I was raised a Christian by my mother, and she believes the Bible is the word of god and perfect. When we got to the story about the tribe circumcizing themselves and then Israelites slaughtering them 3 days later, I knew it was morally wrong. Nobody said so, not the church, not my mother. but I knew it. Because morality doesn't come from god, it comes from within, from circuitry we evolved with. Sometimes there were some handwaving arguments, but I was a smart kid. So when I got older, these various handwaving arguments about this, about god even existing, they all fell away as I became an adult.
Discussion
Jacob did not support his sons killing the tribe, they disobeyed their father and broke his agreement. The entire story was demonstrating how his sons were rebellious and it was setting up their self-centeredness when some of them tried to kill Joseph.
He didn't like the fact that it created enemies, and says so clearly in verse 30. Didn't say anything about the injustice of it. Verse 2 doesn't make clear if their sister was raped, but their response sure does. So killing Shechem was fine by me. But to make friends with the whole group, and then slay all their men who put trust in you? Horrid.
Maybe the entire story was demonstrating that nobody should ever trust a Jew. That's the message I took from it when I was young and didn't have clearer saner ways of thinking about people as individuals and not as groups.
Jacob was being a weak ass pussy to his sons, not standing up to them. It is a disgusting chapter, I agree. Firstly, it says in verse 2 that Schechem was the prince, and his father had significant influence over the people. It also said the agreement to circumcise was made by the Jacob's sons and it was done deceitfully (Gen 34:13) and it was all a ruse. The Hivites also were motivated to circumcise themselves for financial reasons (verse 23) so their reasoning wasn't exactly altruistic. Their intent behind circumcision had nothing to do with a covenant with God, and these people would have obviously polluted the family given the most upright person among all the Hivites would defile a virgin. The dealing by Jacob's sons was dishonest, the hivites were immoral people, and Jacob was a puss for letting them act deceptively no less letting his daughter marry into the people.
Your charge of immorality comes from one accusation of defilement. But in the old testament, the rules about who can sleep with whom under what circumstances are not agreed upon between different cultures. This is starting to sound like The Game of Thrones R+L=J. Maybe she fell in love with the prince.
I interepret the story as her wanting to marry the prince, thus Jacob's aquiscence. The initial act was likely concenting. However, ultimately, it was Jacob that failed to watch over his daughter and permitted the circumstance to happen. The defilement accusation is my interepretation of the brothers' actions, not mine. There likely was also a percieved fundamental incompatibility between the groups, and offer to intermarry was only part of the ruse on the part of the brothers.
OT is not about a rainbow world, not even an ideal but possible world.
Old Testament reminds us that the normal humanity state is eternal tribal genocide, sometimes with larger or smaller tribes.
that we have risen, partially, and temporarily, above that, is a hard achievement, which is also hard to maintain. And Christianity is mostly responsible for that.
The difference Bible x Koran is that OT is not always normative. Just because OT Jews did shit, it does not mean we have to follow, or that they are an example. Even WHEN the violence was justified in a tribal context (and a lot more violence is necessary for them), it does not mean it is just for us. The Church is there to interpret the Bible anyway.
But in the Koran, every act of violence was performed by the perfect man leading the perfect state, the example to be followed to the letter until the end of the world.