As a civilization, do we always allow genocide and then pontificate about it later? I know of people who feel bad about the Native Americans Holocaust and even more people who don't really think about it.
Are we naturally barbaric and genocidal or it it a function of belief and the times? Are there consequences we have to face because of it's effects on the collective unconscious? We didn't help the Jews till the war was on our doorstep and then we seemed to have helped the Jews cause we were angry at the Nazis. Did the fact that we didn't stop the Jewish Holocaust lead to World War 2? Did the fact that no one tried to stop our genocide of the Native Americans has left it that we not only think this land was empty before we got here (as a culture) but you also rarely see a Native American, just immigrants.
Here are some pictures to help put our own journey as a country in perspective.
The "empty land" we settled wasn't empty, at first. We had to clear it.
These were soldiers citizens doing a job. Watching each others back:
Notice the pride of accomplishment:
Is out taking the land from the Indians any different than what Israel does when it builds settlements? Are we so cool with what Israel is doing because on some level it's what we would do & have done?
Are humans naturally genocidal or is this a factor of religion? Is one religion more genocidal than another? Which one is it? It may not be the one you think.
Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)
Hosea 13:16 (King James) "Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open."
Numbers 31: 17-18 "17. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. 18. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."
Deuteronomy 20:16 "However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes."
1 Samuel 15:2-4 "2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah."
Psalm 137:8-9 "8 O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the happiness of him who repayeth to thee thy deed, That thou hast done to us. 9 O the happiness of him who doth seize, And hath dashed thy sucklings on the rock!"
Miscellaneous:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)
Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. (1 Timothy 6:1-2 NLT)
When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment. (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)
Kill the Entire Town if One Person Worships Another God
Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him." (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT)
But if this charge is true (that she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night), and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB)
Kill Followers of Other Religions.
1) If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)
2) Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. (Deuteronomy 17:2-5 NLT)
Death for Blasphemy
One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got into a fight with one of the Israelite men. During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the LORD's name. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment. His mother's name was Shelomith. She was the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They put the man in custody until the LORD's will in the matter should become clear. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard him to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death. Say to the people of Israel: Those who blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be punished. Anyone who blasphemes the LORD's name must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the LORD's name will surely die. (Leviticus 24:10-16 NLT)
When we look at Genocide this way, as a psychological - conscious or unconscious - reaction to religious teachings , does the following make more sense?
Greenspan admits Iraq was about oil, as deaths put at 1.2Million
Israel's Crazy Doctrine for Justifying Deaths of Over 1,000 Gazans
Syria 3 - A Look At Syria Using Graphic Photos To Understand The Type Of Genocidal War Assad Al Bashar Is Waging (this is the outlier in this set of examples as they are not Christian. That said, Assad is from a minority sect and connected to Russia & his country - & Israel for that matter - is result of World War 2)
Related Posts:
Jared Diamond’s ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ Part 1 – Out of Eden
Jared Diamond’s ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ Part 2 – Conquest and the Tropics
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