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The problem with most Christians' understanding of the Bible is that they believe everything in it is either a) a lesson to be learned, or b) a "literal" history of the world.

The key, I think, to understanding this particular little amoral adventure is its context. The last verse in Judges is "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.". That's the point of this story - it's an example of the unfocused bedlam of this particular era in Jewish history.

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(Monday. INT: apartment)

JH: I thought you were a shitty Satanist.
EB (typing on JH's laptop): Oh, I was. Real Satanists have their own religion going on. Shitty Satanists like I was are just anti-Christians.
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EB (handing laptop over): Here, let me start you out on this one: Judges nineteen. I remember my Dad dragged me to a baseball game once, and I said I'd come only if I could hold up a sign that said "Judges nineteen twenty-four" on it.
JH: Hrm... let's see. "Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah..."
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JH: ...Huh. She gets raped to death. That's new. EB: Keeeeep reading.
JH: ...And her husband chops her body into twelve pieces and mails the chunks all over Israel?
EB: Bingo.
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JH: Well, it's not like the rape is presented as a good thing. It's in context as an example of something terrible done by heathens.
EB: Keeeeep reading.
JH: Wait a second, this was the Benjamites? My people!
EB (gleefully): Keeeeeep reading!