Monday, October 15, 2007

Mea Culpa

You see, the folks at the Leftist blog "StageLeft", in its recent post "The Gospel According to Scenty", made quite a lot of selfish, nasty fun of a mistake after I made it. As if I wasn't human, not a mere mortal and not naturally imperfect! Right... conservatives and Christians must be ripped a new one for each and every mistake, whereas the likes of Bill Clinton and Harry Reid are to be defended and rewarded for theirs...

I said recently during a discussion in the comments on this blog that the Bible doesn't have anything in it about stoning (throwing stones at people as punishment).


Well, guess what? I was incorrect. And embarrassed, actually. I'm man enough to admit it. Why did I quickly say it wasn't in the Bible (I'm afraid I'm not an expert and really should've checked first, plus must now remind myself to read it again and try to remember more this time around)?

Why, indeed? Why do you think I quickly asserted what I said? What was my logical error?

I'll tell you why: Today Christians do NOT practice, and certainly do not condone stoning, despite there being passages in the Bible mentioning the practice...

Whereas Islam certainly does practice stoning today, in addition to Islamic law requiring stoning for certain offences.

Yes, "Balbulican", you're correct. The Koran itself may not mention stoning, as the stuff about stoning wasn't, for some reason, actually included in the Koran, but Islamic law requires stoning.

...It's interesting that you didn't add that fact, "Balbulican". Dhimmitude? Or an error of oversight? Or perhaps I'm wrong again? Or lying? Hey, I can handle the truth.

(An aside: Sometimes I wonder if Baghdad BOBulican has underlings to do quick research for him so that he can have the perfect factual information in a hurry. Else, he's some kind of savant who somehow knows every bloody thing or is a master of the art of quick study. He's sure one weird, interesting guy, one bloody fascinating indivudial, if nothing else! Who is he, really? How come he seems to know everything?)

It is illogical of me to assume that since Christianity doesn't practice stoning today that it therefore can't possibly be in the Bible. One shouldn't assume; one should verify. Nevertheless...

I tried to find any mention in the StageLeft post and commentary (which is quite nasty towards me, which isn't surprising, as Leftists do tend to be gratuitously nasty towards conservatives and Christians who make honest, if stupid, mistakes, no matter how small) of the difference between what the respective theological tomes say and what the respective faiths actually practice today, but found no such thing. If there's such mention and I missed it, then it's time for a visit to my ophthalmologist!

I guess Leftists' minds are too small to bother to go beyond a narrowly-focussed point, in this case what two books say/don't say to a very germane, directly related one, namely what is actually practiced today in reality by the respective faiths. And that includes "Balbulican". Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

I also openly wonder: Why wouldn't Leftists think to mention, after talking about the fact that the Bible mentions stoning while the Koran doesn't (but, remember, Islamic law commands it for certain offences), that today the difference is that whereas in the Islamic World we know there's stoning being regularly practiced, Christians do not engage in this practice, despite the fact that it's mentioned in the Bible?

Oh, I know... because Leftists are usually Dhimmis, aren't they? They have no problem coming up with damning information about the Bible and comparatively nice info about the Koran, but they wouldn't dare mention, in the same breath, the difference in what fundamentalist Christians and (a whole lot of, at least, in the Islamic World, namely in the Islamic theocracies) fundamentalist Muslims do in today's world.

Isn't this evidence that Christianity has modernized and moved acceptably into the 21st Century whereas in much of the world, Islam obviously hasn't?

Christians also don't go around chopping off peoples' heads, nor do they hijack airplanes and ram them into skyscrapers. They also don't try to "push Israel into the sea"... and they don't promise to "wipe Israel off the face of the earth" while thumbing their noses at the United Nations, who ordered them to stop nuclear weapons development... like Iran, an Islamic theocracy, has been doing... I could go on and on with the stark differences, to remind the fine Leftist folks at StageLeft of the reality of the world which they sometimes love to try to ignore by placing their heads upside their bums...

Isn't it more important and practical to look at what actually happens in reality rather than obsess narrowly over what a couple of ancient theological tomes say?

Proof that Islam continues the practice of stoning today.

And I'd like to sincerely thank the wonderful, if frequently godless, Leftists, for inspiring me to re-read the Bible again. It's been way too long. Thank you very kindly, my Leftist friends!

Oh, and in the interest of humility, if anyone can point out an error and demonstrate that it's indeed an error, I welcome this pointing-out.