There were plenty of Christians in that group, but a significant number of deists as well. Not that it matters to me.
I hope you realize that most of us don’t care for the notion of a Republic (i.e., we’re mostly anarchists ).
Who determines what God has said? Perhaps God has said “Thou shalt not murder” but then Anton LeVay has other ideas on what God has said (and who God is). Yet others hold that there is not one but a multitude of gods and other spiritual beings. Yet others hold that there are no deities but there are ghosts of the deceased, and so on. Stil other dogmatically assert that there are, in fact, no spiritual beings of any sort. One or more of these groups might be right. But absent any rational method for determining who is, in fact, right all such questions of theology are irrelevant to questions of social order. Maybe questions of religious order or family order can be settled with theological ideas but you cannot settle questions of social order qua social order with theological ideas because people simply disagree and there is no method to determine who is right or wrong.
Clayton -
Are the no Christians on this forum?
There are; I just don’t care to wade through all the BS with people who either don’t know or don’t care to know.
Why I’m not even going to bother is because at least three quarters of the information on this thread is posted by people so unacquainted with the topic that they wouldn’t even comprehend true from false if they were corrected.
Well, what can it mean that Christianity is opposed to the death penalty?
The Bible certainly is not against it, as I said above.
The majority of Christians are not against it, which is why it is still used.
Through most of Christian history, it was used. Like in other places. Returning to said ‘morals’ would not be returning to a time without a death penalty. Whatever else we may be returning to.
Those are the only things I can use to define Christianity. What the Bible says, what Christians seem to think, and what Christian history bared out.
The founding fathers did not oppose it. And in fact supported it and slavery. Is there a quote from a ‘founding father’ opposed to the death penalty all together? Their opposition to cruel punishment perhaps belies an intent to kill without spectacle or debasing the society, but this caveat would seem to make death penalty more respectable. Not to abolish it.
It could be in an ideal form of Christianity there is no death penalty. Clarence Darrow wrote a book against it. But I’m not sure that requires Christianity. Since it is perfectly likely that non-Christians would oppose it. It seems that the most people who are against the death penalty are secular liberals. Though, a portion of Catholics are perhaps also opposed to it. Not necessarily is Christianity opposed to it.
All I’m saying is, that “Do Not Murder” should apply as much to the State as it does to individuals. I’m not against life incarceration via jury trial. I know that my interpretation is not common, but I thought I’d share it.
we lost something when we got 24/7 commerce, some of the sparkle in society dissapeared when families could not be guaranteed Sunday for chilling the heck out, and going out to enjoy nature and the company of others.
So we have to use force to make this sparkly dream come true again? This is the most non-libertarian statement ever. I realize that government is currently used to force your societal views on others, but it shouldn’t be.
Are the no Christians on this forum?
I’m a Christian, but I don’t believe in forcing religious laws on others.
The commandment against coveting the possessions of others would outlaw Socialism, so don’t knock it.
We should support any argument that outlaws socialism? So something along the lines of “the Soviets are gay, and God hates gays, so don’t knock God hating gays, because the hate of gays outlaws socialism”?
Just because something results in something good it doesn’t mean we should enforce it. Oh, I don’t know, sort of like a lot of government services! It’s like saying “government makes roads, so don’t knock government!” Well, no, there are a lot of other ways to make roads without using violence.
How do you reconcile your interpretation with God’s command to put murderers to death? (Exodus 21:12-14; Leviticus 24:17,21)