The Caleshan Valkyrie wrote:Korhal IVV wrote:Eliminating the Canaanites and the others -ites is akin to purging cancer cells from a human body. They had the WORST religious practices, like Child sacrifices. Allowing them to live (which was Israel’s big mistake) allowed them to intermarry with Israelites, therefore infecting the chosen people with their relatavistic ideologies (whatever you want to do, do it), and thus setting off the dark times that was the time of Judges.
I dunno, this bit here seems rather supporting-genocidey. Even dehumanizing the canaanites by saying they were ‘infecting’ others with stuff.
Except that the command to destroy them was solely for Israel, and has zero applications for Christians.
And yes, they led Israel to idolatry. Israel was supposed to be separate from the pagan nations. If the Canaanites had repented (they were given 400 years to do so), they might have been totally spared. But no, they kept getting worse until the end.