Posted on 05/19/2004 9:10:28 PM PDT by quidnunc
King James Version
1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, 3 and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; 4 for the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. 5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. 6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it. 7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. 8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart. 9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. 10 ¶ When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. 12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: 13 and when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: 14 but the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. 16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: 17 but thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: 18 that they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.
Kill everything that breathes? Deuteronomy 20 sounds a bit too much like genocide for my taste. You apparently have no problem with it.
And the tribes of Israel HAVE been paying the price for not obeying G-d's command ever since. Look at what happened when Babylon took over, or the Roman-caused diaspora. Who do you think the terrorists are?
Don't forget that this is in the OLD Testament. The New Testament is the "contract" between G-d and Christians. Most of the OT is still excellent advice (kosher butchering comes to mind with the mad cow thing), but the majority of OT requirements have been rescinded or replaced by the NT.
Then there were these little things called The Reformation, and the Renaissance.
Things change, and Judaism and Christianity have grown with human understanding of ourselves, and our world.
Islam is still stuck in the 8th century, and it's going to take some serious thinking on the part of muslims to bring their religion into the REAL world.
Religion of Peace bump
Great on line book to read and skim around. All about Mad Mo'
http://www.prophetofdoom.net/
Musta missed that one.
God's word is perfect.
This passage refers to something specific that was to be done long ago.
It is not a command to people today to do something.
16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: 17 but thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: 18 that they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.
So, to prevent them from teaching you all their abominations, you need to go in and slaughter them all, men, women children and babies. What abominations were the little babies going to teach you? Would you agree that what God was commanding here, whatever His reasons, was by definition genocide?
Yes. It was a specific command given at a specific time to deal with a very specific and unusual circumstance. I can go into all that with you later, if you'd like. Suffice to say, when one understands the whole of the situation, God's command is obviously harsh, but not wrong.
Actually i'm Christian, but i don't think it matters. I'd be just as conservative if i was a Muslim - in fact, most my Iranian Muslim friends are more "Conservative" on Islamic Fundamentalism than other religions i've met.
Further, I wasn't referring to Islamic Fundamentalism, i was referring to the generalized statements of Muslims as a whole.
Regards.
Well, I am pleased you are a conservative Christian...that is something we have in common.
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