Babylon’s Raze
Dan Barker and many New Atheist attempt to demonstrate that the Bible is an immoral work from which we subjectively glean what scant good morals are found within it, they claim that we pick and choose. Dan Barker makes reference to Psalm 137 but quotes only the text which states, “Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock!”
With that he assumes that he has demonstrated what macabre books the Bible is since, at least in his mind, it commands us to dashes little ones against the rocks. He also appears to think that this statement is a commandment for all people in all times and all places.
Dan Barker is committing a fallacy that is surprisingly and sadly very common amongst his brand of New Atheist pseudo-skeptics. So much so is this true that we have had to write on this matter with regards to Sam Harris (Sam Harris’ Mythunderstandings particularly the “Back Talking” section) and Richard Dawkins (Planting God More Firmly on His Throne).
The primary fallacy is quite simple to both identify and to correct. I do not seek to denigrate the intellectual prowess of the New Atheists. Yet, it must be pointed out that the fact that they so often commit such fallacies forces one to consider why they are doing so. Are they purposefully doing so or are they so outside of their field of knowledge that they simply cannot handle the process of reading a text for what it is without eisegetically injecting their emotionally spiked personal prejudices? While they quite often besmirch their opponent’s thoughts and motivation, we cannot do the same. We cannot know, unless they freely admit it, whether they are purposefully deceptive propagandists or simply not as erudite as we may think. The only thing that we can do is to consider their statements and, as the Bible praises the Bereans for doing whenever Paul preached to them, “see if those things were so” (Acts 17:11).
But what is the primary fallacy which is so simple to correct? They appear to function on the faulty premise that just because the Bible states something it is tantamount to an endorsement. In other words, the Bible describes and prescribes. For example, the Ten Commandments clearly prescribe, “Thou shall…Thou shall not…” On the other hand, statements such as was made by the devil to Jesus were clearly not something that Jesus should do and clearly not for us to do, “Then the Devil took Him up into the holy city and set Him upon a pinnacle of the Temple. And he said to Him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down” (Matthew 4:5-5).
Judaism and Christianity have never believed that everything written in the Bible is a prescription. New Atheists ought to reclaim their dignity and cease from constantly putting forth such unscholarly and un-commonsensical concepts. To besmirch the Bible for having printed within it pages, “Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock!” Is tantamount to besmirching a newspaper for reporting rape and murder or, as is more precise in this case, for reporting the thoughts and feelings or someone thinking to themselves, “I hope that you are overthrown.”
Let us read the whole text of Psalm 137 which consists of 9 verses. Keep in mind that the important thing to do here is to just read what the text states and not consider what Dan Barker tell you it means nor what we think as we read along-what does the text state?
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion. We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it. For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the LORD’s song In a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth— If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy. Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, ‘Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!’ O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes
Your little ones against the rock!
Ultimately, what we have here are the thoughts and emotions of people who have just been utterly crushed under the iron rod of brutally oppressive aggressors. For many of us living in first world cultures where there is an overabundance of food, money, healthcare and freedom it is very difficult to empathize with people in those circumstances. Imagine that someone is utilizing wireless-high-speed-internet service on their laptop computers while sitting in the temperature controlled comfort of a coffee house sipping their double-mocha-latte with whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkled on the top when they run across references to Psalm 137 (and usually an un-contextual citation of verse 9 alone). Can such circumstances as those portrayed in the Psalm even be imagined? Even seeing images of war and oppression in the news broadcast on a daily basis I find it very difficult to even begin to image the realities on the ground and in the minds and hearts of those experiencing them.
With that in mind, let us consider what the Psalm is and is not stating.
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.
We are introduced to the Psalm with an understanding that it is not God speaking to men but it is men who are speaking, “we sat…we wept…we remembered” and ultimately, we wrote. Why were Jews at by the rivers of Babylon? Because they had been forcefully taken captive. They find themselves overcome with sorrow for their true and former home-Zion. “Zion” being a mountain in Jerusalem and a term that is sometimes indicative of Jerusalem as a whole.
We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.
We hung our harps sound like our common idiom, “We hung it up.” In other words, in the midst of Babylon, we were done for-our harps which had brought us songs of praise and merriment were hung up as useless things.
For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who plundered us requested mirth
Not only were they taken captive, having had their city and Temple destroyed, but now in the depths of their sorrow and despair their oppressors are taunting them by asking them to liven it up and sing happy songs to them-they demand entertainment.
Saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the LORD’s song
In a foreign land?
They do not merely request to be entertained with happy songs though, they request songs of the glory of Zion. They are asking the captives to recall the joys of Zion after having seen it destroyed and after imagining that they would likely dies in captivity having never again seeing Zion. This verse denotes Judaism’s concerns for geography, religion and culture-how can we sing the LORD’s song about Zion in a Gentile pagan land and after being brutally devastated?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth- If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
While captive outside of Jerusalem the Psalmist would prefer to lose his ability to perform music than to forget the land for which he weeps and from which he has been taken by force.
Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, ‘Raze it, raze it,
To its very foundation!’
This is not a command from God but is what men are requesting of God, a prayer of enmity. Keep in mind that God is not bound to answer anything that we ask in prayer if we pray amiss (James 4:3). What is being asked is that the actions of the Edomites be recalled. Apparently, while the Babylonians were attacking Jerusalem the Edomites were encouraging them, cheering them on, to raze the city. To “raze” means to subvert from the foundation, overthrow, destroy, demolish, erase, efface, obliterate, extirpate.
O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes
Your little ones against the rock!
The Psalmist is now addressing Babylon itself: the daughter of Babylon-its inhabitants and descendants. This is the human heart speaking. The heart of men who had not merely taken captive but had endures witnessing their cities and Temple being destroyed and their countrymen, friends and families murdered. The statement is an accentuation of a desire to see the overthrow of the oppressors. It is in the common manner of brutal destruction and captivation that the Babylonians had conquered the then known world.
The Psalmist is stating that whoever manages to overthrow the might Babylon will be happy in accomplishing their victory. That little ones will be taken and dashed against stones is idiomatic of the final cessation of a brutal regime by eliminating any future generations that may continue oppression and destruction. Even if it is meant quite literally that little ones will be murdered in this way there is no particular prescription to be found. The point is clear and has already been stated: whoever causes Babylon to fall will be happy that they have done so and so, apparently, will be those whom the Babylonians had razed in the past.
There appears to be another issue. I claimed that what the Psalm stated were the thoughts and emotions of men. Yet, Judaism and Christianity claim that the Bible, including Psalm 137, is divinely inspired. “There you have it,” I can imagine the skeptic stating, “God commands little one to be dashed against the rock.” Yes, the Bible, including Psalm 137, is divinely inspired yet, the point is the same. In this case, it is the thoughts of men that God wants us to understand. The Bible is extremely honest in presenting a full orbed view of humanity which includes pointing out the flaws and shortcomings of the Bibles heroes.
