18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. - Deuteronomy 21:18-21 English Standard Version (ESV)
Consider this First
Does this punishment seem a little harsh, upon reflection, at least for this day and age? Yet it was once considered "The Law". It served a purpose, "purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear." Such was the word of God as it was written, and as it is still written. But it seems, "The Jews no longer have the stomach for it" as one writer said. Be glad, be very glad.
Yes, the Old Testament of the Bible and the Koran both have within their texts many seemingly outdated (IMHO) prescriptions of death and other seemingly harsh punishments within "the Law" for activities deemed illegal, AKA "sin", or sometimes even as justification for the murder of whole "enemy" (presumed sinful) populations. Thankfully, today most of us living in the civilized and educated world recognize that such religious based laws were written a very long ago, as given by God to men and being appropriate for a certain culture, time and place. Some of these laws still carry quite well across culture, time and place, but some also certainly does not (again IMHO).
Our world is a much smaller place than it used to be and the laws we must follow now change rather quickly across increasingly thin borders and shifting cultures. Some places, some cultures still abide in the old ways and that is their own choice but regardless, "The King" must always be obeyed, I don't care who you are. As they say, "When in Rome do as Romans do" or else!
This may be confusing, but it is said that God is not the author of confusion... So when in doubt ask, "What is first?" Such is our collective history as Jews, Christians, and Muslims, all of us comprising a brotherhood of faith in the God of Abraham despite obvious doctrinal differences as might be expected by how the various Holy Scriptures came to be delivered in each case. For the majority of us those earlier harsh versions of required righteousness has thankfully been replaced by compassion and mercy as truly being God's way. This is epitomized in the person and message of Jesus Christ regardless of whether he is regarded as rabbi, messiah, or prophet. Likewise the very words "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful" - always form the beginning of each surah of the Koran.
Compassion and mercy. Those words are always first. Make it so then, and let those words also start each of our days and stay in our hearts. Let us therefore leave any cries for religious based bloodletting in the distant past for which it was written for we are all rebellious sons and daughters if God's judgment is to be upon us. Let us rely upon compassion and mercy, both given and received, or else it is death we choose for ourselves.
