“The Chief Rabbi of England has accused atheist Professor Richard Dawkins of using an “anti-Semitic stereotype” in his best-selling book The God Delusion by saying the God of the Old Testament was “the most unpleasant character in all fiction”. Dawkins dismissed the allegation as “ridiculous” and said he was not “anti-Jewish” just “anti-God”.”

Has the Chief Rabbi, normally a cheerful and reasonable person as far as I am aware, actually read the Old Testament? Endless smiting, tempests, floods, vengeance, jealousy, pillars of salt – the lot.  It is a partisan, tribal god, out of fashion in these globalized times, and best retired to the top of a mountain, where he can be spiteful and bad tempered by himself.  Of course, he may have had good cause to be fed up with the children of Israel It was, after all, the children of Israel who themselves gave him this dreadful Press, writing him up as, indeed the most unpleasant character in all fiction.  Perhaps they should now keep very quiet.  Could global climate change be belated revenge for the bad public image rabbis gave him?

Just  asking.