| Chapter 25 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"If there is a dispute between two men, the judges are to justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. If the wicked man is worthy of a beating, then the judge shall order him to lie down and to be beaten in his presence. The amount of lashes he receives is to be in proportion to the severity of his crime, and is not to exceed forty lashes - for if he is beaten more than forty times, the people would view that as excessive. |
| Thoughts: | Moses begins the chapter by outlining how to administer corporal punishment. If a person is judged "worthy" of a beating, he is to lie down and is to be beaten in front of the judge who orders his beating. Moses adds that the amount of lashes the man receives is to be in proportion to the severity of his crime, and is not to exceed forty lashes - for that he reasons would "seem vile" to the people of Israel. Today most of the developed world has abolished judicial corporal punishment with only 32 countries still following this practice - the largest majority of which, by no surprise, are located in the Middle East. There are numerous reasons why this has fallen out of practice throughout the civilized world, but apparently God and Moses believe this punishment to be just. Moses follows this by telling the Israelites that when an ox is working in the cornfields, it is not to be muzzled. Next Moses gives a ridiculous law that seems more fitting in a Monty Python sketch than in a book alleged to be the "word of God". Moses states that when a man's brother leaves behind a widow and did not have any children, then the man is to marry his brother's widow, and the firstborn child is to be counted as if he were the son of the dead brother. Essentially this was the law that Onan broke when he refused to ejaculate inside of his dead brother's wife. It becomes sillier when Moses states what is to happen if the living brother refuses to play along. Unlike Onan who was killed by God, if the man refuses to marry his brother's widow, the widow has to complain against her dead husband's brother to the elders of the city, and they have to go down and try to talk him into marrying her. If he still won't play along then the widow gets to remove one of the man's shoes and spit in his face, and from that point on the man's house will be known as 'The house of him that had his shoe removed'. Moses then states that if two men get into a fight, and one of the men's wife tries to help her husband by grabbing the testicles of the man he's fighting, then the woman's hand must be cut off and she is to be shown no pity. Essentially, a man could be attacked, and his wife is not allowed to protect him by the one sure fire way to stop the attacker, by going for his testicles. Moses next states that all weights and measures must be accurate, and that one is not to cheat other people by using flawed weights and measures. Doing so is an "abomination" to God. Moses closes out the chapter by commanding that the Israelites are to commit genocide against the Amalekites as soon as they're done fighting the enemies tribes surrounding the "promised land". Moses justifies the genocide by reminding the people that the Amalekites attacked all of the slow, sick, weak, and injured and that they don't "fear God" either. However, Moses doesn't make it clear whether they'll be able to keep the virgin girls like they did with the slaughter of the Midianites. |
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 25
Sunday, February 21, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 24
| Chapter 24 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"When a man marries a woman and he finds some uncleanness in her, then he may serve her with a bill of divorce and send her out of his house. After she leaves her ex-husband's house, she may then remarry. If her second husband hates her and divorces her, of if her second husband dies, her first husband may not remarry her because she has been defiled. That is an abomination before the Lord, and you are not to bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God has given you for an inheritance. |
| Thoughts: | Moses begins this chapter by stating that if a man gets married and later discovers he doesn't like his wife, he's free to serve her divorce papers and kick her out of his house. Once his now ex-wife leaves the house, she's free to remarry. But if her second husband divorces her or if he dies, her first husband is not allowed to remarry her because she has been "defiled", and God considers the act an "abomination". Next, Moses states that a newlywed husband is not to be sent out to fight in a war, nor is he to be given any major responsibilities for the first year of his marriage, which he is instead to stay home and "cheer up" his new wife. Moses states that a man is not to take another man's "millstone" as collateral, meaning in a broader sense that you are not to take as collateral on a loan, the tools of which a man makes his living - i.e. take a carpenter's hammer, a baker's mixing bowls, or a painter's brush, etc. Next up, Moses condemns kidnapping - which he equates to theft of a person - whether it results in slavery, or selling the kidnapped into slavery, by punishment of death. With regard to how strict Moses's take on kidnapping is, the eighth commandment (seventh if going by Catholic standards) of the Ten Commandments - "thou shalt not steal" - is far more likely to refer to kidnapping than of our modern concept of theft concerning that of property. Moses then tells the Israelites that they need to take heed to the ridiculous laws and instructions concerning leprosy as carried out by priests, and makes a curious mention to the Israelites to remember the fate of his sister Miriam. Miriam was punished not for disobeying leprosy laws, she was stricken with leprosy by God as a punishment for speaking out (along with her brother Aaron, who didn't receive any punishment) against Moses' marriage to an Ethiopian woman which violates God's law. Mentioning Miriam in this context makes no sense. Moses' next law concerns collateral on loans, where he states that the man giving the loan is not to enter the other man's home and pick out an item for collateral himself, but is instead to allow the one receiving the loan to pick out his own collateral. Moses further adds that if the man is poor and offers his coat as collateral, that this coat must be returned to the poor man at night for him to sleep in. The next verse while sometimes confused for a defense of the bible condemning slavery, it is not slavery that Moses is mentioning here, but that of a hired worker. Moses basically states that an employer is not to oppress his employee by not paying him promptly, especially if he is a poor man and is relying on prompt payment - which Moses warns is a "sin" to God. The following verse also seems to have some conflict in its understanding, where some attempt to attribute it to mean that God does not punish people for the "sins" of their ancestors, this is not what Moses is saying here at all. What Moses says is that a man is not to be put to death for the "sins" of his ancestors (and vice versa, that one is not to be executed for their children's "sin") not that they aren't guilty of "sin", only that they are not to be punished with capital punishment. Moses ends the chapter with a few laws to favor strangers in the land, orphans, and widow. First stating that judgment is not to be skewed against a foreigner, an orphan, nor may one take a widow's garment as collateral. Next Moses commands that one is not to pick their crops, grapes, and olives completely, but are to leave some surplus for the strangers in town, the orphaned, and the widowed. Moses attempts to somehow link the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt as a reason to obey this law, as he closes out the chapter. |
Saturday, February 20, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 23
| Chapter 23 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"He who is wounded in the testicles, or has his penis cut off, shall not enter the congregation of the Lord. Nor shall a bastard enter the congregation of the Lord, even to his tenth generation will he not be allowed to enter the congregation of the Lord. Neither an Ammonite nor a Moabite are to enter the congregation of the Lord, even to their tenth generation will they not be allowed to enter the congregation of the Lord forever - because they met you not with bread and water when you were lead out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam, the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you all. The Lord your God would not hearken unto Balaam, but instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing unto you, because the Lord your God loved you. You shall not ever seek peace nor their prosperity with them throughout your generations. |
| Notes: | 1.) The term "sodomite" (note the lack of capitalization) is refering to homosexuals, equating homosexuality in general to the violent rapists depicted in Genesis: Chapter 19 who lived in the city of Sodom. 2.) "Dog" in this sense, is referring to a male homosexual prostitute. |
| Thoughts: | This chapter Moses begins by listing the sorts of undesirables that should not be discriminated against from entering the sanctuary (the church).
Moses next discriminates against bastards, extending this discrimination to his tenth generation offspring. So what Moses is saying is that if a child is born to unmarried parents, even if his children and grandchildren marry and produce children, none of them are welcome in the church either. This is plainly discriminating against the status of one's ancestry. This would be equivalent of saying that if one of your ancestors had a prison record, then you're not allowed in the church. Next Moses targets both the Ammonites and the Moabites, reasoning that they were the people who tried to hire Balaam (the prophet with the talking donkey) to curse the Israelites. This sounds about as reasonable as refusing Japanese, Germans, and Italians from entering your church because of World War II. Moses even extends the discrimination against these people by telling the Israelites that they are never to seek peace or prosperity with them throughout their generations. This is pure racism measuring someone's worth with their nationality and the actions of their ancestors. Moses states however they are not to discriminate against the Edomites, for they are relatives to the Israelites - the Edomites being the descendants of Esau, the elder brother of Jacob (later to be renamed Israel) who sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. Moses also strangely insists that the Israelites are not to discriminate against the Egyptians, reasoning that they were once "strangers in their land". It's curious that God seems to have less of a problem with the Egyptians who enslaved the Israelites for numerous generations, than he does for the Moabites for unsuccessfully attempting to curse the Israelites. Perhaps this may be due to the Egyptian Pharaoh's treatment of Joseph, the fact that God has killed an awful lot of Egyptians (also see Exodus: Chapter 14 too), or because the Israelites "committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab", despite that the Midianites would be brutally killed, and the young Midianite virgins raped in retribution. However, as we'll see in the book of Ruth (a Moabite woman), she will marry an Israelite and give birth to a son named Obed, who would become the grandfather of King David. If a soldier at war has a nocturnal emission (a "wet dream"), he is to leave the camp, wash himself with water, and not to return to the camp until sundown. Moses then explains that a place has to be set aside outside the camp to be used as a toilet, and that all bowel movements have to be buried because God "walks in the midst of the camp", and will not tolerate anything "unclean" in the camp. Next Moses states that a runaway slave is not to be returned to its master, nor is he to be oppressed. Although it is not specifically stated here, I think it is safe to assume that this probably only applies to Hebrew slaves that can be redeemed, and not to foreign slaves or Hebrew slaves that have been marked with an awl. Moses then declares that there is to be no prostitution amongst the Israelite women, nor a "sodomite" amongst the men. The term "sodomite", despite equating homosexual men to the inhabitants of the city of Sodom, is uncapitalized as a further indicator of how homosexuals are not to be granted any common civil respect. Furthering this, after Moses declares that proceeds earned by a female prostitute are not to be brought into the church, he makes the same declaration for male homosexual prostitutes, calling such proceeds "the price of a dog". Moses states that these proceeds are an "abomination" to God. One other thing to note is that Moses is not outright banning prostitution - while Moses forbids Israeli women from becoming prostitutes, he says nothing about Israeli men soliciting prostitutes, for example Judah soliciting his daughter-in-law who he believes to be a prostitute. Moses next states that no one is to tack on interest to any loan made to their fellow Israelite, but it's perfectly okay to add interest to a loan made to a foreigner. Moses' next warns that when one makes a vow to God they are to be prompt in fulfilling that vow exactly as they had promised, or else they have "sinned"; but notes that it's not a "sin" if you simply don't make a vow in the first place. Finally Moses tells the Israelites that if they're passing by a neighbor's vineyard or crops, that it's okay to eat as many handfuls as you desire from their crops, but you are not to collect any in a container, nor cut any down with a sickle to bring back home with you. |
Saturday, February 13, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 22
| Chapter 22 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"If you see another man's ox or sheep go astray, you are not to pretend as if you did not see it, but you must take them back to its owner. If you do not know the owner, then you shall bring it back to your own house until the owner comes looking for it and you are able to return it to him. The same applies to donkeys, clothing, or any lost item that belongs to someone else that you have found. You are not to keep them for yourself. If you see someone's donkey or ox fall down by the way, you are also not to pretend as if you didn't see it happen, but you are to help him lift it up again. |
| Notes: | 1.) Meaning the bloodstained sheets from when the woman's hymen was broken during intercourse. |
| Thoughts: | This chapter begins on what appears to be a fairly positive note, but goes downhill awfully fast. Moses starts out telling the Israelites that if they see another man's ox or sheep go astray that they are not to ignore it, but are to return it to its owner. If they don't know who owns it, they are to take the animal back to their house until the owner comes looking for the animal. Moses adds that this applies to donkeys, clothing, and anything other lost item. Also if someone's donkey or ox falls under the load it's carrying, again you're not to ignore this, but you are to go help the animal get back up. Moses then strikes out at transvestites calling it an "abomination" to wear clothes meant for the other sex. Why God would be so bothered by people's fashions to declare it an "abomination" just for wearing a piece of clothing intended for the opposite sex is beyond me. In the bronze age days of flowing tunics, who would even really know whether a garment was a man's or a woman's? Next Moses states that if you find a bird's nest with both a mother bird and either its young or its eggs, you can keep the eggs and the young, but you must set the mother bird free. Following that, Moses states that when building a house you must put up a guardrail on the roof to ensure that no one falls off. Moses then spits out a few brief but strange laws:
If a man suspects that his wife was not a virgin when they were married, the woman's parents must bring their "tokens of virginity" (meaning the bloodstained bedsheets) to the elders of the city. The woman's father is to present the stained bedsheets to the elders as proof of his daughter's virginity. Obviously the problem is that not every woman bleeds from her first experience of sexual intercourse, and sometimes her hymen isn't even broken immediately either. Stained sheets only serve as proof that her hymen was broken, not of her virginity. Now what happens when a man falsely accuses his wife of not being a virgin on their wedding night? Well he gets a couple of lashes with a whip, he has to pay 100 shekels of silver to his father in law for shaming his wife and her family, and he's not allowed to divorce his wife. Now what happens if the woman can't prove her virginity? Well, she gets dragged out to her father's house and gets stoned to death by the men of the city for "being a whore" and shaming her father. Under these laws, it's very possible and quite likely that many women were stoned to death because they were unable to prove their innocence. Perhaps their "token" was stolen, perhaps it was lost, perhaps it was destroyed accidentally in a fire, perhaps the woman simply didn't bleed during her first sexual experience, and perhaps her husband was unable to perform himself. There are a plethora of reasons why a woman could wrongfully die because of her husband's accusations, yet we're to believe that such a flawed law was mandated by the supreme. all knowing, all powerful, "loving", and "merciful" "creator of the universe" which basically puts a woman's life down to a gamble as to whether she bled properly on a bed sheet. Next, Moses states that if a man sleeps with an already married woman, then they are both to be killed. This law obviously doesn't operate the other way around - if a married man sleeps with an unmarried woman, he simply has just taken on another wife. If you've been reading along since the beginning (or at least since the book of Numbers) you should recognize the next three laws as points that were discussed in my "Apologist Rebuttal" to the events of Numbers: Chapter 31 concerning the topic of rape. The apologist claimed that "rape was (and still is) abhorrent to God", citing Deuteronomy 22:23-28, and putting special emphasis on Deuteronomy 22:25. However, we see that this chapter paints quite a different picture of rape than what the apologist was suggesting. What Moses says, is that when a woman who is a virgin and engaged to another man is raped in the city, then both the woman and the rapist are to be brought out to the outskirts of town and are to be stoned to death. Moses states that it's the woman's fault that she was raped because she didn't cry out loud enough to stop her rape from happening. This law is not condemning rape, according to Moses the woman is condemned for not preventing her own rape, and the rapist because he took away the woman's fiancee's "right" to consummate his marriage. Moses then explains that if a woman who is a virgin and engaged to another man is raped out in the countryside, then only her rapist is to be put to death, for Moses reasons that it's impossible to determine whether she screamed for help or not out in the fields, so it must be assumed that she did cry for help but that nobody heard her. Again, unlike what the apologist was trying to lead us to believe, this law applies only to virgin women who are engaged to be married. When the apologist cited Deuteronomy 22:23-28, he stopped short of verse 29 which explains what happens to a virgin who is raped and isn't engaged to be married. Moses says that the rapist is to pay the victim's father 50 shekels of silver, and that the victim is to become the rapist's wife(!) and he cannot divorce her because he has devalued her by taking her virginity. It's easy to see why the apologist didn't include this verse in their referencing, but the irony is that the apologist was attempting to defend Numbers: Chapter 31 by claiming that it was being "taken out of context" by not reading also Numbers: Chapter 25, when clearly we see that Deuteronomy 22:29 completes Moses' overall point that he was making in Deuteronomy 22:23-28. These verses aren't concerned with rape, more than they are concerned with robbing a man of his right to deflower the woman he's engaged to. In other words, the verses are more about vindicating the male fiancee's right to take his wife's virginity, not that a woman's virginity was taken without her consent, otherwise a raped virgin without a fiancee wouldn't be forced to marry her rapist. Finally, Moses ends the chapter by stating that a man is not to take his father's wife nor dishonor his father's bed. |
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 21
| Chapter 21 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"If a man is found slain in the land which the Lord your God has given you to possess, his body lying in the field, and it is not known who has slain him, then the elders and judges shall measure from the body to the nearest city. The elders of that city shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or worked in a field, and bring the animal down into a valley with running water that is neither plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. |
| Thoughts: | Moses begins this chapter by stating that if the body of a murdered man is found lying in a field and it's not known who killed him, then the elders and judges of the land are to go to the nearest city and find the elders of that city. The city's elders are to take a heifer that has never been yoked or worked in the fields, and after bringing it down to a virgin stream in the valley, somehow breaking the cow's neck and decapitating it will allow the priests to bless the dead body (the man's, not the cow's) and absolve the people of Israel from the guilt of the death of an innocent man. This is probably another one of those "eye for an eye" type lines of thought, where in lieu of being able to kill a human being with capital punishment, that the Israelites have to kill something to appease their bloodthirsty God. Next up, Moses states that if and when the Israelites win a war against their enemies - as long as they're not enemies that live in the "promised land" - and if there's a pretty girl amongst the prisoners they've taken, then you can bring her into your house, have her shave her head and pare her nails, and then mourn for the next month in your house for her dead parents that you've killed. After the month is up, you can then have sex with her and you'll be her husband. If afterward you don't like your new wife, you can let her go free, but you're not allowed to sell her into slavery, because you've humiliated her. Basically, Moses is saying that if there's a pretty girl amongst the prisoners of war, you can bring her home against her will, rape her, and she gets the "privilege" of becoming your wife. Then if you later discover that you just don't like her, feel free to boot her out the door, just be sure not to sell her into slavery. How one can justify the blatant misogyny and complete disrespect of women that Moses is advocating is completely beyond me. Moses then shifts the topic to polygamy - something I discussed at length recently with a Christian "reader" of this blog. Moses says that if a man has two wives - one that he loves and one that he hates, and has sons with both of them, with the firstborn son belonging to the hated wife, he is not allowed to give the "firstborn birthright" to the firstborn son of his favored wife, just because he hates his firstborn son's mother. The birthright still goes to the oldest son, as Moses reasons that this son is the "beginning of his [father's] strength". All should work as intended unless the boy sells his birthright for a bowl of soup. Next, Moses addresses what to do with your unruly son. If your son is stubborn and rebellious and doesn't respond to being punished, then the mother and father must bring him out to the elders of the city and tell them that their son is stubborn and rebellious (and for good measure, add in that he's also a glutton and a drunk). All of the men of the city then are to stone the child to death, so that you can purge the nation of Israel from evil and frighten other children into obeying. Yes, the best way according to the bible to deal with unruly children is to kill them brutally with stones, so that you can set an example for other children and control them with fear. Finally, Moses states that if your preferred method of execution is hanging, then you have to remove the dead person's body from the tree you hanged him upon and bury them before the day is through, because a hanged body will apparently defile the "promised land" if left up for too long. |
Friday, February 12, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 20
| Chapter 20 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and people that outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. When you go to battle, the priest shall approach and speak to the people, telling them not to be faint of heart, nor be afraid because of the strength of the enemy. For the Lord your God will go with you, to fight against your enemies and to save you from defeat. |
| Thoughts: | Moses begins this chapter by stating that even if the Israelites seem outnumbered by the amount of horses, chariots, or enemy soldiers on the battlefield, that they are not to be afraid because God will protect the Israelites. Before going out to battle, a priest will tell them this same thing. The officers of the armies will then address the troops and ask them if anyone has just built a house that hasn't been "dedicated", planted a vineyard that they haven't eaten from, or become engaged to a woman they have yet to marry, and then allow those applicable to return home to dedicate their homes, tend to their vineyard, or marry their bride to prevent someone else from doing so if they were to die in battle. Moses then says that the officers should then ask if there are any men that are afraid to fight, and if so, that they are to be sent home in order to prevent them from spreading their fears to other soldiers. Upon weeding these people out, the officers are then to appoint captains to lead the remaining troops. Next Moses explains the proper protocol for conquering cities outside of the "promised land". First, offer them a "peace treaty", and if they accept then enslave them all. If they don't accept becoming enslaved, then they've "declared war" then the Israelites are to kill every male with the edge of their swords. But the women and young girls the soldiers may keep for themselves along with the spoils of the city. When conquering the cities within the "promised land" however, the women and children must be slaughtered - along with the cattle and anything else that breathes - because those pesky women and children will apparently teach the Israelites all of their abominable customs. I guess the persuasive power of infants and children is too much of a risk to keep them alive as slaves, so the only option is to slaughter them all. At least the Midianites weren't all destroyed, Moses allowed the soldiers to keep all of the girls who were virgins for themselves. No matter how you attempt to spin this, no matter what "context" you believe this should be viewed in, there is simply no way you can justify killing "everything that breathes" - especially when included amongst this are infants and young children - as moral. Moses ends the chapter by stating that when the Israelites are invading a city, that they are not to destroy any trees that bear fruit. They can build fortresses using trees that do not bear fruit until the fighting is done, but are not to harm any fruit bearing trees. |
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 19
| Chapter 19 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land the Lord your God has given you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities, you shall set aside three cities in the midst of the land. You shall divide the land into three parts, with a city in each that anyone who has killed another may flee to. He who has killed his neighbor by accident, whom he had not hated in the past. |
| Thoughts: | Moses begins this chapter by recapping what God originally told him in Numbers: Chapter 35 concerning the "cities of refuge" - cities set aside for anyone to flee to escape vengeance from "accidentally killing someone". He tells the people that they are to set aside three cities for this purpose after they possess the "promised land" - in addition to the three cities Moses already picked out outside of the "promised land" in Deuteronomy: Chapter 4. Moses then proceeds to give a terrible analogy about the kind of innocent accidental killers he had in mind. In Moses' analogy, he posits that if two men go out into the forest to chop wood, and the head of the axe slips off and kills one of the men, then as long as the man who wielded the axe didn't have any previous animosity toward the man he just killed, he is not worthy of a "revenge killing" by his "avenger of blood". The problem with Moses' logic, is that the two men despite not having previous problems may have gotten into a heated argument out in the woods which ended in murder, and it isn't difficult to make a murder look accidental. However, Moses stresses that this must be an accident simply because the men had no animosities toward each other in the past, which again is another dumb train of thought, as quite often sudden arguments can escalate fairly quickly into violence. Moses then states that if any man dislikes his neighbor, ambushes and kills him, and then tries to flee into one of these "cities of refuge", then the elders of the city are to find the man and to deliver him to his "avenger of blood" so that they may have their revenge killing. The obvious problem here is how is it determined whether or not the man in question is innocent or guilty of murder? When you are that hasty to hand over a suspected murderer to someone longing for revenge by murdering that person himself, wouldn't you want extra precautions to ensure that the man you're handing over to be murdered is actually guilty? Moses then briefly changes his focus to boundary markers on people's property in the "promised land", and tells the people of Israel that they are not to cheat their neighbor out of land by moving a boundary marker. Next Moses states that a single witness is not to bring a case against a man for a suspected "sin". Only with the word of a minimum of two or three witnesses shall they establish a case. This verse - Deuteronomy 19:15 (along with 1 Timothy 5:19, 2 Corinthians 13:1, and Matthew 18:16) - unfortunately is often used as a justification by Jehovah's Witnesses for their refusal to report incidents of child molestation, unless two or three Jehovah's Witnesses have witnessed the crime. Furthermore, witnesses are often discouraged by the church from getting involved due to the shame it would bring to the organization. Even worse still, the victims are often threatened being removed from the church if they don't keep quiet about the abuse. Moses then says that if a witness falsely testifies against another man then both men are to be taken "before God" - meaning before the priests - to be judged. If they find the witness to have made false testimony then his punishment will be that of whatever punishment fits the crime that he has accused his fellow Israelite of having done. Now obviously the problem here is that our senses deceive us. We can be wrong about something we've seen, but still strongly believe in our convictions until it is pointed out to us why we are wrong. The witnesses are not intentionally giving false testimony, they believe in what they are claiming despite being mistaken. When you have ridiculously harsh biblical punishments such as being stoned to death for picking up sticks on a Saturday, you now create an environment where people will probably apt to not get involved rather than risk being accused of giving false testimony - even if they're not. In essence this law will scare away more authentic witnesses than it will potentially false witnesses when we consider that one of the most common reasons people commit crimes is because they either lack a fear of being caught, or they feel that they are smarter than those who enforce the law. Apparently Moses sees the angle of fear from this as being a preventative measure, but unfortunately this "fear" has the more unwanted side effect of silencing authentic potential witnesses. Moses punctuates the disdain for false witnesses by stating that they should not be pitied, and that they should be treated with the method of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". |
Thursday, February 11, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 18
| Chapter 18 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"The priests and the rest of the Levites will receive no inheritance amongst the nation of Israel. They shall eat the sacrifices made by fire to the Lord, therefore they shall have no inheritance amongst their fellow Israelites, for the Lord is their inheritance, as he has said to them. When an ox or a sheep is sacrificed, the shoulder, the maw, and the two cheeks are to be given to the priests. The first of your grain, wine, and olive oil shall also be given to the priests, for the Lord your God has chosen the Levites out of all the tribes of Israel, to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, from generation to generation forever. |
| Thoughts: | Moses begins the chapter reminding the Israelites because the Levites are God's special tribe and are allowed to eat the animal sacrifices made by everyone else, that they are not to own property themselves. When an ox or a sheep is sacrificed to God, the animal's shoulder, stomach, and cheeks will belong to the priests. The first harvest of grain, wine, and olive oil is also to be given to the priests as well. A Levite regardless of where he lives can enter the sanctuary and dine on these animal sacrifices and offerings whenever he wishes because it's part of his "birthright". Next up, Moses warns the Israelites yet again that when they arrive in the "promised land", they are not to follow the heathen customs of the nations living there - as those customs are "abominations". No one is to sacrifice his son or daughter by fire (apparently it's okay to use a knife to sacrifice your own child if God commands it though), nor is anyone allowed to use "divination" or to become a fortune teller, an enchanter, a witch, a charmer, a spiritual medium, a wizard, or a necromancer. Anyone who does such a thing is an "abomination" to God, and God will "drive them out" - meaning that he will demand that the Israelites stone such a person to death. Moses claims that while the "heathen nations" seek after "diviners" and spiritual mediums, that God will bestow a prophet upon the Israelites - one that is an Israelite themselves - that they are to hearken to. Moses recalls the story from Exodus: Chapter 20 about how the Israelites begged and pleaded not to have to hear the actual voice of God again, fearing that they would die, and claims that God has instead chosen to speak to the people of Israel through prophets. God adds that anyone falsely claiming to be a prophet must die. How are we to determine who is a prophet speaking the word of God or not, you might ask? All one has to do is make a prophecy that comes true. So therefore if I'm a bit smarter than my fellow Israelites concerning meteorology and can tell by the clouds that it's going to rain very heavily, I could make a prophecy about that and subsequently be considered the "real deal". This is a really naive way to "prove" someone's authenticity, and you would think that the all powerful "creator of the universe" could think up a better test than "let's see if what he says will happen, happens". |
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: A Christian "Reader" Comments
I always enjoy when someone comments on one of my posts regardless of whether we agree or not. What bothers me however is when someone obviously didn't really read what I had written, picks out a small fragment which of what I wrote about, and then proceeds to spin that off into a completely different direction. This time an anonymous commenter decided to comment on my post for Deuteronomy: Chapter 17 and decided to focus briefly on verse 17:17 before beginning their proselytizing.
Deuteronomy 17:17 has Moses stating that kings of Israel should not have multiple wives. It reads as follows:
Secondly, nowhere in the bible is polygamy defined as a "sin". Similar to how the bible treats divorce, it is accepted but not endorsed. The point that the bible attempts to make when addressing polygamy is that a man who takes another wife is not to neglect the needs of his first wife, as we've seen in Exodus: Chapter 21
The first event that began me on a path to atheism was when my parents gave me a children's bible for my First Communion. Up until that point I had only been aware of the most rudimentary version of my family's belief system - God was an all powerful invisible man up in the sky who knows whether we're doing right or wrong, and that his son Jesus was sent down to earth - born to a woman without having a human father - and that he was killed on a cross, and that by his death he opened up the gates of heaven. I know that's not fully biblically correct, but that was my understanding as an eight year old boy, and I accepted that.
What I didn't accept were all the ridiculous stories in the bible that I'd never heard prior to that - and these were in a much watered down form in a children's bible. I read these stories in complete disbelief and I kept attempting to reconcile my previous understanding of God with the bible and I simply couldn't. God did not "reveal himself to me", instead logic and rationalization lead me to realize that the bible simply could not be factual, much less moral, for a magnitude of reasons.
I held on to my God belief without the bible for a few years until that too began to seem as unlikely as the biblical stories themselves.
Deuteronomy 17:17 has Moses stating that kings of Israel should not have multiple wives. It reads as follows:
17:17 " Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold."The commenter decides to focus in on this and mistakenly refers to polygamy as a "sin". They begin:
It is hard to understand why such Godly men committed such sins as polygamy.First off, the term 'godly' is irrelevant because morality is a separate concept from religious belief. I realize that some religious people believe that morality is tied in with their belief system, but that is false. Atheists, agnostic, and people of non-theistic faiths act morally and immorally at the same rate as theists (a recent study in Science Daily confirms this as well).
Secondly, nowhere in the bible is polygamy defined as a "sin". Similar to how the bible treats divorce, it is accepted but not endorsed. The point that the bible attempts to make when addressing polygamy is that a man who takes another wife is not to neglect the needs of his first wife, as we've seen in Exodus: Chapter 21
21:10 "If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish."The closest you can come to labeling polygamy as a sin is with two passages in the New Testament from the book of Mark. Mark 10:11 and Mark 19:9 give similar messages and read as follows:
10:11 "Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her."While it may appear that polygamy is being compared to adultery in these verses, this isn't the case. If we look at the bolded text the qualifier clearly is whomever "puts away his (first) wife" to marry another - meaning a man who forsakes his first wife's needs in order to marry someone else. Basically every man has limited resources that (according to biblical marriage) he is to provide for his wife: food, money, sex, etc. What the bible is trying to say is that cutting your wife's food, money, sex, etc. down in order to marry another person would be considered adultery. The bible isn't endorsing polygamy either, as many bible verses endorse monogamy such as this verse in 1 Corinthians:
19:9 "Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."
7:2 "Let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."The point is that there is no reference in the bible that defines polygamy as a "sin", which shows me that the commenter probably doesn't know their own scripture very well.
The Great things is that God is a loving and graceful God, using imperfect men to carry out his perfect plan of Salvation.Obviously, the problems I have here with this statement are numerous, so I'll break this one down piece by piece.
- The Great things is that God is a loving and graceful God
Are we even reading the same book here? Let me count the ways that I disagree with defining God as "loving":- He leaves a man and a woman, without any sense of right and wrong, in a garden alone and tells them not to eat the fruit off a certain tree by telling them that they'll die if they eat the fruit. A talking snake manages to trick the woman into eating the fruit and she gives some to her husband. God punishes two people who had no sense of right or wrong when clearly he was the negligent one.
- God doesn't like the way that humanity is behaving so he decides to kill everyone and everything with an enormous flood, sparing only a small group of people and pairs of each animal. Meanwhile the rest of the population - including children, infants, and animals who have all done nothing wrong except for having the misfortune to share the planet with these "wicked" adults - get to drown horribly in a global flood.
- God decides to "test" Abraham by seeing if Abraham's loyalty to God would extend to Abraham murdering his son "because God said so". He lets Abraham go through with the deed, stopping him only seconds before he plunges the knife into his son Isaac.
- God condones and endorses slavery and even allows people to brutally beat their slaves as long as they do not die within a day or two of the beating.
- He immolates two priests for using the wrong fire to light his incense.
- Various people being stoned to death by God's command for trivial infractions of God's laws such as picking up sticks on a Saturday
- God commands the Israelites to kill all of the Midianite women and children they had captured in battle, with the exception of the 32,000 female virgins who were to be split up amongst the soldiers, and 32 of which were presumably used as human sacrifices.
- ...using imperfect men to carry out his perfect plan of Salvation.
Using unqualified people to carry out a "perfect" plan would therefore render that plan less than perfect. If I come up with a plan to paint a house in less than an hour and hire incompetent painters or even simply not enough painters, there's a flaw in my plans rendering it far from "perfect". Speaking of which... - ...his perfect plan of Salvation.
According to your beliefs God makes the rules. Therefore, according to your view he decides who deserves punishment or forgiveness. So instead of simply pardoning and forgiving everyone for something their ancestors did thousands of years prior, he decides to come down to earth in the form of a human and use himself as a human sacrifice to appease himself? Not only does that make very little sense, it's far from what I'd call "perfect". However, I'll concede that this is simply a matter of opinion.
All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God and that is exactly why Jesus came and lived among us, died for us and rose again.Let's really examine what you are saying:
- All have sinned...
By this you include children who have yet to develop any sense of right or wrong, as well as the mentally handicapped and the insane who are incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong, or are incapable of comprehending your religious doctrine. - ...and fallen short of the Glory of God...
If God supposedly created us, is omnipotent, and wanted us to be "perfect", then he had the power to do so and chose not to, and therefore it would be his own fault for "falling short" of whatever. - that is exactly why Jesus came and lived among us, died for us and rose again.First off there is no evidence that any such thing ever occurred. Even the evidence for a historical Jesus is sketchy at best, but the resurrection is only a claim of the New Testament and therefore cannot be relied upon to prove itself.
Secondly, your reasoning for his "coming" is not what I would call a "perfect plan". If God's only solution to stop continually punishing humanity for the "crimes" (against laws he himself made) from people many thousands of years ago, is to come down to earth in the form of a human and offer himself up as a human sacrifice, it only serves to show how flawed his law was in the first place - thereby negating the "perfection" you're claiming.
I hope if you don't have a relationship with God...Right at the top of this page underneath the heading "Zadoc Reads the Bible" it clearly states that I am an atheist. This only further confirms my suspicions that you really didn't read very carefully anything that I wrote, and I'd also imagine that you probably haven't read your own bible very carefully either. I really don't understand how it would be possible for me to have a "personal relationship" with a fictional character regardless of whether you or anyone else believes him to be real.
...that you will allow Him to work in your life and He will reveal Himself to you.When I was eight years old I began questioning the belief I was being raised to be indoctrinated in. While I wouldn't accept my atheism for years to come, it was at this age that you could say I was in the middle of the road. Back then I did ask God to reveal himself, and I tried praying despite the fact that I never really truly felt that I was talking to anyone. It was a difficult thing for an eight year old boy to reconcile - the way the grownups in my family believed versus the gnawing fact that none of it matched up with the world around me.
The first event that began me on a path to atheism was when my parents gave me a children's bible for my First Communion. Up until that point I had only been aware of the most rudimentary version of my family's belief system - God was an all powerful invisible man up in the sky who knows whether we're doing right or wrong, and that his son Jesus was sent down to earth - born to a woman without having a human father - and that he was killed on a cross, and that by his death he opened up the gates of heaven. I know that's not fully biblically correct, but that was my understanding as an eight year old boy, and I accepted that.
What I didn't accept were all the ridiculous stories in the bible that I'd never heard prior to that - and these were in a much watered down form in a children's bible. I read these stories in complete disbelief and I kept attempting to reconcile my previous understanding of God with the bible and I simply couldn't. God did not "reveal himself to me", instead logic and rationalization lead me to realize that the bible simply could not be factual, much less moral, for a magnitude of reasons.
I held on to my God belief without the bible for a few years until that too began to seem as unlikely as the biblical stories themselves.
Zadoc Best of Luck in your realtionship with the Creator of all things!While I appreciate your sentiment and good will, there is no more of a personal relationship between myself and God, as there is between you and Darth Vader. This blog has more served as an attempt for me to understand the people I share this planet with, those of whom vehemently hold on to beliefs that to me are so obviously made up and man made. It is not to convert people to atheism, nor is it a search for God by an atheist. Although I believe you will probably never return to this blog, as your proselytizing is probably done here and you've moved on, I sincerely hope that you stick around and actually read what I write here, and if it doesn't cause you to question your own beliefs, at least it will help you understand how the non-religious view the bible.
God Bless!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 17
| Chapter 17 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has a blemish or defect, for that it is an abomination to the Lord your God. |
| Thoughts: | Moses begins the chapter by stating that all oxen and sheep sacrificed to God must be free of blemish or defect, because such an animal is an abomination to God. Next, Moses repeats a similar edict to the one he commanded in Deuteronomy: Chapter 13, concerning the fates of anyone caught worshiping and/or serving other gods. The punishment again, as in Deuteronomy: Chapter 13 is death by stoning, but Moses adds that there must be at least two witnesses to confirm the person's guilt, and that those two or more witnesses must be the ones to cast the first stones. Moses claims that their death in necessary to "rid the evil" from amongst the Israelites. It's ironic to me when the religious right here in the U.S. justify their Islamaphobia by insisting that the Quran is littered with passages that state "death to the infidel", yet their own bible is littered with the same demand towards people of other faiths. Of course when this is pointed out to them it is usually followed by a claim of "taking things out of context" and that the whole bible must be read to understand its meaning, but when pressed if they have read the Quran to ensure the same understanding, most will be pressed to admit that they have not. Regardless of whether it's in the bible or the Quran, killing people for having different religious beliefs is neither moral, ethical, or justifiable for any reason - period. There is nothing that you could "put into context" to justify rationalizing killing another human being simply because they have chosen to worship a different imaginary being than you do. Next up, Moses states that if there is ever a matter too difficult for a local judge to come to a verdict, that the case is then to be brought to the sanctuary to be ruled over by the priests and the chief judge. Whatever verdict that the priests arrive at must be enforced to the letter, and anyone who will not abide by the verdict is to be put to death. Moses rationalizes this by saying that this will set an example for the rest of the people into making them behave out of fear. The problem with this should be blatantly obvious - human judgment is fallible and capital punishment should never be thrown around so nonchalantly without appeal, and especially when used to try and set an example to instill fear into others. If these priests wrongly convict someone and there are people who believe in the innocence of the accused, this commandment aims to prevent them from appealing the case by using fear of a death sentence against them. There is simply no way to view this as moral regardless of what "context" you want to paint around it. This is ruling by brute force where "might equals right". Moses' last topic in this chapter concerns electing a king. If the people elect a king, Moses demands that he must be a wise man selected by God himself, and that he must be an Israelite and not a foreigner. He also insists that the king must not amass vast amounts of horses - especially in the land of Egypt which Moses claims God has forbidden them from returning to. A king also is not to have multiple wives nor may he become excessively rich. As we read on however, we will find that very few kings will adhere to these "laws", such as King Solomon who amassed a total of 700 wives(!) and 300 concubines, and King David who was also a polygamist. Moses adds that when the king takes his throne, that he will have to copy the laws from the Levites, and he is to study it for the rest of his life, so that he may learn to fear God and keep and obey all of his commandments (except for that troublesome bit concerning polygamy apparently) in order to ensure that he does not elevate himself up in stature above his fellow Israelites. I think when you've amassed 700 wives like good ol' King Solomon had, you've basically tossed that bit right out the window. |
Monday, February 8, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 16
| Chapter 16 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"Observe the month of Abib* and keep the passover unto the Lord your God, for it was in the month of Abib that the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. You shall therefore sacrifice a lamb or an ox to the Lord at the sanctuary in the place where the Lord has chosen to place his name. You shall eat no leavened bread with it; for seven* days shall you eat unleavened bread with the animal sacrifice. You are to eat unleavened bread as a reminder of the bread you ate as you left Egypt in haste. You are to remember that day for all the rest of your life. There shall be no trace of leavened bread to be found with you for these seven* days, neither shall any of the passover lamb be left until the following morning. |
| Notes: | 1.) Abib is the first month of the Hebrew calendar corresponding with mid April in our current calendar. 2.) Yet more references to the mystical significance of the number seven in the bible. |
| Thoughts: | Moses lays out a series of three festivals that the Israelites have to celebrate. Beginning with passover, he reiterates that no one is to eat bread made with yeast products for seven days (there's that number again) afterward. Moses says that they are to eat unleavened bread as a reminder that they had left Egypt in a hurry. Some interpret this as meaning that they simply didn't have time to wait for the bread to rise, however, God clearly demanded the consumption of unleavened bread in Exodus 12:8 rather than it being a necessity due to a lack of time. Regardless, Moses punctuates this demand stating that not even a trace of yeast should be found during this week, nor shall any of the lamb be left overnight for the following morning. Moses adds that the lamb is not to be sacrificed or eaten at home, but at the sanctuary and is to be sacrificed at sundown. For the next six days unleavened bread is to be eaten, and on the seventh day a sabbath is to be observed and no work is to be done. The next feast Moses describes is the "Festival of Weeks" which is to begin seven weeks (again with that number) after the first harvest begins. Moses demands a "freewill offering" (despite there being nothing remotely "freewill" about a demand) consisting of a percentage of the first crops to be offered to the sanctuary. This offering is to be eaten at the sanctuary along with the person's entire household, slaves, neighboring Levites, foreign visitors, orphans, and widows. Moses once again reminds the Israelites that they were once slaves in the land of Egypt, and therefore by that reasoning they are to observe and obey God's laws. The final festival Moses describes is the "Festival of Tabernacles", which is to be observed for seven (again with that number) days at the end of the harvest season after all the grain and grapes have been harvested. Again, the people are to feast at the sanctuary along with the person's entire household, slaves, neighboring Levites, foreign visitors, orphans, and widows. This feast is to be repeated for the next six days so that God will bless the Israelites with a plentiful harvest. Every male amongst the Israelites is to appear before God at the sanctuary during these three festivals and they are not to show up empty handed - God wants them to fork over a percentage of their crops. Moses then changes topics to state that judges and officials are to be appointed from amongst each tribe for each city in the "promised land". Moses demands that judges are to rule justly and are not to twist their judgment to benefit the rich, nor are they to take bribes. These requirements must be followed so that the Israelites may live in and inherit the "promised land". Moses closes out the chapter by demanding that the Israelites are not to plant any trees near God's altar, nor are they to construct an image which God hates. |
Thursday, February 4, 2010
DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 15
| Chapter 15 | |
| Summary: | Moses' speech continues:"At the end of every seven* years, you are to make a release - a release where every creditor that has lent something to his neighbor shall cancel their debt of his neighbor, or of his brother, because it has been called the Lord's release. To a foreigner, you may exact the debt again, but towards your fellow Israelites, you are to release them from their debt. This shall prevent any amongst you from becoming poor, for the Lord shall greatly bless you in the land which the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance to possess - only if you carefully heed the words of the Lord your God, and to observe and obey all of the commandments which I give to you on this day. For the Lord your God will bless you, as promised, and you will become a lender to many other nations - not a borrower, and you shall reign over many other nations - but they shall not reign over you. |
| Notes: | 1.) Another reference of the mystical significance of the number seven in the bible. |
| Thoughts: | Moses begins this chapter by declaring that every seven years (there's that number again) the Israelites are to cancel all debts owed to them by their fellow Israelites. Debts owed by foreigners are still valid, but fellow Israelites are to be released from debt every seven years. Moses states that this is to either ensure that no Israelite goes poor, yet the overall theme of this chapter is how to deal with the poor. Moses states that the nation of Israelis to become a lender - and not a borrower - to other nations, as to allow the nation to reign over all others, and not be reigned over themselves. He then tells the Israelites that if there is a poor person amongst them that they are not to "harden their heart[s]" towards them and they are to lend him as much as he wants and needs. Moses warns the Israelites not to refuse to make a loan simply because the "Year of Release" is at hand, because it would be "sin" upon the person refusing to make the loan. Moses instructs that the Israelites are to loan without question or grievances, and that God will bless them for their generosity. Moses next moves on to recount a few points on Hebrew slavery that he commanded in Exodus: Chapter 21. Unlike typical slaves, a Hebrew that has sold himself into slavery is to regain his or her freedom after six years and is to be freed at the start of the seventh. In this sense, the Hebrews are more like what we'd consider "indentured servants" than what we would consider true slavery. However, this only applies to other Hebrews and not foreign slaves. Moses adds to this, that when a Hebrew is freed from his/her slavery that they are not to be left empty handed. The newly freed Hebrew slave is to be furnished with a generous portion of their master's flock, crops, and wine. Moses reminds the Israelites that they are to remember how God saved them from their own past slavery in the land of Egypt. Moses then adds the provision that if a Hebrew slave chooses not to leave his life in slavery and opts to remain with his master, then one can bore the slave's ear with an awl, and he will from then on out become branded as a slave forever. While on the surface this may appear to be a completely harmless voluntary agreement, Exodus: Chapter 21 lays out a strong motivating factor as to why a Hebrew slave might opt to forgo his emancipation - if his master gives him a wife while he is a slave, then the slave's wife and children they have borne will belong to the master, and not the slave. Therefore if the slave wishes to keep his family together, he must remain a slave. Essentially this is clever way to entice a Hebrew slave into forfeiting his freedom. Even if the slave insists upon his freedom, the slave master wins out and keeps the slave's wife and children, It's a veritable win-win situation for the slave owner to provide his slave with a wife. Moses adds that this "voluntary" permanent enslavement for life can also apply to female Hebrew slaves as well, so it's probable that making her a concubine and getting her pregnant could have served as an effective method for coaxing "voluntary" permanent enslavement as well. Moses points out that if the slave opts not for "voluntary" permanent enslavement, but chooses their freedom instead, the slave master is not be upset about this but is to remember that he got six years of work from his slave for less than half the price he would have had to pay a hired man. Moses ends the chapter by reminding the Israelites that the firstborn of their flocks and herd belong to God and are never to be used to work in the fields, or are firstborn sheep to be shorn. These animals are to be eaten each year at God's sanctuary - except if the animal in question has any defects, blemishes, or is lame or blind; then the animal is to be eaten at one's home. An animal with such defects eaten at home may be eaten by all in the household, "clean" and "unclean" alike, just as if they were eating a deer for dinner. The only stipulation, Moses adds, is that they are not to consume the animal's blood - it is to be poured upon the ground like water. |
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