Subject: Re: East Timor (a sermon)
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 09:10:48 GMT
From:  (Les Brown)
"Robert Howard" <> wrote in aus.religion:
>What rubbish! Deuteronomy 7:1-2 - "the seven nations greater and mightier
>than thou --- thou shalt smite them and utterly dstroy them, nor show mercy
>upon them."
>
>Joshua 6:21- "and they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man
>and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass with the edge of the
>sword." Referring of course to Jericho (Dili).
>
>Joshua 10:40 - "So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the
>south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left
>none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of
>Israel commanded. And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza,
>and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon."
>
>Joshua 8:24 - Killed everyone in Ai.
>
>Deuteronomy 2:26-35 - Land of Heshbon " we took all the cities at that time
>and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every
>city, we left none to remain."
>
>I could go on and on. This is your Judeo-Christian heritage. When will
>Christians come out and condemn the bible as a tale of cruelty, barbarism
>and bigotry towards other religions.
>
>Thank God I am not a Christian.
>
>Bob Howard.

It's a shame that the question you didn't ask was why G-d wanted them
destroyed in the first place. Well, here is your answer, if you
bothered to ask the question in the first place and I apologise for
posting bulk text:

Please bear with me through this part;

LEV 18:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
18:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the
LORD your God.
18:3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall
ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring
you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
18:4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk
therein: I am the LORD your God.
18:5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if
a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
18:6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to
uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
18:7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother,
shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her
nakedness.
18:8 The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is
thy father's nakedness.
18:9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or
daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad,
even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
18:10 The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's
daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is
thine own nakedness.
18:11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy
father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
18:12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister:
she is thy father's near kinswoman.
18:13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister:
for she is thy mother's near kinswoman.
18:14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother,
thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
18:15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law:
she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
18:16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it
is thy brother's nakedness.
18:17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her
daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her
daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near
kinswomen: it is wickedness.
18:18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to
uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
18:19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her
nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
18:20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife,
to defile thyself with her.
18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to
Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the
LORD.
18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is
abomination.
18:23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself
therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down
thereto: it is confusion.
Now here is the crunchy bit;
18:24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all
these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
18:25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity
thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
18:26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall
not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation,
nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
18:27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done,
which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
18:28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it
spued out the nations that were before you.
18:29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the
souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
18:30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any
one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and
that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

These verses are fresh in my mind because they were read from the
Torah in Synagogues all around the world during the afternoon service
(Minchah) on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), last monday.
(And to all those Christians who say that sincere regret for sins,
prayer and charity do not gain forgiveness but only faith in Jesus - I
say "bollocks to you". I feel and I have faith that my actions have
gained me a merciful pardon from a graceful G-d)

Why was it necessary to also kill the children and the animals?

Because they were the object of their abominable religious practises
and as such represented the evil within that society. To allow any to
remain alive would not have removed the idolatry and immorality that
permeated the seven Canaanite nations and as such would have been an
on-going threat the holy purpose of the Children of Israel. Even
inanimate objects which could be considered idolatrous (the "accursed
things") had to be destroyed.

The seven nations were treated far more harshly that others. Nowhere
else do we find the Children of Israel required to kill everything. So
immoral were these original inhabitants that they had to be totally
wiped out if they could not be removed from the land or change their
immoral beliefs and practices if they wanted to stay.

Now I don't know about you, but having neighbours that practice
bestiality, sodomy and paedecide amongst many other rites, will not
make my suburb a pleasant place to live in. The idea of throwing
another kid on the barbie would kinda ruin a restful Shabbat afternoon
for me. Burning human flesh, together with all the attendant screams
and cries, would be a real downer. I mean, if we are prepared and more
than willing to move Australian troops into East Timor, to kick out
the militia and the TNI even though they have not barbecued a single
child, how much more willing should G-d and the Children of Israel be
to remove the practitioners of far worse abominable acts?

Les Brown