ways and gracious in all His actions.” So the biblical God is not like the gods of paganism such as Zeus from ancient Greek mythology who could care less about humans or let alone justice for everyone. Such gods in many pagan religions change their minds, act on impulses, and are indifferent, unconcerned, and chaotic. The Bible states that God is a God of order and not chaos (1 Corinthians 14:33).
If one does not understand the bible it does not give the right to commit intellectual dishonesty and logical fallacies
Bambu claims he does not understand the Bible even though he read it 7 times. He also claims that the last 3 times he read it were simply done to find reasons to dislike it. With a little more study and focused reading it is easy to understand what God is communicating to mankind (even if you don’t believe it). Isolating a few verses taken away from their context would make the Bible hard to understand. But when verses are left in their proper context the reader can understand why something is said and what it actually means. Whether or not someone will accept the Bible and believe it is up to the Holy Spirit. Reading the bible only for “objective things” to accuse it will obviously only give the person animosity and negativity towards the Bible because of their own personal bias and not actual facts in the Bible. But isolating a text makes it easy to twist and skew words that were not by themselves the message that the story or passage indicates. It is easy to twist, take out of context, and manipulate anyone’s words if they are isolated and taken away from their message. The media is known for doing this to many people which completely changes the actual intention of the person communicating. This is a flawed and wrong way to interpret any written text, or anyone’s audible speech for that matter. The media often times is only looking for vague sound bites to use against someone that can be interpreted the wrong way which is truly unfair. In the same way it is unfair to the Bible and Christianity to purposely look for things to hate and take out of context. This is intellectually dishonest.
Bambu claims he does not understand the Bible. If a person does not understand something what business does he have to attack it and claim it says certain wrong things? If a man does not understand directions to a project after he read them, does he really have the authority to tell someone that certain things in the instruction booklet are wrong? Logically speaking, no! This is a fallacious argument and a contradiction. One moment he claims the bible is too hard to understand, the next moment he is claiming he understands that the bible simply promotes killing of people; 2 million at least. If a person is ignorant about the Bible he has no business explaining it to anyone or telling anyone that it communicates something. If a person does not understand the Bible even after he read it multiple times he should seek to understand it and read it properly. At least the passages of scripture he has a problem with. And hopefully after analyzing the text he will be able to discuss it to reveal its intended message, and not something made up out of a personal emotional feeling. Appealing to emotion is a logical fallacy. The author’s intention in the books of the Bible is what the Bible communicates. Nothing more and nothing less. If you get this wrong it is no wonder one would not understand the Bible.
The Bible was not written for me
God killed over 2 million people in the Bible and Satan only killed 2
Most people say that Satan killed 10 people. I do not know where the number 2 came from in this gentleman’s argument about the people Satan killed. The Bible documents in Job that Satan killed Job’s family which ads up to 10 people. Of course some of the deaths were actually carried out by raiders, so Satan did not directly kill those. Even so, the argument that God is unjust and evil because He was responsible for the deaths of over 2 million people is a fallacious argument. It begs the question. There are no complete numbers in the Bible, these are all assumptions. Assumptions by atheists or people against the Bible do not count as evidence to prove God is evil. This assumption about God killing does not take into account that all of the deaths were justified, and not all deaths the atheists count are actually a lone result by God. Other people killed people, and God used other people to kill people (the same way Satan used raiders to kill some of Job’s sons).God actually is in control of life and death. Logically every death (from natural causes to violence) throughout the world’s history is a result from God’s doing just as every birth of every human throughout history that was given the gift of life is a direct result of God. I would also go as far to say that 2 million cannot even account for half of the people that the Bible talks about being killed by God if you count the flood, the end times battle against Israel and various destructions of cities. Even with these extra facts it still does not prove that God was unjust in killing people.God is a righteous judge and kills justly (Psalm 7:11). These people deserved to die and were wicked. God says only the just will see His face (Psalm 11:7). The wicked God will punish and has punished. Not only in this world, but eternally as well.
What many people who claim God is evil and the Bible promotes injustice do not realize is the Bible actually promotes justice in the world and teaches that God is all about justice. This is why the leaders in social justice have always been religiously or culturally Christian. Secular and atheist organizations are not the leaders in bringing social change and justice. Historically, Christians have been the leaders in charity: fighting against modern slavery, sex trafficking, racism, poverty, neglect of orphans and widows, evil regimes and more. Christians even died for this because the Bible teaches these good things. In the Philippines right now Christian missionaries are leading the way to protect orphans, feed the hungry, to build homes for the homeless, to help street kids, and get women as well as under aged children out of sex trafficking. They are helping people live successfully. Christians are helping youth get out of prostitution, gangs and all kinds of terrible life situations to give them an education and hope. Anti-capitalists, atheists, and other religions are simply almost non-existent in this. Religion is a good thing:
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27
Christianity promotes a correct view of social justice
Here are a few more verses which teach that God desires good things and commands social justice against oppressors. This is something any socially conscious hip hop artist should take note of; that Christianity is a positive thing to promote for social change in their communities:
Proverbs 31:8-9
Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Deuteronomy 24:17
Do not deny justice to a foreign resident or fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security.
Matthew 7:12
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Psalm 82:3
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Ezekiel 16:49-50
Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.
Proverbs 29:7
A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.
Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
With Bambu’s desire to find evil things in the Bible he completely missed all of these good things that the bible actually teaches. While trying to find negativity he completely went over all the positive. You won’t see him promoting the good things of Christianity, but you will see him equating it with mass murder and terrorism as if the Bible is on par with Islamo-fascist-terrorism. This is totally unfair and unjust. Picking out a few verses depicting death is not going to prove the Bible is evil. One must understand who was killed and why. People like Bambu who do not like the Bible make a person wonder if they believe any death is justified. Is it ever just to execute evil people? Is it okay to defend a country? Is the death of the wicked ever an answer? If one would listen to certain rap lyrics and watch music videos they would come to the conclusion that Bambu probably does believe killing corrupt cops, who unjustly harass the Asian community, is ok as well as executing KKK members. So basing my conclusion on what I have heard from his lyrics and seen in videos it is plausible that he does believe it is righteous to kill evil people, at least sometimes.
Let’s take a look at his accusations about God killing 2,000,000 people.
Isaiah 34:3
“There slain will be thrown out, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains flow with their blood.”
It is not so hard to figure out that the slain in this passage are the corrupt officials, wicked people, oppressors and murderers that are being killed by God in this verse. Much of the book of Isaiah speaks about end times with the return of the Savior judging the world and saving the repentant people God redeems. It also has a lot to do with Israel and protecting it as well as judging its wicked people and other nations who would want to destroy it. Isaiah 34 is a chapter speaking about punishing evil nations. In chapter 33 verse 15 it explains the one who will be saved,
“The one who lives righteously and speaks rightly, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots and shuts his eyes to avoid endorsing evil — he will dwell on the heights; his refuge will be the rocky fortresses, his food provided, his water assured.”
The Lord loves this type of person and punishes the opposite people who are wicked and full of injustice. According to certain rap lyrics from songs it seems that this hip hop artist would agree with God that such injustice is evil. Isaiah 34:3 is speaking about punishment of corrupt, murderous, evil people and the deaths they will suffer. God’s justified wrath is against evil. The end of days is God’s set time to judge these wicked people. What is not to like about this passage?
Jeremiah 25:33
“Those slain by the LORD on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the face of the ground.”
Ezekiel 35:8
“I will fill its mountains with the slain; those slain by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in your ravines.”
Let’s look at who is being killed here. It is the Edomites as the entire chapter of 35 addresses. This event historically already happened in the world. Edom is no more, this is an archaeological and historical fact; this nation is gone. King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonians first came and attacked them, then later in 126BC John Hyrcanus of the Hasmoneans finished wiping them out. There is nothing left of them. This is a prophetic fulfillment the Bible predicted would happen and then it did. This speaks of the Bibles supernatural inspiration.
Why were the Edomites slain? Verse 5 says it was because of their intense hatred of Israel and the fact they handed Israel over to be slain by its enemies and betrayed them. The Edomites did not help the Israelites from disaster but instead took pleasure in it and let them perish as they looked on. In fact, the Edomites handed them over to the enemy. The Edomites were always jealous and hateful of Israel and were always plotting on how they could destroy them and take over their land. The Edomites were actually relatives of the Jews and originated from Esau the brother of Jacob (who was called Israel). Verse 6 says the Edomites are being punished because they did not hate bloodshed of their brothers but instead enjoyed it. They were jealous of Israel and hated them and spoke blasphemies them about God (verse 12). Edom also participated in the slaughter of Israelites in 586BC when the Babylonians were pursuing the remaining Israelites trying to avoid death.
Do these reasons to punish Edom and hand it over to enemy nations to die still sound unjust? If so, then one who thinks this must support unjust bloodshed and betrayal. According to some hip hop lyrics people should look out for their “homies” and stand along side them when people try to mess with them. Isn’t that how it is in the hood?
Amos 8:3
“In that day the temple songs will become wailing —the Lord GOD’s declaration. ‘Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere! Silence!’”
This is yet another prophecy about judgment on wicked people who have committed atrocities. It is actually a judgment on God’s own people, Israel, for turning away from righteousness and justice. All one has to do is read the next verse to figure this out. Amos 8:4-6 states,
“Here this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, asking, ‘When will the New Moon be over so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath, so we may market wheat? We can reduce the measure while increasing the price and cheat with dishonest scales. We can buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and even sell the wheat husks!’”
I think it is obvious that Israel began to oppress the poor and needy as well as cheat people out of money causing even more poverty to the peasants. Israel had completely turned away from God and was worshiping other false idols, and causing all kinds of death as well as oppressing poor people. It would seem that Amos 8:3 is stating the lyrics of a song that Israel would sing after its judgment from God began. Lyrics that any socially conscious, anti-oppression, pro-people rapper should agree with. Is it not justified that such evil people were going to be sent into judgment and given over to enemy nations by God for their greed, dishonesty, and causing of poverty? God cares about poor people and hates corruption and dishonest gains! This is something about the Christian God that should be praised.
Nahum 3:3
“Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end— they stumble over their dead.”
The flood of Noah, Abraham’s war to rescue Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s wife, Onan’s death, the Lord killing all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.
All of these events can be easily explained by the fact it was judgment against wicked people. The Flood of Noah’s story says the entire world was full of violence and all kinds of evil. God destroyed them all except 8 people (Noah’s family). God started the world over with Noah. Evil people were punished and executed and the ones who followed the Lord were saved. No need to go into detail here as it is obvious if one actually reads the story.
Abraham’s war to rescue Lot is really a misrepresentation of what actually happened. It was not “Abraham’s War” as if he started a war and it was named after him. Abraham simply gathered his 318 fighting men to do a covert operation to rescue his grandson Lot. The war was actually started between 9 different kingdoms. Four kings teamed up with each other to fight against 5 other kings who teamed up together. They were already fighting each other and killing each other when Lot got mixed up in the mess and was taken captive. Some of the kings were from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot was living in Sodom when the other kings attacked his city and looted the region taking all the goods and captives they could. Lot was taken captive with them. 318 fighters born in Abraham’s household attacked the armies of several kings and won. It is simply a factual error to call this “Abraham’s War to rescue Lot” when it was a war already happening and it was a rescue mission. The only people who were killed were enemy soldiers, not women and children. Abraham’s men rescued Lot as well as women and other people who were taken as slaves by the other kings. Who are the good guys here? Obviously Abraham and his men! It is simply intellectually dishonest to claim to have read the Bible many times and not understand the facts of this story; that Abraham was good and righteous. How often have Filipino rappers screamed for justice against oppressive nations? Does Spain come to mind? Would it be wrong, if the Spanish captured some people from a Filipino tribe, for the warriors of that tribe to attack the Spanish and end up killing some of them to rescue their own people? Obviously not! So apply this same logic to this story!
Sodom and Gomorrah were 2 wicked cities. Contrary to popular belief, these cities were not simply destroyed because a few homosexual people lived there. They were killed because they were extremely wicked people. Genesis 13:13 says, “Now the men of Sodom were evil, sinning greatly against the LORD.” It is further stated in Ezekiel 16:49-50 the reason for their destruction,
“Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.”
All kinds of evil were coming from them. Sodom and Gomorrah were already involved in a bloody war with other nations simply over a power struggle and greed. The city of Sodom was so evil and involved in depravity that the men of the town had no problem with the idea of trying to gang rape the 2 (which were angels sent to help Lot) staying in Lot’s household; and were so inflamed with lust they wanted to murder Lot for protecting them. With such extreme lustful desires it is plausible such an action was not uncommon for these men to do. Later after Lot was taken out of the city his daughters were so influenced by the depravity they were living in that they got Lot drunk and had sex with him in order to get pregnant since they believed there were no men around to marry (incest seemed like a common thing in Sodom). This screwed up mindset came from a wicked region that God destroyed. Unless you believe homosexual gang rape, murder, incest, prideful neglect of the poor, and other rampant, shameless sexual depravity and wickedness are ok, it seems that God was just in destroying these nations. Also, Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back longingly for city. This proves she had a longing pride in the lifestyles of those cities and did not have her mind set on the goodness of God. What kind of woman would look back on a city full of serial rapists longingly? God specifically told them not to look back at the city or they will be swept away with it, they were just to run. Stopping to look back caused her to be swept away in the destruction.
Onan’s death was a result of disobeying his duty to produce offspring for his deceased brother Er. Onan’s father was named Judah. Onan’s brother Er was wicked and was killed by God. Judah told Onan to take Er’s wife as his own wife to produce offspring in his brother Er’s name. Onan knew that having children with her would make them under his brother’s name, so disobeying his father he emitted his semen on the ground instead of in her womb. This was an offense against what is called the Levirate marriage which was the expected, honorable thing to do. God killed both of these sons of Judah for their rebellious and wicked behavior. One can argue all they want in order to justify what Onan did and to claim that God killed him for a “stupid reason,” but the Bible does not go into detail; simply states they were evil. The bible’s teaching is that evil people were executed by God. Implying they were somehow “precious little angels” in order to tell people that God kills innocent people is a false statement someone derived out of their own feelings and lack of information, instead of taking what information is actually given. Court cases do not find someone guilty by finding things that are not there, but they use evidence that is there. The Bible says they were evil so the only rational outcome is that they in fact were evil. It is illogical to assume otherwise.
God killed the first born of Egypt in the 10th plague God sent to Egypt. Egypt was not an innocent nation and was full of oppression including using the Hebrews as slaves and not allowing them to leave the country. God repeatedly warned Pharaoh what was about to happen but he did not care. The Lord gave Pharaoh many chances to do what is right. God is a just judge and is in control of life and death. He proved that the Egyptian gods had no power over anything. Isis and Hathor were the gods that caused childbirth and these pagan gods could not stop the first born from dying.
The death of the first born was used as a prophetic typology. In the story, all of the Hebrews who had the blood of a lamb spread on their door posts would escape the judgment of God on the households. If they did not follow this rule the Hebrew’s firstborn would have died as well. The blood on the doorposts represented the actual blood of Christ who is called the Lamb of God. The first first born were allowed to be killed as judgment on Pharaoh and Egypt to express God’s superiority and as a prophecy about the death of His Son, Jesus. This represents the gospel message that Jesus who was God’s first born would die for the sins of the world in the future. It the blood on the doorposts represented all who are covered by the blood of Christ that will be saved from their slavery to sin. This does not indicate that God is cruel and evil, especially if one understands that all people sin (Romans 3:23). This historic event illustrates God’s greatest act of love with Christ’s crucifixion.
Further, when someone thinks of first born they automatically assume it was a baby. This is not the case; the first born of any Egyptian family was killed. That would mean not only children but full grown adults as well. Mostly full grown adults who were not innocent were probably killed. And the children that died God took them up and spared them from the consequences of Egypt’s sins which would lead to eternal destruction in the next life. This was not a simple killing of innocent babies as atheists love to try and claim. Any babies who did die were taken to heaven. Who is anyone to judge God anyway? If The Bible teaches God is just and holy, then all of His actions are just and holy including this judgment on Egypt. You can disagree all you want, but the Bible does not teach that everyone needs to go kill first born babies. That is false.
This is not a book for me, brother. This is a book of fear. A way to police a people before civility. I’m all about moving forward — and we cannot do so if we still hold on to a book that is based on myth and not FACT.
What is there to move forward from? Are the ideas of helping the poor, protecting orphans and widows, hating corruption, opposing racism against immigrants, and hating wickedness too primitive for today? What then should we replace it with? All societies have laws, and almost all societies have based their laws on similar universal truths that the Bible teaches. It is proof that morality is not relative. If your idea is to promote the fight against injustice and oppression the Bible is a pretty good book to use since it obviously teaches such things.
Now claiming that the Bible is based on myth and not fact is simply false. The Bible is accurate and its stories about people groups and events can be accounted for through archaeology history, and geography. Even science benefited from the Bible as many of the historic leading men of science such as Newton, Pascal, Kelvin, Keplar, and Galileo all took inspiration from the Bible to discover what we know as scientific facts. It has always historically been Christian based cultures that have had the light of scientific discovery, and cultures steeped in witchcraft and superstitions have always lacked progression. Cultures without the Bible’s influence, even today, are some of the poorest and lacking in moral justice. Just look at the rampant corruption in so many 3rd world countries that come from pagan cultures.
Bambu claims the Bible is a book based on fear to manipulate societal control. If he is against fearful religion why does he promote indigenous Filipino religions? All of those religions are completely based on superstitious fears that are not based on reality and are absolute myths. Even today uneducated Filipinos believe that dangerous spirits in nature (called diwata) must be appeased so they do not get sick and die. These diwata live in trees, bushes, rocks etc…if you make a mistake and do not respect them you will get sick and could die. To get cured a person must to go to a local shaman and have him do a ritual cleansing. In reality, many people get physical illnesses due to medical problems but ignorantly attribute it to nature spirits. They go to a shaman who beats them to exorcise the spirits, burns herbs over them, speak incantations over them and other nonsense that does not cure anyone. Only until the western influences of science and medicine in the Philippines did most Filipinos progress and understand these superstitious practices are not true. Only in educated Filipino culture do people address medical issues through doctors who actually have proper scientific and medical knowledge to heal them. Most often it is uneducated people living far away from the larger society still believe in this witchcraft.
A religion based on fear is one that believes that aswang (a vampire like witch creature that separates half of its body to fly and has a long tongue) are out to eat babies in the womb and attack people in the woods. A religion based on fear teaches that dwende (small elves) live in anthills and inside trees and will attack you with illnesses if you walk on them without saying, “tabi tabi po” which is a plea for forgiveness out of fear. A religion based on fear teaches that batibat (obese female dream demons) will attack you at night and kill you in your sleep. A religion based on fear promotes magical chants, sorcery, and witchcraft for a cause and effect belief system to contain societal control in its communities. Some people still want to promote that the Bible is a book of fear and such Filipino religions are wonderful and progressive. This is a seriously skewed claim. Does one seriously wish the Philippines was never touched, and was left in its darkness of fearful tribal religions? These tribal groups were not always innocent naked natives. They had wars as well and killed each other before the Spanish took over. What the Spanish did was evil and it is a shame they came and oppressed people with racism and imperialism. But that does not discount the Christian God as evil or imperialistic because a political force disguised as a “church of God” by the same of the Church of Rome decided to take over. You cannot blame the Bible for this as nothing they did is taught in the Bible. Catholicism does not equal the “gospel truth.” It has always been a political force desiring world control. Later Christian missionaries came and participated in all kinds of charity including the education of Filipinos.
If missionaries never went the Philippines would still have people come. Even before Christians came the Philippines had Hindu-Buddhists in the north and Muslims missionized in the south. Indigenous Filipino religions were rejected by these groups in these areas. Muslims came way before Christians in the Philippines. Why doesn’t this hip hop artist complain about that? Islam in the southern region of Mindanao in the Philippines gave birth to the terrorist group Abu Sayaf and many Islamic attacks occur against non-Muslims all the time with numerous people murdered. Why doesn’t this rapper write songs about such atrocities and injustice? He only singles out Christianity.
Historically, in the Pacific Islands, before missionaries ever showed up there were whaler’s who would make stops on the islands. Whalers and non-religious people did not have the native’s best interest at heart and would not find it wrong to exploit them. People who do not love or care for the people would have had control if missionaries never came. Christian missionaries at least cared about the people. Is it not better missionaries influenced these people first instead of groups of womanizing, racist men settling there? The world is small and everyone will run into everyone at some point and we live in the age where the entire world’s nations know about each other. There is no way natives would ever be left alone even if Christians never showed up. If Christians never showed up to these nations other people would have and did. Just because some people who went as missionaries made a few mistakes does not mean Christians as a whole are evil and the Bible is the cause of it. Also, it is simply ignorant to assume all native cultures are 100% innocent people who have never committed atrocities against other people. It is also false to claim Christianity destroyed local culture as many missionaries have started churches that take into account the native cultures (including naked natives serving in church, research Borneo Christians). These natives needed the benefit of the Bible’s teaching about justice, equality, love, compassion, forgiveness, and God’s grace.
A brief look at what communism did
I will assume Bambu the rapper has communistic/socialist political views after viewing some of his lyrics. If any belief system or teaching has attacked indigenous religions is it communism which is atheistic in expression. The Chinese Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao Zedong openly attacked religions and oppressed Buddhist monasteries. The revolution left millions of people dead and plenty of poverty stricken Chinese. Where is the outcry against such evil? In Mongolia, in its 68 years of communist rule an all out attack on Tibetan Buddhist monasteries all over the country was committed to destroy their religion so people would basically worship the communist state. Nearly 35,000 people were killed. One of the first things communism attacks is religions.
Also, how can someone claim that religion is evil while at the same time promote indigenous Filipino religions as if it is okay for them to remain in them. Communism always oppresses indigenous religious groups and demands loyalty to the state. So such an outlook is a contradiction.
Only God is the judge
In the same way the wicked men in the Bible were judged so will every human being on the face of the earth throughout history be judged. Psalm 7:11 says that God is the judge. God is the only judge, and just as the late Tu Pac would say, “Only God can judge me!”…so He will judge. The Bible tells us that all men are evil and have sinned (Romans 3:10, 23) and that we will all be judged according to our actions. If anyone is honest they will admit they are not perfect and are also guilty of wrong. This “wrong” is sin, and sin is evil. All men have committed evil acts to his fellow humans one time or another in life. Some people committed more than others. But the Bible says it does not matter and just committing one sin is enough to break the whole of the law and to be condemned in punishment (James 2:10). The only way out of punishment is if someone else took the punishment for us.
One of the biggest atrocities in the Bible, a person that God Himself had killed was named Jesus Christ. If anyone should complain about a death being unjustified in the Bible they should complain about Christ’s death on the cross. He was perfect and blameless, yet He died the death of a wretched criminal. He did this in the place of all humans and took the entire world’s sins onto His body as if He was the wicked man that deserved death. He did this so that humans could be free from the bondage of sin and death and escape judgment in order to be in the presence of God through His grace alone. There is no magic formula, no ritual, no works of righteousness that can be done to take the place of Christ’s substitutionary death for humans. Philippians 3:9 says, “…not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ —the righteousness of God based on faith.” The only way is through Christ. This happens through faith in God, which is faith in Christ. This faith brings repentance and only through repentance and faith is someone saved from God’s justified wrath against sin. Christ voluntarily died to save sinners because He loves people, which means He is pro-people. Romans 3:25 explains,
“God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.”
This passage totally reflects what happened in Egypt. The word propitiation means to atone for, to substitute something that makes up for something. Christ’s death was our substitute that reconciles us with God, instead of being left in our sins under God’s wrath. Those who repent will be saved, yet we can be satisfied that God will justly execute judgment on unrepentant wicked people.
Conclusion
After analyzing the Scripture and the facts of Christianity it is obvious that this hip hop music artist named Bambu needs to re-check his stance about Christianity. It is obvious that if Bambu did read the Bible several times he did not really read it carefully or try to understand a proper interpretation of the Bible. It seems he found some verses from an anti-Christian source and pasted his objections without actually looking further into the passages to understand why people were killed in the Bible. Stating the fact that people are killed in the Bible and coming to the conclusion that that means the Bible is evil is a fallacious conclusion. Comparing the millions of deaths that violent revolutions from communism have brought with the deaths in the Bible it is obvious the Bible teaches justified killing of wicked oppressive nations whereas communism murders people in order to dominate with an iron fist.
This rapper’s other presuppositions about missionaries and religion are also unfounded and negatively biased. His assumptions about Filipino indigenous religions are also false and he needs to realize the merits of the Bible’s teaching that should be applied to the people he claims he cares about. Historically, Christian influence has always enlightened nations. Social justice has always been a large theme in the Bible and to claim the Bible is the opposite of that is ignorant. Hopefully this man will repent of his sins, realize that since he does not understand the Bible he should seek to understand it, and one day will believe in the truth of God’s love that there is hope, there is justice, and there is salvation through Jesus Christ. All Christians reading this article should say a prayer for this very talented and influential, Filipino American rapper that he will use his craft for the goodness of God and not his own faulty reasoning and influence from secular philosophies.
Ehud's 18 Inch Dagger 