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IMO, with the slaughters in the TaNaH or in the Qur'An, the only right nd wrong is what God wills through His Prophets. The same is true today. While I agree with you Mark that it is the revealed will of God that is wholly normative for the believer, I also believe that God holds within His own mind hidden truths not yet revealed either through nature or through Manifestations. As Jesus explains in Matthew 19, God may formally command a thing which “from the beginning...was not so,” yet God suffered it “because of the hardness of your hearts...” Famously, God refers to David in 1 Samuel 13:13-15 as a man after God’s own heart (cf. Acts 13:22-23). Amazingly, in 1 Samuel 15:11-16:13, Saul is seen to be rejected by God for (apparently) his act of gratuitous mercy toward the Amalekite king. On the other hand David, the man after God’s own heart, slaughters innocent witnesses in 1 Samuel 27 when he raids in the Negeb, in order to protect the secrecy of his own deeds and his own plans. Right up to the present time, it seems that God’s plans in this world occasionally place the security of the Israelite people in the Levant at a higher level of priority than what we would ordinarily think of as fundamental human rights, and this occasionally does cause unease to the conscience even of people who are Firm in the Covenant. God established Israel as beneficiary and also as utterly ruthless defender of the world’s most revered and venerated piece of real estate. (cf. Numbers 31; Deuteronomy 20:16) Given the horrors which God’s plans have sometimes visited upon innocent and unsuspecting children, including of course the unborn, we should be careful never to disrespect the sincere convictions of those whose consciences are already living in a future where God’s mind has been more fully revealed, and his will has triumphed completely, and such sacred ruthlessness is never again necessary. Peace, Gary -----Original Message----- From: Mark A. Foster <[email protected]> To: Baha'i Studies <[email protected]> Sent: Sat, Dec 10, 2011 5:13 pm Subject: Slaughters The Baha'i Studies Listserv posted a shorter version of the following on another list: IMO, with the slaughters in the TaNaH or in the Qur'An, the only right nd wrong is what God wills through His Prophets. The same is true today. "Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress imits; for God loves not transgressors. And slay them wherever you atch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for umult and oppression are worse than slaughter.... But if they cease, od is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.... If they cease, let there be no ostility except to those who practice oppression" ur'An 2:190-193 (A. Yusuf Ali translation) And Samuel saith unto Saul, "Me did Jehovah send to anoint thee for king ver His people, over Israel; and now, hearken to the voice of the words f Jehovah: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, I have looked after that which Amalek did o Israel, that which he laid for him in the way in his going up out of gypt. Now, go, and thou hast smitten Amalek, and devoted all that it ath, and thou hast no pity on it, and hast put to death from man unto oman, from infant unto suckling, from ox unto sheep, from camel unto ass.'" Samuel 15:1-3 (Young's Literal Translation) The time for the destruction of the world and its people hath arrived. aha'u'llah (Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, page 3) -- ) Mark A. Foster, Ph.D., sociologist 9 domains: http://markfoster.net wo books: http://bahaifaith.info linical: http://fosterservices.com __________________________________________________ ou are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] nsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-624073-1275591.ef24b475e5f10a74e6628cf12d307...@list.jccc.edu ubscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] r subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st aha'i Studies is available through the following: ail - mailto:[email protected] eb - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st ews (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st ld Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] ew Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-624138-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
