I'm laughing as I follow the Christian outrage about the senior clerics in Afghanistan who want to put to death Abdul Rahman who converted from Islam to Christianity. It is so laughable listening to the cable news talking heads to Australia's Prime Minister John Howard who opined:
"This is appalling. When I saw the report about this I felt sick literally," Howard told an Australian radio network Friday. "The idea that a person could be punished because of their religious belief and the idea they might be executed is just beyond belief."
Beyond belief Mr. Howard and fellow Christian Bible thumpers? Then you better check out this little passage from Deuteronomy in the Bible:
"If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst." (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)
Hypocrisy be thy name!
5 comments:
BCP, there is a flaw in your argument.
Afghanistan would have executed Abdul Rahman if not for the global media exposure of the trial and the resulting diplomatic pressure. Execution of apostates is allowed under MODERN Afghan law.
When is the last time a nation executed someone based on Deuteronomy 13:6-12?
It is unfair to call Christians hypocrites based on this Bible verse because I'm sure most modern Christians don't want to enact it as law.
A major difference between Christianity and Islam is that Christianity’s atrocities occurred centuries ago whereas Islam’s atrocities are happening today.
Hi Phantom:
I agree that the Clerics in Afghanistan would have executed Rahman according to their religious beleifs had not the world expressed it's outrage. I was just pointing out that there are similar punishments expressed in Bible that the Christian's hold as the "word and law of God".
This is the danger of fundamentalist Islamic or Christian religions. One could argue the the Islamic Clerics are following their "faith" more religiously (no pun intended) than the cafeteria Christians in the U.S. who pick and choose what sections of the Bible they believe, follow and enforce.
Don't get me wrong I think it is good that most Christian's in the U.S. don't act on some of the more nasty sections of the Bible. But, to express outrage about the Islamic practice without knowing or acknowledging the similarities with the "teachings" in our own Bible does seem hypocrictal.
Thanks for dropping by my blog.
BCP, again there is a flaw in your argument.
The punishment that you describe is from the Old Testament in the Bible. The New Testament, which describe Jesus' life and teachings, is the basis of Christianity.
There is a dichotomy between the merciful God of the New Testament and the wrathful God of the Old Testament. However, Christians, by definition, believe in Christ and therefore focus on the teachings of the New Testament.
I challenge you to find a similar verse to Deuteronomy 13:6-11 in the New Testament.
So Do Christians ignore the Old Testament or just certain sections of it? While the New Testament is certainly a kind of Bible lite when compared with the Old Testament. Even Jesus seems to say the Old Testament is valid:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matthew 5-17
Everyone who believes in anything supernatural is living a life of delusion. Step back, take a deep breath, and say, "there's no such thing as ghosts." Holy ghost, invisible god, angels, satan lurking in every closet and under every bed. None of it's real, and anyone who believes that it is, is living a life of delusion.
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