So it seems that we have passed from the proposition that the Bible is addictive to propositions that it is neither scientifically nor morally authoritative. A "shoot the messenger approach" to these propositions, is no substitute for a robust defense of the Bible's unquestionable moral authority. A defense of a God of love, is incompatible with heavy-handed attacks on other people's faith. But, I do agree that God's authorization and justification of genocidal violence is indeed troubling. How can the impression that this is a theologically rationalized land-grab be overcome? These Bible passages justify writing off indigenous people as though they weren't there or had no right to be there. They have been appropriated and continue to be appropriated for exactly this purpose.
Witness Lee explained God's genocidal commandments this way:
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"Joshua 10 through 12 show Joshua’s destruction of all the rest of the nations in the hill country and the lowland west of the Jordan and on all the shore of the great sea. The strongest people in Canaan were in a strip of land from Lebanon in the north to Egypt in the south and from the Mediterranean Sea to the river Jordan. These people included the Anakim, a race of giants. According to Numbers 13:33, the sons of Anak were from the Nephilim. Genesis 6 reveals that the Nephilim were the issue of the evil union between the daughters of men and fallen angels. Because of the Nephilim, God charged His elect to slaughter everyone in the land. God is kind, loving, and merciful, but He is also severe because He has an enemy on earth." (Life-Study of Joshua, Judges & Ruth, Chapter 15, Section 1)
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He also interpreted the passage allegorically as justification for displacing and warring against other Christian groups:
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"In principle, our situation is the same in the Lord’s recovery today. Our standing on the church ground annuls the standing of all the denominations, and this stirs up opposition. We are God’s Israel, and we have our Captain, but the Lord’s recovery is still involved in a struggle. Every day we need to engage in spiritual warfare." (Life-Study of Joshua, Judges & Ruth, Chapter 15, Section 1)
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But, the connection between God's genocidal commandments and the Nephilim is tenuous and in any case racist. It is easier to see it as an instance of the human tendency to see other ethnic groups as subhuman. How many wars and genocidal slaughters have been justified by the belief in"God on Our Side"? I'm happy to entertain other explanations if anybody has any. But, if not not, it is hard for me to shake the impression that the reason these discussions are locked away on this forum is that no one here good arguments against them.