Editor: Mark Owen. Published weekly* by Felicity Press Australia. Issue 116 - 29 July 2010
The Internet is people's democracy in action - Say NO to Big Brother's plan to censor it!
Meet me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/marowen
|
Bullfighters
bite their own dust! . . . www.piperpost.net
-
29.07.10.
Civilization has just taken
another small step forward - in once-Catholic Spain. The parliament of
Catalona has voted by a small but substantial majority to ban
bullfighting in the state. The motion was passed to the cheers of
deputies, animal rights activists and other observers.
A petition had gathered 180,000 signatures in favour of such a ban. Jordi Casamitjana, who was heavily involved in pushing for this vote, told the BBC: 'It means the politicians here actually get it. Bullfighting has no place in the 21st Century. I could not hold back my tears.' Bullfighting has long been one of the shameful aspects of Spanish life, a country dominated by Catholicism until quite recently. I have written against bullfighting for years. And so too I have written against other activities involving animal conflicts, e.g. those dog-fights organized by an American sporting personality, and cockfights, which occur in my own country, Australia. It has always seem somewhat curious to me that Christians often have a disregard for the sufferings of what they claim to be 'GOD's creation'. Yet, of course, in times past the Jews sacrificed animals (and on rare occasions, children*) to their deity. There is, of course, a great dilemma faced by many of us who are meat-eaters. I am one such. The more extreme animal liberationists are vegetarians and I admire them for this stand. But at least if we eat meat we should ensure that animals suffer as little as possible. The slaughter of livestock by halal methiods, as demanded by Islamics, is, I believe a more cruel method of death-dealing than what would otherwise be employed. And we won't talk about the appalling practice of locking five hens in one tiny cage for their whole life! I wonder how many of those who engage in this cruelty go to church on Sundays? *
Jephthah's daughter is one certain case of human sacrifice being
carried out by the ancient Hebrews. In Judges 11: 29-31 and 34-40 we
have the story of Jephthah the Hebrew warrior and judge, with whom
Yahweh made a compact as a result of which Jephthah's innocent
daughter, an only child at that, was offered as a burnt offering to
Yahweh. Jephthah, under the influence of 'the spirit of the Lord
[Yahweh]' vowed a vow. If he successfully won the pending battle
against the Ammonites he promised, 'whatsoever cometh forth of the
doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children
of Ammon, it shall be the Lord's [Yahweh's], and I will offer it up for
a burnt offering.'
Jephthah won the battle and returned to be greeted by his daughter, 'his only child' coming out of his house. Jephthah was devastated but kept his vow and offered his daughter as a burnt offering. There can be no doubt that this passage clearly indicates that Jephthah, unlike Abraham, whose son was spared, could not escape the deity's demand and that his virgin daughter was offered up on a sacrificial fire (verse 39). But this sacrificial demand should not surprise us. In the law as set down in Exodus 22: 29 provision was made for 'the firstborn of thy sons' to be given to Yahweh.' And this is not merely a symbolic 'giving', for the very next verse refers to the firstborn of sheep and oxen to be likewise 'given'; and it wasn't symbolic for the sheep and oxen, it was the real thing! Their blood was shed.
  The book that tells the truth about Christianity and your life - Complete text begins HERE |
|
Offering regular doses of atheist and materialist sanity to an insane world |
|
*Written and produced by Mark Owen
and published by
Felicity Press Australia. With a staff of only one PIPER POST is issued at varying
intervals of time but usually weekly. |