Monotheism and Paganism

About a week ago, the U.N. General Assembly voted to condemn Iran's "ongoing systematic violation of human rights". It carried by one vote with 24 abstentions. It spoke of confirmed instances of torture, stoning as a means of execution, and punishment such as flogging and amputation. We have witnessed such atrocities in Afghanistan under the tenure of the Taliban. Sharia Law is the law of Islam, although most Muslims would not support such extreme measures, I'm sure.

Jews and Christians have not been exempt. There is the story of Jesus showing up at the planned stoning of a woman. He was invited to participate. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone", he is reported to have said.

Beginning on the feast day of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, August 24, 1572, a massacre of Huguenots began in Paris and spread throughout France. It lasted several months. Deaths were estimated at ten to one hundred thousand. Pope Gregory XIII ordered a Te Deum to be sung as a special thanksgiving and had a medal struck to honour the massacre. The reverse showed an angel with a cross and sword hovering over the slaughtered Protestants.

The Church has never formally and unequivocally apologized. In 1997, John Paul II issued a statement that some consider an apology, but others not. A mural of the massacre still hangs in the Vatican.

While the Christian churches are no longer so violent and John Paul and others have advanced the cause of reconciliation, the Northern Ireland religious strife is barely over. The Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs are still going at it hot and heavy in South Asia.

My god is the only true god. Yours is false. I am a jealous god, I will have no gods before me. Jealousy is one of the seven deadly sins. God is exempt.

By contrast, the pagans had none of this. The different tribes and peoples respected each others' gods and sometimes adopted them. The Romans took in the Greek gods and gave them new names. These gods had all-too-human traits, some were nice, some were not. There was cross-cultural flow between Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. They fought savage wars, to be sure, but not over religion.

Ah, for the days of paganism! Julian the Apostate tried to revive those days, but it was too late. Hatred and intolerance had taken hold.

Hatred and Capital Punishment

I am unable to hate George W. Bush, or even Dick Cheney. These are not nice people. Bush is a despicable person, a tawdry, cheap piece of goods. Cheney is the personification of evil, a fellow who advocates the use of torture, who is largely responsible for the death of thousands. Nor do I hate Tony Blair or Idi Amin or Hitler or Stalin or serial killers or anyone else. Any why not? Because hatred is a cancer that, if allowed to develop, consumes the person who hates. It is visceral. It boils in the gut. Dislike or disapproval, on the other hand, is a reasoned response.

In polls taken the world over, it is shown that a majority of people favour the death penalty for murder. Although many adherents use reasoned argument, many are motivated by the visceral demand for vengeance. To see an argument on this point, click here

If you check out Google, there are a number of websites pro and con. In those favouring the death penalty, some appeal to reason but others contain a number of non-sequiturs and questionable logic. And hatred is all too evident.

The school shootings are prime examples of hatred in action. When the killer turns the gun on himself, he has achieved his purpose and cannot be apprehended. The perfect crime. And he has been consumed by his hatred, faster than cancer.