VenomFangX: Old Testament Slavery, Stoning and Seafood

Probably one of the better arguments from a Christian regarding the Old Testament's disgusting nature. He does however seem to either ignore or not be aware that "the ends justify the means" mentality does not = morality (remember the Nazis?). If this God guy has infinite power, he would not need to do all these goofy things only so his son (which is himself?) to be born; he would have just made it happen without all the nonsense in-between. It is always interesting to see Christians do mental gymnastics to justify the disgusting nature of their holy-book.

I suppose being an atheist is easy. Atheists have no desert writings to rationalize, if we agree with an idea then so be it, if we don't then we don't—no need to distort the truth.

The Separation Of Church And State

I recently read online about a politician that wants to amend the Constitution to remove the 'separation of church and state' (can't recall her name). But it got me thinking—is the law preventing the government from backing a religion all that prevents us from becoming a theocracy (I believe it is)? I all but guarantee an official religion would have been set up by now if the government was legally able to—that should scare the shit out of any sane person.

For example, imagine if during the Bush years that an official religion could have been established? Imagine what would be taught in our schools? It is scary to think what the religious would do to our society if they were legally able to (killing nonbelievers and stoning those that work on the Sabbath would sneak their way in, given enough time). That wall that separates church and state is taken for granted by everyone (even the religious) as the typical American lifestyle directly contradicts 'religious ethics'. Nearly every American is guilty of a biblical capital offense.

On the other hand, what an interesting country it would be. Daily stonings in the center of town, the rape and pillage of Canada (for obvious reasons), the list goes on. The moral of the story here is that religion makes everything worse, but it certainly makes things more interesting.

What do you think?
Would this country be better/worse off?

The BBC Interviews Two Stoning Apologists, Silences Maryam Namazie

I think stoning is getting way too much hate. I mean, isn't stoning in the Bible as well? Christians should be supporting the practice of stoning (which composes the majority of the United States). We should bring stoning back. Not to get off track here, but I believe that stoning should be used in cases of child molestation—even though the Catholic Church would be obviously against it—it would certainly be a good deterrent for the crime. The death penalty is too painless now-a-days, it should be something to be feared. I would rather have a painless death than to spend a life in prison getting sodomized by Bubba.

Anyways, while I do believe adultery should not be a capital offense, this lady knew full-well that cheating on her husband carried such a consequence. If you want to live in a country like Iran, you shouldn't be surprised when you act like a murderous-whore and get sentenced to death. Just like how I wouldn't go to Iran as a tourist and protest Islam. In other words, it is common sense: don't take candy from strangers, and don't commit adultery/murder in Iran. I suppose it is possible that the conffestion was gotten through manipulation. Perhaps she didn't kill her husband. However, I do not believe this is the case for two reasons:

1. Husband is probably dead (would be all over the news if he wasn't)
2. No evidence at all that the confession was fake.

This story seems to be completely political. I mean, this woman (as far as we know) killed her husband. While we are unaware of the details—perhaps abuse motivated her actions—regardless that isn't much of a defense. Iran has zero motivation to lie about her adultery (they would be able to execute her just on the murder charges alone). The death penalty should not be something a person looks forward to as an escape, it should be feared. The best way to scare people is with the concept of physical pain.

Also, 'Moral relativism' is bullshit; there are certain cultures that promote human well-being more so than others. Naturally 'moral behavior' is behavior which is beneficial in the eyes of a society as a whole—it is an objective thing. Sorta like how feeling pain is unpleasant and being happy feels good (excluding a few psychologically messed up folks). Women in a country like the United States probably have a better well-being than in a country like Iran. So it is okay to claim that their "morality" is indeed inferior.

Vatican On Adultery-Stoning In Iran (Yahoo News)

Recently on Yahoo News (written by Associated Press) there was a story on the Vatican's protest of Iran condemning an adulterer to death by stoning. This is no real surprise being that the official stance of the catholic church is anti-death penalty. Without getting too drawn into the details of this story (which can be read here), the reason I am blogging about this—along with all 'Yahoo News stories' is for the extraordinary comments. Enjoy!

The following comments are not being endorsed by this website, they are being displayed here for "educational" purposes only.

(Stoning) Blasphemy: Leviticus 24:10-16 RSV

Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel; and the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel quarreled in the camp, and the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name (of the Lord), and cursed. And they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelo'mith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be declared to them. And the LORD said to Moses, "Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And say to the people of Israel, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. -Leviticus 24:10-16 RSV

(Stoning) Fortune Tellers: Leviticus 20:27 GNB

"A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortune-teller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death." -Leviticus 20:27 GNB

Strange Bible Rape Law: Deuteronomy 22:23-24

"Suppose a man is caught in a town having intercourse with a young woman who is engaged to someone else. You are to take them outside the town and stone them to death. She is to die because she did not cry out for help, although she was in a town, where she could have been heard. And the man is to die because he had intercourse with someone who was engaged. In this way you will get rid of this evil. -Deuteronomy 22:23-24 GNB

This is a strange law, I can understand stoning the attacker to death, but the victim? Only because she did not scream? I imagine a great percentage of rapes take place in densely populated areas. If we followed biblical law, all of the victims would be stoned to death. I suppose God, when he was "inspiring" the writers, did not think far enough ahead to realize that rapist would drug, muffle, threaten, or knock unconscious, the person whom is being attacked (to avoid drawing attention). Being that this law provides no room for exception, all women that don't/are unable to scream are automatically stoned to death. Obviously this law is not followed in modern times, but to think that it may have been in the past is a disturbing thought.