The returning Israelites are instructed by their “god” not to buy land as had Abraham, but rather to invade and obliterate any remnant of the local culture. Deut 7:2 “And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:” Perhaps the most unsettling part of the Exodus myth is that the Post-Exilic priests wrote the legends of early Israelite history in such a savage and chauvinistic tone. One case may serve as an exemplar: Num 31:1 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.3 And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian…. 7 And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males… 9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. 10 And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. 11 And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts… 14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. 15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? 16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. 17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. 18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves …35 And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him… 47Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses… 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels … 53 For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.” Later, in America, the Puritans would see themselves as latter-day Israelites coming into a new Canaan, where “God” (smallpox) had cleared the land before them. They thereupon acted as Joshua had and took over the settlements, killing men, women, and children without mercy. Small wonder ‘patriotic American Christians’ were not upset with the killing of babies at My Lai. ~~~~~~~