A riddle
The reek (smoke) of Master Hamilton infected as as many as it blew upon. -- An anonymous witness to the execution of Scottish Lutheran martyr Patrick Hamilton in 1528The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church. -- Iranaeus
What happened in Europe during the Middle Ages that is still happening in many Islamic lands today?
While I am no fan of islamophobia- a very real phenomenon in Western society today, especially on the Right- perhaps its time for us to wake up and smell the burning flesh. It's not necessary to blame Islam as such for the behavior of these animals. But we need to recognize Satan by the smell of brimstone, from whatever direction the smoke is blowing.
May what Iranaeus said of the ancient martyrs be true of the new ones as well.
Comments
"If a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you." -- Leviticus 20:14
"And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire." -- Leviticus 21:9
"Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt." -- Genesis 38:24
"He that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath. ... And Joshua ... took Achan ... and his sons, and his daughters ... And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire." -- Joshua 7:15, 24-25
Of course- as much as our militant atheist friends ignore this fact- the passages above are from the civil criminal code of an ancient nomadic theocracy. Kind of tough to have a prison system to speak of in those circumstances, burning was only used as a form of execution in exceptional situations, and literally nobody (other than atheists) have taken these passages to have any sort of authority or significance outside of their original context.
But it just goes to show you that context is important- and it's not wise to join too quickly in the violation of the Eighth Commandment with respect to Islam generally. It has the most significant shortcoming of all- it's a false religion- and that's all the condemnation it needs.