From: Damien Broderick (thespike@earthlink.net)
Date: Mon Feb 17 2003 - 21:33:31 MST
And on a more uplifting note:
I was reading the Old Testament this afternoon, as one does, and I found a
clear passage that demonstrates God's enthusiasm for abortion, under the
right circumstances. Those circumstances are that a woman's husband should
*suspect* his wife of fucking another man and being pregnant by him, but
have absolutely no proof. His understandable jealousy, the Good Book tells
us, is ample warrant for his wife to be aborted by a suitably qualified
priest equipped with an abortifacient.
It is a short step from this illuminating text to the plain implication that
stem cell research using aborted embryos is perfectly kosher, as long as the
mother is a slut, or suspected of being one.
Here's the text. Marvel at the wisdom (this is one for Brett to tuck into
his dillybag):
=====
11 The Lord commanded Moses 12 to give the Israelites the following
instructions. It may happen that a man becomes suspicious that his wife is
unfaithful to him and has defiled herself by having intercourse with another
man. But the husband may not be certain, for his wife may have kept it
secret—there was no witness, and she was not caught in the act. Or it may
happen that a husband becomes suspicious of his wife, even though she has
not been unfaithful. 15 In either case the man shall take his wife to the
priest. He shall also take the required offering of two pounds of barley
flour, but he shall not pour any olive oil on it or put any incense on it,
because it is an offering from a suspicious husband, made to bring the truth
to light. 16 The priest shall bring the woman forward and have her stand in
front of the altar. 17 He shall pour some holy water into a clay bowl and
take some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tent of the Lord's
presence and put it in the water to make it bitter. 18 Then he shall loosen
the woman's hair and put the offering of flour in her hands. In his hands
the priest shall hold the bowl containing the bitter water that brings a
curse. 19 Then the priest shall make the woman agree to this oath spoken by
the priest: "If you have not committed adultery, you will not be harmed by
the curse that this water brings. 20 But if you have committed adultery, 21
may the Lord make your name a curse among your people. May he cause your
genital organs to shrink and your stomach to swell up. 22 May this water
enter your stomach and cause it to swell up and your genital organs to
shrink."
The woman shall respond, "I agree; may the Lord do so." 23 Then the priest
shall write this curse down and wash the writing off into the bowl of bitter
water. 24 Before he makes the woman drink the water, which may then cause
her bitter pain, 25 the priest shall take the offering of flour out of the
woman's hands, hold it out in dedication to the Lord, and present it on the
altar. 26 Then he shall take a handful of it as a token offering and burn it
on the altar. Finally, he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 If she
has committed adultery, the water will cause bitter pain; her stomach will
swell up and her genital organs will shrink. Her name will become a curse
among her people. 28 But if she is innocent, she will not be harmed and will
be able to bear children. 29 This is the law in cases where a man is jealous
and becomes suspicious that his wife has committed adultery. The woman shall
be made to stand in front of the altar, and the priest shall perform this
ritual. 31 The husband shall be free of guilt, but the woman, if guilty,
must suffer the consequences.
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Blessings,
Damien Broderick
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