|
A broader point,
Both of the religious texts that I have quoted (deuteronomy chapter 3, 13 and the quotes from the Koran) CLEARLY say that those who observe that the faithful should "kill" those who try to lead them away from their "true" religion. You do not have to take these scriptures out of context in order to kill a non-beleiver.
Some of you say that I am makeing the mistake of isogesis when I claim that religious people who beleive their own sacred document to be accurate will follow those instructions and kill the nonbeleivers when directed by their generals, presidents etc. You say that I am making too narrow an argument.
Have you actually read these texts... or do you think I am making this shit up?
3:18 And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war.
3:22 Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.
This scripture also supports my main point:
13:6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
13:7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
13:8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
13:9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
13:10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
(13:6-10) "Thine hand shall be first upon him."
If your brother, son, daughter, wife, or friend tries to get you to worship another god, "thou shalt surely kill him, thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death."
If Bible-believers followed this one, they would have to kill many of their own family and friends. I have heard it said that as many as 50 percent of Americans beleive that the Bible is the inerrant word of God.(seems little high to me) Either they do not know what their bible says... or they ignore it.
The major flaw with unfetterd "belief" in religion is that it periodically leads to the killing of those who disagree with it. It also leads to the victimization of those who quietly lead lives that are contrary to the scriptures.
.
__________________
Living on the edge of sanity
|