You make a good point Northrop, but I'd temper it by saying there is also a lot of dark and ugly (and completely nonsensical) stuff in the 'good' book as well. A quick whip through Deuteronomy and Leviticus will back this up. While you could shoot for the 'it was the product of its time' argument, let's not forget that alotta people are claiming that this is the unbending word of the almighty creator and not a Mark Twain story....