America's baby Mutaween

We must keep our eyes open for the Christian fundie's tendency to militarism and violence. I know it seems incongruous, but it’s real. Take The Merciful Death Penalty, an article on The Trumpet.com. The article is a long defense of the death penalty. Apparently the death penalty is a good example of God’s love. The article cherry picks bible verses to make their point.

The Old Testament of the Bible speaks with perfect plainness on the issue of capital punishment: “He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death” (Exod. 21:12).

They build an argument, point-by-point, that we need the death penalty. My problem is that they mix up their Gods. It is a common problem, one that I rarely write about. But the outright hypocrisy of this article pushed me over the line. The God of the old Testament and the God of the New Testament are two different deities.

Some Christians I talk to bring up the concept of the New Covenant when describing why the hundreds of rules in the Old Testament no longer apply. My simplified version tells me that the Old Testament, with all its rules and such, is replaced by the New Testament. Jesus brings a new game with a new set of rules. The old rules no longer apply. I’m ok with this, as long as the Christians understand that they worship two different Gods, the vengeful God of the old testament, and the loving God of the new testament. They need to pick the one they want to follow.

When they use Old Testament rules to justify enacting present day punishments, like the death penalty, I cry foul.  You can’t have it both ways. I don’t think the teachings of Jesus would condone the death penalty. Yet, when I use this argument, they thing I’m out of my friggen mind. Am I wrong on this?

And for the record, I am against the death penalty. I do not think the state should have the power to kill us. It has nothing to do with religion.

Closing quote…

That is how the death penalty can be implemented in love! It deters others in this life from committing offenses worthy of the death penalty. And it prevents a murderer or violent career criminal from continuing in his wrong and worsening ways and more firmly establishing habits which must be broken when he has his opportunity to receive God’s truth.

How beautiful is the pure truth of the merciful Go

Mojoey shivers….

Technorati tags: Christians, Theology, Death Penalty