fiatlux

Burn to death a daughter who has gotten pregnant out of wedlock.
Stone the disobedient child to death.

And you worry about Sharia Law?

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

I never said I worry about Sharia, ever, doesn't even exist in the USA.

My response was meant as a dig, to "Christian Nation" clowns, hence the list I published, which were in the English Common Law for years.

alabuck Loc: Tennessee

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Something that never ceases to amaze me is, when Christians write about the awful punishments for Muslims and non-Muslims for "perceived sins" against God and/or Muhammad, that the Koran mentions. Their outcry as to the severity and unyieldingness of the Sharia law and the fear that they propose is due should we ever fall under it, is deafening.

However, while Sharia Law is cruel and inhumane in part, all one need do is read the first 5 books of the Old Testament to see that God's laws to the Israelites were just as harsh and cruel (to the modern Western mind) as many think Sharia Law is now.

God calls for death as punishment in many instances. The biggest single set of crimes are sexual in nature, usually punishable by the death penalty, followed by a whole set of religious prohibitions. It should be noted that things we consider sexual crimes (like rape and child abuse) are not what the Old Testament is talking about. Sexual transgressions typically relate to a failure to conduct oneself (sexually) in a manner that the Israelites approved of.

Back then, adultery and masturbation were regarded as worse than than modern crimes such as molestation or rape — arguably because they challenged such moral issues as "Who of my children is really mine, so gets my land", and "The more sons I have the more land I can work, so the more money I own." Taken by the word of God alone, however, one just has to assume that God cares if you touch yourself or find someone sexy before you are married.

The thought as to why God should have such a deep and abiding interest in the sexual and marital predilections of his creations is to maintain the "purity" of His "chosen people." The religious laws describe the various rituals and taboos involved in the proper way of worshipping the Israelite God, and also seek to prevent apostasy. At least in this case, the reasoning behind assassinating anybody who stepped out of line is clear.

There are also a few fundamentalist Christians such as the followers of Dominionism who feel that the death penalties as described should to be enforced today.

The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (the source for the Christian Old Testament), which forms the core texts of the Halakha, or the corpus of Jewish divine law, include a surprising number of crimes which merit the death penalty as punishment. These laws were believed to form an integral part of the overall "Covenant" between the Israelites and YHWH. When the Christians adopted the Old Testament as their canon, neither they as a body, or Jesus as the Messiah, revised or redacted any of these laws, for all they edited the Hebrew texts. Many of the following belong to the ceremonial and civil categories of the Mosaic Law, which Christians, today, generally regard as defunct and Jews regard as binding on themselves only.

In terms of sexual acts, all of the following used to merit death in ancient times. However with the destruction of the second Jewish temple, the Jewish Sanhedrin courts all but abolished the death penalty. In Israel (where Judaic religious courts still exist), capital punishment is allowed only during wartime and only for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and treason.
Having homosexual intercourse between men (Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13)
Committing adultery between a man and a woman (Leviticus 20:10-12)
Lying about virginity (Deuteronomy 22:20-21)
Being one of the majority of women that don’t bleed when losing your virginity (Deuteronomy 22:20-21)
Being the daughter of a priest and practicing prostitution (Leviticus 21:9)
Raping an engaged female virgin (Deuteronomy 22:25)
If an engaged female virgin, being raped in a city (Deuteronomy 22:23-27)
Being male and practicing bestiality (Leviticus 20:15)
Being female and practicing bestiality (Leviticus 20:16)
Having sex with your father’s wife (Leviticus 20:20)
Having sex with your daughter-in-law (Leviticus 20:30)
Having incestual sex (Leviticus 20:17)
Marrying a woman and her daughter(Leviticus 20:14)
Having sex with a woman who is menstruating (Leviticus 20:18)

A few of these crimes demand that the "sinners" be burned to death rather than stoned to death, the more usual form of capital punishment. One can wonder why these crimes in particular merit this especially horrible fate.

Death penalty regarding food and drink:
Consuming blood (Genesis 9:4), Leviticus 17:10
Eating a cheeseburger or anything that mixes meat and dairy (Exodus 23:19)
Sacrificing anything with yeast or honey (Leviticus 2:11)
Eating leavened bread (bread with yeast) during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:15)
Eating fat (Leviticus 3:17)
Eating pork (Leviticus 11:7-8)
Waiting too long before consuming sacrifices (Leviticus 19:5-8)
Eating aquatic creatures lacking fins or scales (Deuteronomy 14:9-10)
Eating any meat not killed according to the Kosher practice (Deuteronomy 12:21)
Eating peace offerings while ritually unclean (Leviticus 7:20)

Religious related death penalty offenses:
Being a male who is not circumcised. (Genesis 17:14)
Trying to convert people to another religion (Deuteronomy 13:1-11, Deuteronomy 18:20)
Worshiping idols (Exodus 22:20, Leviticus 20:1-5, Deuteronomy 17:2-7)
Practicing magic (Exodus 22:18)
Blaspheming (Leviticus 24:14-16, 23)
Breaking the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14, Numbers 15:32-36)
Consulting a psychic or spiritualist (Leviticus 19:31)
Being a psychic, medium or spiritualist (Leviticus 20:27)
Being a town that believes in another, non-YHWH god (Deuteronomy 13:12-15)
Giving one of your descendants to Molech (Leviticus 20:2)
Not being a priest and going near the tabernacle when it is being moved (Numbers 1:51)
Being a false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:5, Deuteronomy 18:20, Zechariah 13:2-3)
Performing any work on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10)
Going to the temple in an unclean state (Numbers 19:13)
Engaging in ritual animal sacrifices other than at the temple (Leviticus 17:1-9)
Manufacturing anointing oil (Exodus 30:33)

Crimes that require the death penalty:
Murdering a slave (Exodus 21:26-27)
Kidnapping and selling a man (Exodus 21:16)
Perjuring yourself (in certain cases) (Deuteronomy 19:15-21)
Ignoring the judgement of a judge or a priest (Deuteronomy 17:8-13)
Not constraining a known dangerous bull, if the bull subsequently kills a man or a woman (Exodus 21:29)

Poor parenting or child skills that result in the death penalty:
Striking your parents (Exodus 21:15)
Cursing your parents (Exodus 21:17, Leviticus 20:9)
Being a stubborn, rebellious, profligate, and drunkard son (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)

Death penalty for "daily life offenses:"
Planting more than one kind of seed in a field (Leviticus 19:19)
Wearing clothing woven of more than one kind of cloth (Leviticus 19:19)
Cutting the hair on the sides of your head or clipping of the edges of your beard (Leviticus 19:27)
Touching the dead carcass of a pig (Deuteronomy 14:8)
Dressing across gender lines (Deuteronomy 22:5)
Living in a city that failed to surrender to the Israelites. (Deuteronomy 20:12-14)

So, now, let's compare these "offenses" from our own Bible to those listed in the Koran. And, while we're at it, let's also list all of the times that Christians have used Christ as an excuse to persecute other Christains and non-Christians. Something tells me that many won't be happy seeing the results.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

I am always reminded of Hebrews 10:16

"This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."

I will probably catch the ire of a bench warming Christian or two, but this has always struck me as way of saying, that once one accepts the gift of Christ and his sacrifice, I will know the law and know that I am doing right because I am new person.

In my mind it raises many more questions than it answers. The chief one is: What if I do something wrong as exhibited by scripture and I don't feel bad about it? Another question from a Christian perspective: What is the difference between morals and ethics. Or, do I really have to be told not to kill someone? And do I have to obey my parents as an adult?

These are frivolous thoughts, but to me there is so much more here than is offered in that God will forget our transgressions...but doesn't that mean I can continue to sin?

As I used answer the phone:

Have a fine Navy Day!

fiatlux

Sorry, was agreeing with you, though I see now that was really unclear. Not you worry, the ones calling this a Christian nation worry.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

...isn't that the truth....