Biblical literalism is a relatively new phenomenon, and mostly a Christian one. Jewish (and many Christian) theologians have for many, many centuries regarded such things as the seven-days, two-parents creation story as myths. The questions isn't whether the mythology is true in the sense that science is true; of course it isn't. The question is whether what the mythology is intended to communicate is true.
The moral offense that moderns tend to find in the story of the killing of Egypt's firstborn is rooted in our individualist morality. The ancient view was that every member of the tribe was to some extend morally responsible for the tribe as a whole. When the pharoah offended, all of Egypt suffered, just as later all of Israel would suffer for the offenses of idolators and such.
I suspect that collective morality on that scale is quite alien to most of us, but it's fundamental for understanding the biblical worldview. But still we might ask, for instance, Are all Americans to some extent to blame for Iraq, or is blame restricted to the formal government and chain of command, or to those who voted for Bush, or to those who voted for Bush and those who didn't vote at all, or ...?
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(FYI, the MRA who posted is not Ames.)
MRA, the difference between winning an argument with someone, versus pushing them into the dirt - well, there's a number of differences, really. The three most important are: First, I didn't force him to talk to me. Second, losing an argument makes you stronger. (Or rather, it gives you a precious chance to become stronger; whether he took advantage of it was up to him. Winning is a null-op, of course.)
Third and above all, in factual arguments there is such a thing as truth and falsity.
Yes, but humans are emotional beings, and we must recognize this. Sure, it is his fault he is so ignorant, but the difference between calmly explaining to him what is wrong with his thinking, and making fun of him, is that you hurt him on an emotional level. One must always live on both planes, and must always recognize what kind of argument he is dealing with. Emotional arguments are things to stay away from, because they only strengthen a person in the sense that bullying someone strengthens them, as opposed to teaching them KaraTe. People are tested in the little things. The unimportant things. That is where your personality shows. (BTW, how can you like this, and hate Gemara?)