The Scarlet Letter Redux

[ASTAC]

I'm not out of my mind..I'm sick of what this country has become..The legal system is probrably one of the worst parts. Frankly I don't care what happens to criminals while they are in prison. If they don't want that kind of trouble..then don't do something that will land you in prison.

America has ceased to function as it was designed. Even one of our most famous founding fathers believed that when the system got as bad as it is today(actually passed the threshold of insanity as early as the 50's)..The people should rise up against it and start over again. Problem is, the people are happy with their ignorance of how bad it actually is, as long as it has no direct effect on their lives. Little by little, the tyrants in D.C. have imploemented laws to circumvent our bill of rights. They've wiped their arses with the constitution and laugh at our ignorance of it.

But you go on..keep believing everything is how it should be. Won't be long and you won't be able to tell the difference between the USA and Germany of the Third riech era.

[AKH]

Originally posted by Seagoon
In any event as a society, we need to be willing to do that which is just, even when there is the potential for something to go wrong. When a man rapes and kills a young girl, he has earned the death penalty and it is not justice to refuse to carry it out. These days we get sentimental about the "rights" of the perpetrator and essentially dismiss the rights of the victim to receive justice. In essence we broke our societal covenant with that young girl. And no, jail is not worse than death, even with a tatoo on your head, especially given where Mr. Stockelman is likely headed after he shuffles off this mortal coil.

Can't Jesus save him?

[AKH]

[Shuckins]

"Whoever harms one of these little ones...it were better for him that he should bound to a millstone and that he should be cast into the depths of the sea."  (Jesus Christ...paraphrased)

Doesn't quite fit into the modern interpretation of Christ as a hippiesque, ready to forgive anything and anyone, caricature...does it?

[lukster]

You get religion Hoopy? If you're trying to make some other statement it's going right over my head. Inside jokes are only funny to those on the inside.

[Seagoon]

Hello Hoopy,

Originally posted by AKH
Can't Jesus save him?

Yes Hoopy, Jesus saves sinners, that's the Good News of the gospel. He even saves hard hearted rat-finks like me when we were still His enemies. That's why I said "likely" given that its a narrow gate and most prefer to remain in the broad way that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14). When Christ Himself was preaching the gospel, most people assumed they were righteous and had no need of this "salvation" he was freely offering. So they prefered to mock the gospel rather than embrace it. People who think they are well see no need for a physician. As Christ put it, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." People haven't changed much in 2000 years.

[AKH]

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy [Matthew 5:7]

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  [Matthew 6:15]

[lukster]

Proverbs 18:5

It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the innocent of justice.

[AKH]

Thou shalt not kill.

[lukster]

Originally posted by AKH
Thou shalt not kill.

Says who? A more accurate translation of Exodus 20:13 is "Thou shalt not murder".

[lasersailor184]

Originally posted by lukster
Says who? A more accurate translation of Exodus 20:13 is "Thou shalt not murder".

Truth.

[AKH]

In fact, some distinguished Jewish philosophers believed that "thou shalt not kill" is a perfectly accurate rendering of the sixth commandment. Maimonides, for example, wrote that all cases of killing human beings involve violations of the command, even if the violation happens to be overridden by other mitigating factors. It has been suggested that this tradition underlies the virtual elimination of capital punishment in Rabbinic law.

Viewed from this perspective, we may appreciate that the translation "thou shalt not kill" was not the result of simple ignorance on the side of Jerome or the King James English translators. Rather, it reflects their legitimate determination to reflect accurately the broader range of meanings of the Hebrew root.

As usual, careful study teaches us that what initially appeared ridiculously obvious is really much more complex than it seemed at first glance. We should be very cautious before passing hasty judgement on apparent bloopers.

[lukster]

Blooper? Hardly. The correct interpretation has been debated for a long time. Since the Israelites were commanded to war and to kill by God on several occasions including capital punishment for specific crimes I think the word murder is probably a more accurate translation.

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by storch
^   any personal anecdotes to go with that statement ackack?

My brother in law is a deputy sheriff in San Diego and works as a watch officer in the jail down there.   They normally place those that have been convicted of child rape and molestation in solitary to keep them from the general population otherwise they would be killed.  In the prison hiearchy, rapists and child molesters are down at the bottom of the pecking order.


ack-ack

[AKH]

I believe this man is more qualified than any of us to offer his opinion on the topic.

Maimonides (March 30, 1138–December 13, 1204) was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain and Egypt during the Middle Ages. He was one of the various medieval Jewish philosophers who also influenced the non-Jewish world. Although his copious works on Jewish law and ethics were initially met with opposition during his lifetime, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. Today, his works and his views are considered a cornerstone of Orthodox Jewish thought and study.