Thursday, July 9, 2015

On the Evolution of Stoning



People aren't judged. Actions are judged; people are rewarded, punished, or condemned. Every morally upright person has a right to judge his or her actions and the actions of those around them as right or wrong. But no one has the right to condemn another person.
First, let's not confuse punishment with condemnation. Punishment is "the state of being made to suffer for wrongdoing." I think the best example of this is spanking a disobedient child. When I disobeyed my mother, she spanked me so I would know there is a consequence for misbehaving. This is justice. It would not have been just if she told me "You're going to hell" every time I did something wrong. That is condemnation. 


To condemn means "to declare to be reprehensible, wrong, or evil usually after weighing evidence and without reservation." When a person condemns another, they are making a statement about the whole person: "Charles Manson is evil." When people say, "Don't judge me," they mean "Don't condemn me." This is a legitimate request - I cannot declare anyone to be completely evil, because I can only know their actions and what they choose to tell me about what they were thinking when they performed those actions. I can never know the entire character of the person, because I cannot be them. I cannot look into their soul and see if they have any goodness in their heart. I cannot perform any scientific tests to prove their moral character. Only God knows the soul, therefore, only God has a right to condemn.


Man tends to play God when he has too much power. This is dangerous, because man is not God - and he will never be as perfect as God. But man's power has been increasing with technology, so much so to where he has given himself the power of determining his own moral truths. When man ceases to follow natural law, he is bound to an abuse of power.
We see this today in what is called "cyber bullying." This destructive behavior has been enabled by social media, which has given every man the power to communicate his thoughts to another person instantaneously, no matter the distance. Man is removed from accountability, because he can silence those who would call on his conscience by simply "deleting" them. This makes him feel as if he were annihilating that person (which even God would not do), when really he is only removing them from his life - without bearing the consequences of the hurt he is causing them.
Man is seeking to throw off the cross of responsibility and increase his power to be the only master of his life - he is becoming Satanic. Cyber bullying is one of many atrocities that have come about in this new age of man. This kind of demonic activity must be rebuked and put to an end. And it must be done by those of us who are willing to fight for the dignity of our brethren.


No man has the right to condemn a man to death. No man (or woman) has the right to abort the lives of unborn babies. And no one has the right to tell my brother to "kill himself." The Hebrews of the Old Testament were criticized for public stoning. But we are worse today. Instead of throwing stones than harm the body, we throw hateful words that harm the soul. 

"Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." . . . Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more." -John 8:7,10-11

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