Because Mohamedanism (aka Islam) is the near-universal religion in places like Iran and Iraq, that religion’s legal code, the Sharia, exerts enormous influence on the way its people determine how criminals are to be dealt with.
Whether we Americans like to believe it of not, Theology often undergirds a Nation’s laws.
Because Mohamedanism (aka Islam) is the near-universal religion in places like Iran and Iraq, that religion’s legal code, the Sharia, exerts enormous influence on the way its people determine how criminals are to be dealt with.
Recently The New York Times reported that judicial authorities amputated the right hand and left foot of five convicted robbers, part of what the government said was an effort to deter other troublemakers.
Well, five men will certainly find it more difficult to make mischief, but, to quote Gilbert and Sullivan’s song in the
opera “Mikado”, Let the punishment fit the crime – cannot it be said that in this case it most certainly does not?
But then, we aren’t Mohammedans, and we don’t, indeed cannot, think the way they do.
Western European and American law is undergirded by a different Theology. Theology, like so many of our words, comes from Greek roots which mean Discourse with God, God-talk, and Christian God-talk is quite different from that of Muslims
A Father may, and sometimes should, punish, but hardly by cutting off hands and feet as a mere exampleYes, Let the punishment fit the crime, but let it be exercised with the Words and Teachings of Jesus in the back of our minds. Among other things, He said, Forgive, and you will be forgiven – which is not to say that criminals should not be punished, but that the punishment must be humane.
Western European and American law is undergirded by a different Theology. Theology, like so many of our words, comes from Greek roots which mean Discourse with God, God-talk, and Christian God-talk is quite different from that of Muslims
A Father may, and sometimes should, punish, but hardly by cutting off hands and feet as a mere exampleYes, Let the punishment fit the crime, but let it be exercised with the Words and Teachings of Jesus in the back of our minds. Among other things, He said, Forgive, and you will be forgiven – which is not to say that criminals should not be punished, but that the punishment must be humane.
CWB+
