Eye For an Eye
I’m sure many of you have heard about this story in some way or another but it has been bugging at me every since I heard about it on the news. It still amazes me how people can so willfully misinterpret the bible to say what they want it to say.
For those of you who may have not heard about this story here is a brief run down. Robert Harlan was convicted of murder in 1995 for the rape/death of a cocktail waitress. Evidently while in deliberation, some of the jury members wrote down the following passages from the bible in order to sway other jury members that the death penalty was what Mr. Harlan deserved. The death penalty ruling has been overturned and Mr. Harlan will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Exodus 21:22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Leviticus 24:17 And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. 18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. 19 And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; 20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. 21 And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.
According to this CNN article it states that Gov. Bill Owens said Monday's ruling was "demeaning to people of faith and prevents justice from being served."
"Today's ruling further confirms that the judicial branch of our government is nearly bereft of any moral foundation," said Tom Minnery, the conservative Christian group's vice president for government and public policy.
What the jurors and the people above failed to acknowledge is that in Matthew it says:
Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
This bothers me so much because so many people fall into this trap of relying on words of the Old Testament instead of relying on what JESUS has said. God, the Father, sent his SON in order that we may be saved, but yet we consistently go against everything that his SON has taught us! I’m not saying that the Old Testament isn’t important, it is very important; it shows us how things were BEFORE Jesus came. I see so many people walking around with WWJD (What would Jesus do?) on shirts and wrist bands. What do you think He would do?
I am not defending this man; he did a horrible thing and should be punished for it, no doubt. I don’t even have a problem with the jurors writing down passages and bringing them into the court room for reference. What I have a problem with is the misuse of the passages in order to pass along hate to others, witch I feel is taking place entirely too often these days.
Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca, is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
(23) Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
This being said I hope that we can all remember the sacrifice that Jesus made to us, and learn to show a little humility, forgiveness and love toward one another. I am the first to admit that at times this is a very difficult thing to do. Things have been done to me that I thought I could never forgive, but through the love of Christ, I have. Every night/day when I pray I always ask Jesus to forgive the good and the bad people of this world, people I do not even know. Why? What would Jesus do?
Luke 23:34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
For those of you who may have not heard about this story here is a brief run down. Robert Harlan was convicted of murder in 1995 for the rape/death of a cocktail waitress. Evidently while in deliberation, some of the jury members wrote down the following passages from the bible in order to sway other jury members that the death penalty was what Mr. Harlan deserved. The death penalty ruling has been overturned and Mr. Harlan will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Exodus 21:22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Leviticus 24:17 And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. 18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. 19 And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; 20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. 21 And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.
According to this CNN article it states that Gov. Bill Owens said Monday's ruling was "demeaning to people of faith and prevents justice from being served."
"Today's ruling further confirms that the judicial branch of our government is nearly bereft of any moral foundation," said Tom Minnery, the conservative Christian group's vice president for government and public policy.
What the jurors and the people above failed to acknowledge is that in Matthew it says:
Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
This bothers me so much because so many people fall into this trap of relying on words of the Old Testament instead of relying on what JESUS has said. God, the Father, sent his SON in order that we may be saved, but yet we consistently go against everything that his SON has taught us! I’m not saying that the Old Testament isn’t important, it is very important; it shows us how things were BEFORE Jesus came. I see so many people walking around with WWJD (What would Jesus do?) on shirts and wrist bands. What do you think He would do?
I am not defending this man; he did a horrible thing and should be punished for it, no doubt. I don’t even have a problem with the jurors writing down passages and bringing them into the court room for reference. What I have a problem with is the misuse of the passages in order to pass along hate to others, witch I feel is taking place entirely too often these days.
Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca, is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
(23) Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
This being said I hope that we can all remember the sacrifice that Jesus made to us, and learn to show a little humility, forgiveness and love toward one another. I am the first to admit that at times this is a very difficult thing to do. Things have been done to me that I thought I could never forgive, but through the love of Christ, I have. Every night/day when I pray I always ask Jesus to forgive the good and the bad people of this world, people I do not even know. Why? What would Jesus do?
Luke 23:34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
posted by Dovely at 10:51 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home