(Deuteronomy 22:13-21)
If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
(Deuteronomy 22:13-21)
You've cited a section that deals with a husband who attempts to declare that his wife was not a virgin at the time of marriage. The punishment (if the charge is proven) seems a rather extreme method for dealing with someone who's crime was to misrepresent themselves as pure. However, considering that syphilis and many other STD's would have been a death sentence, it probably went a long way towards reducing pre-marital sex.
Again, by the Judaic law, such a person would not be innocent, hence the last line about purging the evil (as my translation defines it).
Wanna whip the dead horse again?
Most people who talk about Deuteronomy are ignorant of the historical context in which Deuteronomy was written.
In history, Deuteronomy is the first in written event in history where the Hebrew Religion (Jewish, Christian, Muslim Religions can all be trace back to the Hebrew Religion) was used as a weapons to terrorize and destroy the people.
Deuteronomy was during the time King Josiah of Judah, which was right after the civil wars that followed the death of King Solomon.
King Josiah was an Aaronite. The Aaronites were religious extremists who believed their word was the one and only word of God. They enslaved the people, forced them to obey very strict rules and laws dealing with everyday life. Punishment for not following these rules and laws meant torture and/or death.
Also, King Josiah and the rest of the Aaronites committed genocide against the Canaanites.
Besides homosexuality, the following is a list of what is also forbidden in Deuteronomy.
Clothes are forbidden to be made or worn of fibers and fabrics mixed or blended together.
Crossdressing.
All new houses had to have a fence on top of their roofs.
Punishment for rebellious and/or unmanageable children was stoning.
A very strict dress code.
There many other things forbidden in Deuteronomy. But I think you get the idea of how evil King Josiah and the rest of the Aaronites were.
Also I'm sure that if you look deep enough into the history of the Nazis rise to power in Germany, you'll find at one point of another that Hitler and the Nazis used Deuteronomy as another justification to kill the Jews, Christians and anyone else they considered subhuman.
By the way, I'm sure that King Josiah and the rest of the Aaronites are right now roasting in Hell for all eternity the crimes the committed in the name of God.
Now, I want you all to remember what I posted here the next time any of you think about using Deuteronomy as an excuse to attack homosexuals, crossdressers and transgendered people.
And if you are wondering. I am NOT a Liberal. I hate bureaucracy. I love guns. And I think Government is the problem and not the solution.