Should children be punished for their parents sins and crimes?

You have a problem with people being held responsible for their own actions? Don't you realize that is what God is saying? You are responsible for your sins, as I am responsible for mine. God doesn't hold you accountable for the sins of your children nor does he hold your children responsible for your sins. Seems very just to me.

You are correct in that God condoned and even encouraged some atrocities, however there is one crucial fact that has been overlooked. All of these horrors were committed in the infancy of God's chosen people, he was like a parent spanking his children to teach them. After Jesus's death and the curtains in the temple were torn, a new covenant was made and we, his chosen people, could now appreciate his love, and he no longer had to use those means. Would you say that a parent spanking their child if they ran into the middle of a busy street is unloving? No, spanking is just the most effective way of teaching. What could have happened if the child had never learned that lesson? Maybe nothing but maybe something much worse than a small smack.

We cant say what would have happened had God not decided to be so merciless, but if you believe in God, and you must if you are writing this, you must believe he knew what would have happened. How can you say the actions taken weren't the best possible solutions?

You say that people brake the first commandment by believing God is good, yet I say you are braking it by believing he isn't good. God tells us he is good therefore if we believe differently we are going against his own words and what he has specifically told us to believe about him. Against his own words how can we base our opinions of his nature on events thousands of years ago that we can't possibly hope to understand fully.

It can be said that man cannot do more about this situation than what he is already doing.
God does not have that excuse.

But that is exactly what the first statement is, an excuse. It seems obvious to me that humans could be doing much more. Each one of us has luxuries that are not essential to life, yet we keep them and let people starve. However, this is like the old testament stories in that no one can possibly know the whole picture. We cannot say how much love comes from this suffering, or how many people end up achieving eternal happiness because of the suffering here on Earth. Demanding that God change the world is actually breaking the first commandment also. It is a sin of pride, placing yourself as the idol, assuming to know better than God the best thing for all humans.

Glad you said "seems". No one really knows what god thinks, although many have, and will, claim to.

One way to view this issue could be just as many have interpreted it, which raises the problem you point out.

Another view might be to look at what we have learned about the world, and the way it appears to work. Genetic science is demonstrating that the son does, in fact, suffer the sins of the father. From this view, the statement is a fact of creation, not at all placing vengeance in mans' hand. It does place responsibility in our hands though, for how we eat, treat others, etc etc.
How many sons have spent thier lives trying to overcome a bad name?

IMO, religion spun this to mean something other than it really means.
We are, in that sense, once again paying the price for our fathers sins.

It can? By whom? I heartily disagree with this statement.
I know I could be doing more. And I think probably pretty much everyone who is not starving him or herself and is engaged in conscpicuous consumption could be doing more. And I think if all of us who could do more would do more, many less children would starve.
It's a choice made every day - by us - not by any god.
And the children of the world are being punished for our sin- of greed, gluttony (in some cases) and disregard.

It can? By whom? I heartily disagree with this statement.
I know I could be doing more- yeah - I could be taking the £24.95 a month I pay to have this internet and be feeding some children with that money.

And I think probably pretty much everyone who is not starving him or herself and is engaged in conscpicuous consumption could be doing more. And I think if all of us who could do more would do more, many less children would starve.
It's a choice made every day - by us - not by any god.
And the children of the world are being punished for our sin- of greed, gluttony (in some cases) and disregard for others- our unwillingness to love our neighbor as ourself or do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.

zactly