LET US LIVE WITHOUT HARMING!: LET US SAY NO TO THE PARTS OF THE BIBLE THAT PRESCRIBE THE MURDER OF THOSE WHO DO NOT FOLLOW ITS DOGMAS

The authors of various books of the Bible advocate for the murder, through cruel forms of death, of innocent people who do not follow the strict religious orthodoxy that these authors intend to impose despotically—victims whom the Church would later call “heretics”:

Old Testament:

Deuteronomy 28:15 and following: anyone who does not strictly follow all religious orthodoxy deserves all kinds of punishment, including death.

Isaiah 26:21: genocide of all those who do not follow religious orthodoxy.

Daniel 3:6: anyone who does not fall down and worship God must immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.

Exodus 19:12-13: anyone who does not comply with the religious rule shall be stoned or shot through.

Exodus 31:14-15: ditto.

Ezra 6:11: ditto, but by hanging the “heretic” from a beam and burning their house, leaving their family out on the street, to use modern terms.

Numbers 15:32-36: God commands Moses to stone an innocent man simply for gathering wood on the Sabbath, and they did so.

Leviticus 20:27: mediums and spiritists must be murdered by stoning.

Leviticus 24:14: anyone who curses must be stoned.

Leviticus 24:16: anyone who blasphemes must be put to death by stoning, whether they are a foreigner or native-born.

Leviticus 24:23: Moses has a man stoned for cursing.

Exodus 21:17: death for anyone who curses their father or mother.

Isaiah 66:16: divine genocide.

Leviticus 15:17.

New Testament:

Romans 1:18-30: those who do not follow the strict religious dogmas that Saint Paul wants them to follow deserve death, however innocent they may be.

Romans 6:23: ditto.

Mark 16:16: whoever does not believe in Christian religious orthodoxy will be condemned.

Romans 2:12.

Colossians 3:6.

1 Thessalonians 5:3.

It is fair to say that the authors of the various biblical books envision types of death for innocent people (stoning was their favorite, followed by burning) that were less cruel than those common in the different cultures of the Middle East where these Jewish authors lived. Thus, in the Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, or Egyptian kingdoms and empires, extremely painful executions such as impalement, flaying, or crucifixion were used.

However, these harmful verses imposed a true oppressive and repressive social dictatorship in Jewish society and in Christian societies until the triumph of liberal ideas that emerged from the Enlightenment. And in fact, they still have influence in part of contemporary Christianity. This is the case of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church and many of his priests, who see it as a very good idea to kill Westerners because we are liberal and do not follow their dogmas. He considers that our civilization is decadent and sinful and that therefore this justifies a war against us, even if many people die and it causes great suffering.

Read LIVE WITHOUT HARMING: Be tolerant

Read HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARMING? Respect the freedom of others

The rational approach is to understand them within the context of the despotic societies that developed throughout most of the world from a stage of the Neolithic period until the triumph of the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and other liberal revolutions, rather than as the word of a benevolent and tolerant God who loves all creatures on Earth.

Read FOR A WORLD WITHOUT HARM: Let us understand each religious precept in its historical context

Read THE ART OF LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let us reform the harmful part of Christianity

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