6. Bible Prescribes Death Penalty, Vedas Preach Reformation
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BIBLE PRESCRIBES DEATH PENALTY, VEDAS PREACH REFORMATION
1. BIBLICAL VERDICT OF DEATH PENALTY
The Holy Bible prescribes death penalty by stoning for a number of offences, sometimes trivial. ‘Rocks were hurled at the victim, until he or she became a bloody pulp, and the mass of flesh ceased to move.’ This horrible method of execution was carried out in Europe for several years in the past.
(i) Death penalty by stoning for blasphemy
28. ‘16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him; ’
- Leviticus, 24/16
(ii) Death penalty for straying near Tabernacle
29. ‘51. And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the 1Avites shall set it up; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.’
- Numbers, 1/51
(iii) Death penalty for not observing holiday (sabbath)
‘Sabbath’ means a day of the week set aside for religious worship and rest from work, usually Saturday among the Jews and Sunday among the Christians. Holy Bible ordains the Christians to observe holiday (holy day), a day of rest for God. He who falls to observe, will be put to death.
30. ‘14. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you; every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall he cut off from among his people.’
- Exodus, 31/14
31. ‘2. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord; whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.’
- Exodus, 35/2
In ‘Exodus’, the reason given for observing seventh day as a day of rest is, ‘because God made the heavens and the earth in six days, and rested on the seventh day.’
It is a human being, not God, who gets fatigued on account of continuous work for six days, and needs rest on the seventh day. God Almighty is Omnipotent. To say that He rested on the seventh day, as if He was fatigued and exhausted, amounts to blasphemy. Thus the above vese in Exodus degrades God to the position of frail human being.
(iv) Death penalty for disobeying parents
Here is the most inhuman and the most brutal Biblical law which authorises parents, the father and the mother, to bring their own son to the elders of the city to get him stoned to death, for trivial fault of disobedience and stubbornness. Read the following four verses :
32. ‘18. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:’
- Deuteronomy, 21/18
33. ‘19. Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;’
- Deuteronomy, 21/19
34. ‘20. And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.’
- Deuteronomy, 21/20
35. ‘21. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.’
- Deuteronomy, 21/21
No civilized state will approve of and enact the aforementioned brutal Biblical laws. In fact the Church was, is and will be the enemy of civilization. The Church and civilization are antipodes to each other. Ms Matilda Joslyn Gage corroborates the statement in the following words :
_’The church and civilization are antipodal; one means authority, the other freedom; one means conservatism, the other progress; one means the rights of God as interpreted by the priesthood, the other the rights of humanity as interpreted by humanity. Civilization advances by free thought, free speech, free men.’_45
- Matilda Joslyn Gage
(v) Death penalty for cursing parents
36. ‘And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.’
- Exodus, 21/17
(vi) Death penalty for homosexuality
37. ‘13. If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.’
- Leviticus, 20/13
(vii) Death penalty for sexual intercourse with a woman during her menstruation period
38. ‘18. And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he bath discovered her fountain, and she bath uncovered the fountain of her blood; and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.’
- Leviticus, 20/18
(viii) Death penalty for loss of virginity
The Holy Bible prescribes capital punishment by stoning for loss of virginity in the following two verses :
39. ‘20. But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel;’
- Deuteronomy, 22120
40. ‘21. Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die; because she bath wrought folly in Isreal, to play the whore in her father’s house; so shalt thou put evil away from among you.’
- Deuteronomy, 22/21
(ix) Death penalty for adultery
41. ‘10. And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.’
- Leviticus, 20/10
Jesus Christ in Matthew 5/17 endorses the afore-mentioned first seven laws of death penalty prescribed by Moses in the following words :
42. ‘17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.’
- Matthew, 5/17
If the above mentioned Biblical verdicts of death penalty are carried out strictly in modern Europe, a great portion of the population of the Western world would be put to death. In modern permissive society, there are not many virgins around. In the Western countries there are millions of people who do not observe holiday for going to the Church. Now-a-days the Church premises are being sold in Europe. In modern scientific era, thousands of educated rationalists in Europe and America have started questioning the unscientific and undemocratic teachings of Holy Bible. If the above verdicts of death penalty are applied seriously to such rationalists, the population of the Western world will surely decrease to a large extent.
(x) Death penalty for disobeying leaders of the Church
Clement, the Bishop of Rome from 90-100 C.E., argued that God alone rules all things, that He lays down the law, punishing rebels and rewarding the obedient, and that His authority is delegated to Church leaders. Clement went as far as to say that whoever disobeys these divinely ordained authorities has disobeyed God Himself and should receive the death penalty.46
Even in the beginning of the twentieth century, Pope Leo XIII argued that the ends justified the means. He said :
_’The death sentence is a necessary and efficacious means for the Church to attain its end, when rebels act against it.’_47
- Pope Leo XIII
2. VEDAS PREACH REFORMATION
Holy Vedas, unlike Holy Bible, do not formulate hard and fast laws for each offence. This task is left to the legislature. If religious books legislate laws, and those are carried out, the existence of legislature will be nullified and there will be no need to elect the members of legislature. Vedas never say that criminals should not be punished. But to a man of common sense, death sentence prescribed by Holy Bible appears to be too big a punishment for too small an offence like ‘not observing a holiday’. However, Vedic approach to the criminals or sinners is reformative and constructive. Holy Vedas admonish us not to look down upon those who have spoiled and stained their life on account of sins or crimes. Indeed they are the wretched souls. But they ought not to be despised, discouraged and denounced. They are to be pitied upon rather than hated. They deserve compassion and kindness. They should be reformed, elevated and encouraged to shun vice and lead virtuous life in future. ‘Uplift the fallen and forlorn’ is the slogan of Vedic religion. Vedic philosophy urges upon reformative and constructive approach.
{ta dovaa AvaihtaM dovaa {nnayaqaa pauna: |
{taagaScaÚuYaM dovaa dovaa jaIvayaqaa pauna: ||
a Pgvaod 10o137o1Ye enlightened men,
Uplift once more
The fallen and forlorn Lowly and forlorn
Ye illustrious men,
Raise him who has sinned
And degraded himself,
Restore him to life again.
- Rig Veda 10/137/1
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‘The Hindu culture is the life-breath of Hindusthan. It is therefore clear that if Hindusthan is to be protected, we should first nourish the Hindu culture. If the Hindu culture perishes in Hindusthan itself, and if the Hindu society ceases to exist, it will hardly be appropriate to refer to the mere geographical entity that remains as Hindusthan. Mere geographical lumps do not make a nation.’
- Dr. K.B. Hedgewar
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Footnotes: 45 Matilda Joslyn Gage : ‘Church, Woman and Stale’, New York, 1893. reprinted by Voice of India, New Delhi, 1997, p. 540
46 (i) Pagels : ‘The Gnostic Gospels’, p. 34
(ii) Helen Ellerbe : ‘The Dark Side of Christian History’, U.S.A., August, 1998, p. 13
47 (i) Geoffrey Ashe : ‘The Virgin Mary’s Cult and the Re-emergence of the Goddess’, London, Arkana, 1976, 1988, p. 206
(ii) Helen Ellerhe : ‘The Dark Side of Christian History’, U.S.A., August, 1998, p. 38