 |
|
|
 “ … shall be cut off.”
The Deadening of the Conscience. Or:
How to Become Servile to the Priest’s Power
In the following passage as well, the “God” of the “Books of Moses” speaks against the teachings of Jesus and His own commandments. For instance, it is written in Leviticus:
And if any one touches an unclean thing, whether the uncleanness of man or an unclean beast or any unclean abomination, and then eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the Lord’s peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people. (Lev. 7:21)
The fat of an animal that dies of itself, and the fat of one that is torn by beasts, may be put to any other use, but on no account shall you eat it. For every person who eats of the fat of an animal of which an offering by fire is made to the Lord shall be cut off from his people. (Lev. 7:24-25)
“Cut off from his people” most probably means stoning, the usual form of capital punishment of that time. Stoning was common in Israel even in the days of Jesus of Nazareth. Consider only the adulterous woman that Jesus saved from stoning at the last minute. Jesus’ contemporaries also wanted to kill Him at times in the application of the “laws of God through Moses.” “But He passed through the crowd and went away.”
In the third Book of Moses, Leviticus, chapter 11, it is laid out in detail which animals are to be considered clean and which are to be considered unclean. There, it says that the consumption of unclean flesh will cause the person to be unclean until the evening of that day.
Today, even people who consider themselves animal lovers often will eat meat. They apparently do not realize that, for example, the veal cutlet they buy from the butcher, already conveniently cut and ready for frying, perhaps even seasoned, comes from a little calf which only a few days ago grazed peacefully and harmoniously on the meadow. Perhaps the calf let itself be petted by the children of those who now ask for veal at the butcher’s. The children gazed into its large, dark eyes fringed with long eyelashes and were delighted. Rarely does anyone consider what the little animal, which did no one harm, had to suffer before it arrived at the store counter as a cutlet or sausage – the fright, the fear, the horror, the panic, the pain, the dismay.
The animal lovers, we human beings, keep pets which bring us joy, especially if they adapt easily, if they are “easy to care for.” And yet many animals are abandoned during vacation season. For instance, in Germany in 1990 alone, half a million animals, mainly cats and dogs, were abandoned. Today, ten years later, the number is probably not less. Is that loving an animal?
From the divine world it was revealed to us:
Be … earnest and straightforward in your treatment of your second neighbors. In their sensations they see you as their big light-brother or light-sister … Therefore, respect your animal brothers and sisters, your second neighbors, because they want to be your true friends. Strive to treat them as you like to be treated. Then you will soon learn to understand them, and they will be in positive communication with you. (Life with Our Animal Brothers and Sisters. You, the Animal – You, the Human Being. Who Has Higher Values? p.114)
Man’s power to feel is dulled and his conscience is hardly active anymore. But that does not apply only to the people of today.
The conscience of man watches over good and evil, over justice and injustice. If it is sound, the conscience will react independently of external legal views, ultimately according to the Ten Commandments. But the habits of people and the imprinting by their environment have also affected and shaped their conscience.
In reading about cruel animal sacrifices and the stoning of people, we should not only think about how the animals will have felt.
In order to call to mind what may have taken place in a person back then, we could consider the following scenario: Two young men from among the people had eaten hare’s meat. They had caught a hare and roasted it for their meal. According to chapter 10 and 11 in Leviticus they were now unclean until the evening, which they were prepared to accept. But when, out of thoughtlessness or high-spiritedness, the friends entered the place where the “holy” offerings were kept, one of them was seen and was condemned to death by stoning. The other one remained undiscovered. The stoning was carried out, for in Leviticus 22 it says:
And the Lord said to Moses: Tell Aaron and his sons to keep away from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they may not profane my holy name. I am the Lord. Say to them: If anyone of all your descendants throughout your generations approaches the holy things, which the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord. (Lev. 22:1-2)
Let us put ourselves in the place of the surviving young man after his friend was stoned to death. He is tormented by feelings of guilt. He rebels against the judgment and the heavy punishment that should have been his as well. He revolts against the priests who handed down the sentence and yet he must tell himself that they carried out what “God commanded Moses.” Thus his rebellion is directed against God who laid down such a merciless law. But then he calls to mind that God is considered “just,” and that He is the highest judge, who cannot err. The young man begins to doubt himself. His observations tell him that apparently no one else has qualms about stoning. He concludes that something must be wrong with his own feelings and sense of justice, because both the priests ordained by God and his fellow believers in the tribe feel and think differently than he does. He decides to change his thinking and to strictly follow the priests and fellow men in all things of the future, instead of thinking independently and deciding freely. He will no longer seek the measure of his actions in himself, but will, even when his heart says differently, do as the others do because “it is God’s will.”
A process of adaptation takes place. This person’s character changes. He now no longer lives himself, so to speak. His heart grows cold and his feelings blunt and dull, his nature hard. His image of God grows distorted and dark. He can no longer trust this punishing and angry God, let alone love Him. His prayers become untruthful and finally he is grateful that there are formulated prayers that can simply be repeated …
After some time, the reversal into a conformist, a vassal, into an obedient follower of the priests and of “tradition” is complete. This person no longer trusts his inner gauge, his conscience, but habitually thinks and acts against his knowing better. Now, he can be relied upon – upon his following, his loyalty, his obedience and his conformity.
This is how it could have happened back then. At least in principle this is what could have occurred. On the other hand, it is practically unlikely that a person could have reached adulthood without already being filled with the contents of traditional religious practices, blood sacrifices of animals and the stoning of people.
This just described inner condition of a person has occurred countless times and in many variations over the course of history. Does it not seem familiar somehow?
Consider, for instance, the Middle Ages in Europe, where the Inquisition caused many similar situations and conflicts of conscience. The priests no longer slaughtered the animals themselves – they had others do so, and still do today. They did not set fire to the pyre themselves on which straightforward and upright people were burned who had risen against the lies and answered for the one, true, merciful and kind God who is the truth. The priests “merely” stood there with their raised crosses, “blessed,” and sang praises in honor of God, forgiving sins and granting indulgences to those who had gathered the wood for the pyre …
to the next chapter
|
|
