29 Mar '10 03:19>3 edits
Originally posted by epiphinehasIf you look at the original ten commandments, the odd part about them is that there are no penalties for violating them once they were given. The penalties came later under Mosaic law.
I disagree. God's rule of Israel was anything but libertarian. If God were a libertarian, he would consider it kosher if an Israelite chose to film a porn video in his basement, or smoke marijuana at the kitchen table, etc. As long as it didn't infringe on the rights of others or harm others, it's OK. That's a decent political philosophy, for the most part, but I don't think the ten commandments were meant to be interpreted that way.[/b]
Just for the sake of argument. lets say there was no Mosaic law to act punitively towards those who violated the ten commandments. Harm would eventually catch up to them via God withdrawing himself from them and ultimately judging them in the next life. In fact, eventually this is what happened. The Israelites eventually gave into idolatry without the punitive action taken against them. So what happened next? God withdrew himself and they were invaded by foriegn armies time after time after time.
Do keep in mind, however, that God entered a covenant with the children of Israel. In short, they were instructed by Moses the conditions to the covenant and they all agreed. This is a far cry from those of us drug by our ear into a system of government that we never agreed to in the first place. In this respect, free will was upheld.