Ramadan's moratorium on stoning adulterers

There's an interesting but disturbing article about the practice of stoning adulterers in the Muslim faith: http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/communityofinterest/archive/2009/11/27/ramadan-s-moratorium-on-stoning-adulterers.aspx

It's a Jewish law that the Muslims agree is prophetic revelation. Christ was challenged on the doctrine when they brought a woman before him to be stoned for adultery according to the law. They said she was caught in the act of adultery and asked him what they should do with her. They wanted to trick him. If he said let her go they could arrest him instead.

Jesus' response was let he who is without sin cast the first stone. That has become a popular phrase within Christendom. Along with judge not least ye be judged and people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. The idea is none of us are without sin. Yet it goes beyond that.

Christ specifically said let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I am told that according to the old law, it is the witness who casts the first stone when the person is stoned which in itself is somewhat ironic. Perhaps the only witness in this case was the person she committed the adultery with. If that was the case it would be somewhat hypocritical for them to stone the woman and not the man for committing the same offence. Yet that appears to have been the intent.

That's what came to mind when I read this article about stoning women for adultery. The law said adulterers should be stoned. It didn't say men are exempt. How that law became perverted to mean only stone women for that offense is beyond me. Nevertheless I do agree the punishment for that sin is pretty harsh.

I agree adultery is serious but concede there are different degrees. A married man who is living with his wife and sleeping with her who goes out and has an affair and sleeps with another woman is very different than a man who has been legally separated for some time and finds a new partner before the paper work on his divorce is final.

One time my brother in law asked me a similar question. He said how would you feel about a married man who moved in with a younger woman? Not much I said, the guy's an adulterer. He smiled and said but that's me. I moved in with your sister before my divorce was final. I smiled and recognized he had tricked me and said you didn't say the married man was no longer living with his wife.

In their case he was married at one time and his wife left without a word or trace. He hadn't finalized the divorce as he didn't know where she was and wasn't very good with court papers. He met my sister later on. They moved in together and were later married. They have had a long standing successful relationship ever since. That in my opinion is very different than the desperate housewives thing where swingers commit adultery at the drop of a hat.

Now back to the equality of women issue. Stoning women not men for the same offence is unjust. Yet it seems to have become a common practice in biblical times which seems to be continued with this recent article about stoning in the Muslim faith. Yes that historical tradition seems to be biblical which only means it was an injustice Christ tried to correct not that is was the right thing to do.

Look at the story of Judah, one of the sons of Jacob who became the father of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. He was a widower. His daughter in law became a widow. According to the law in those days, if a woman's husband dies before they have children, the woman is to marry her deceased husband's brother so she can have a child. Don't ask me where that tradition came from. That's just the way it was.

Anyways, Judah's son Er married Tamar and died without children. Er's brother Onan didn't want to father someone else's kid so Judah just left Tamar a widow. Tamar wanted to have a child and is ticked they aren't following the rules. So she disguises herself, dresses up as a prostitute and stands on the street corner where she knows her father in law Judah will pass by.

Judah sees her and being a widow himself, gives in to temptation and sleeps with her thinking she is a prostitute. Only he didn't have any money with him so he leaves his staff with her as collateral and promises to send a servant the next day to pay her for her services. Only the next day, she isn't on the street corner and the servant can't find her.

Time passes and Tamar becomes pregnant. This is an embarrassing outrage for Judah. This is his son's widow getting pregnant out of wedlock. They bring her to Judah to be stoned according to the law. He asks her who the father of the child is and she produces Judah's staff and says the owner of this staff is the father of my child. Oh crap says Judah. He's caught and can't very well stone his daughter in law for committing adultery when he is the person she committed adultery with. He lets her go and Tamar ends up finally having a child of her own, twins.

My point is that I find this historical tradition of stoning women and not men for the same offence is wrong and it appears to continue within the Muslim faith today which is surprising because although Muslims don't regard Jesus as the Messiah most do regard him as a prophet.

That still leaves us with the fact that is was Jehovah, the one who spoke to Moses in the burning bush that gave therm that extreme law in the first place and Jesus said before Abraham was I am. Which means he claimed to be the one who spoke to Moses in the burning bush. Problematic so it is. Nevertheless, the law was never meant as a way men could oppress woman. If you punish the woman you must also punish the man and I do agree, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. http://www.thestoning.com/