Noodling with God:

And for those times, there's Slacktivist, with the best commenters on the planet:

I really don't think the big difference between NT!God and OT!God is that NT!God is particularly nicer, it's that OT!God is big on collective guilt and NT!God isn't. So, OT!God sees nothing wrong with slaughtering Egyptian babies because Pharoah was mean. NT!God is actually *more* vindictive than OT!God, because OT!God just kills people, he doesn't keep them in a personal torture chamber from which there is no escape, not even death. But NT!God targets *individuals*, possibly because of having spent some time as one.

And I just realized I'm describing the Spectre.

Anyway: Yes, there are times when God isn't smiting people in the Bible. That doesn't change that he *does* smite people. "I throw a harpoon at somebody ONE TIME, and now everybody calls me 'Crazy Harpoon Guy'!"