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[Newbie]

God shows himself to be immoral when he kills everyone in the flood, wipes out so much of the Egyptian population, and sends his Israelite army to purge Canaan. It's wrong for us to kill, too. How can you possibly justify God's actions in these things?

[jimwalton]

Violence is (unfortunately) part of human existence. Since violence plays to the survival of the strongest and the oppression of the weak, sometimes the only way to stop or control violence is with force, meaning that a qualified used of force is sometimes not only necessary, but justifiable. As a person who believes in objective morality, I believe that force can be a valid and moral response to violence under certain conditions. (1) Both the means and the end are pursuing truth, justice, and moral authority. (2) Force comes from a legitimate source and is used as the controlling societal discipline of truth, justice, and moral authority in action. Violence, for the sake of this discussion, I am defining as the exercise of authority without a legitimate moral basis, a subversive effort to supplant legitimate authority, or to use one's power to create unjust, immoral, or oppressive situations. The ideal of justice is the legitimate use of force to eradicate violence. In the real world, the goal of justice without the exercise of force is naive. Societies need a police force and military might; it's the only way to control the domineering and oppressive muscle of violence. The only way any society can achieve freedom and community is with the abiding moral authority of an ethical government, a moral military, and a neighborhood police force.

Some force is necessary, but only qualified by a legitimate basis and a legitimate exercise. A force that doesn't issue from justice and that is not contained by justice cannot achieve justice. Anything less than that is hypocrisy.

So saying, I believe that God, as a righteous being, exercises his rule with sometimes necessary force but always qualified by justice.