Originally posted by Freak
Think about the state's competence to punish justly. The government is incapable. Poly, your trust is in a government that is evil. There are no objective standards for measuring the amount of pain that will match the offense.
Originally posted by Turbo
Was this a problem for Israel? Were they wrong to flog criminals?
(Freak replied: We are not Israel and we do not live under a theocratic system of government.)
God gave man guidelines, but did not spell out every little detail. God gave judges the authority to judge:
Deuteronomy 25
1 "If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, 2then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. 3Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight.
Freak replied: It's your understanding of these guidelines that I'm faulting.
Do you oppose God’s will that criminals be flogged, just because He has not exhaustively spelled out exactly how many blows is appropriate for every conceivable crime?
Freak replied: Again I'm questioning your understanding of God's will. It is clear you are in the dark. But there is hope.
