Re: Unicorn vs....

[nelson@crynwr.com (Russell Nelson)]

   From: dwomack@runner.jpl.utsa.edu (David L Womack)
   Date: Thu, 26 May 1994 12:16:44 -0500 (CDT)

       Even the religiously inclined don't advocate turning the other
       cheek ad inifinitum...

Oh?  Methinks you don't know the context of what Jesus said.  At that
time, only citizens hit each other with their fists.  Slaves were hit
with the back of the hand.  The penalty for hitting someone with a
fist was much greater than backhanding them.  In a predominantly
right-handed society, slaves got backhanded on the right cheek.  Now
how do you backhand someone after they've turned the other cheek?  You
can't -- you can only strike them like a citizen.

And in the same context, Jesus told his followers to carry a soldier's
pack for two miles if they were asked to carry it for one.  The Roman
soldiers were allowed to impress citizens to carry their packs for no
more than a mile.  Any more and they were fined.  So Jesus was telling
his followers to cause trouble for soldiers by making them beg for
their packs back.

And in the same context, poor people had no collateral to borrow money
except the clothes on their back, that is, inner and outer robes.  A
person could borrow against the value of their outer robes.  And of
course, if they didn't pay back their debt, they had their outer robe
taken from them.  Now, the outer robe was necessary to keep from
freezing at night, so this was a problem!  So Jesus told his followers
that, when someone sued them for their outer robe, to give them their
inner robe as well.  At the time, nudity was shameful to the *viewer*,
so this caused great consternation.


Jesus didn't expect his followers to suffer fools gladly, but neither
did he ask them to use violence against them.

-russ <nelson@crynwr.com>      ftp.msen.com:pub/vendor/crynwr/crynwr.wav
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