If God told you to kill, would you do it?

Disclaimer: this topic is about religion. If you can't handle any perceived criticisms contained herein, then please do not read this blog update. Thank you.

"If God told you that you were to kill your child, would you do it?"

Penn Jilette poses this one single question at the end of a private commentary on his take on atheism vs. agnosticism and what the words really mean. He makes a point of clarifying two things:
1) assume that by "God" he means whatever deity you truly believe in, worship, etc.
2) assume by "told you" he means conveyed to you in whatever manner you find acceptable for a revelation from God, be it scripture, be it through discussion with other human beings, be it a sign, be it a voice in your head, what have you.

He continues:
"And if your answer is 'no,' then in my mind, you're an atheist. And the answer is 'yes,' in my mind, you're dangerous and stay away from me."

I would probably substitute in the word "hypocrite" for "atheist" in the 'no'-response's sentence, but otherwise I pretty much agree. Someone who is willing to kill their own child in the name of God -- that's understandable. He is the God. Their God. They would do anything for God. Anything. Because they worship him and believe that His will is the will to be obeyed, followed, upheld. But the fact of the matter is, it doesn't change the fact that such an individual, when taken from an objective society's 3rd-person point of view, is a danger to himself, to his wife and children, to his coworkers, and to anyone he meets. That is to say,

1) Someone who is willing to kill in the name of their God is only one step away from actually doing so -- because all they need is a "push" which they find convincing, a sign of some sort; and unfortunately the human brain is a manipulatable chunk of organic matter which is responsible for human consciousness, thought, conviction, and action. I'm not saying that a person willing to kill in the name of their God is necessarily bad. I mean, duh, it's the same psychological concept as being willing to kill in order to defend your wife or your kids. Somebody who kills in the name of God truly believes that they are executing God's will -- and thus making the world a better place! What's evil about that? Seems like a pretty good intention to me, "wanting to make the world a better place" and whatnot! No, the problem is not the intention, but the deed and the fact that the intention can be psychotic yet the action-doer is completely unaware of this.

2) Someone who is not willing to kill in the name of their God has a tenuous relationship with their deity; and if it's the JudaeoChristian God, a deity who we know has asked followers time and again to kill individuals as well as entire nations, then one is necessarily a hypocrite, a partial-believer, or a false-believer (take your pick) if he claims to believe in that God, if he claims to have received instruction from God to kill somebody, and if he claims that he thinks he's crazy and needs help. He may be correct on that last point, but it doesn't change the fact that he's subscribing to the belief that hearing messages or seeing signs from God are indicators of insanity.

By the way, the video is here and to sum up his take on atheism vs. agnosticism, Penn tells the camera this:
- an atheist is somebody who doesn't believe in God, who doesn't know one way or the other if there is a God or not, but who sees belief or lack of belief as more important than knowledge or lack of knowledge in defining one's religious affiliation
- an agnostic is somebody who doesn't believe in God, who doesn't know one way or the other if there is a God or not, but who sees knowledge or lack of knowledge as more important than belief or lack of belief in defining one's religious affiliation