"SUNDOWNER" AND ISRAEL
Sir,-The Old Testament presents an aspect of the animistic form of religious belief, namely, that forces or beings controlling the universe can, by adoration. magical incantations, prayers and ritual ‘sacrifices, be influenced to order things in our favour. It. is. alleged thet God "reveals" Himself through this collection of Hebrew mythologies. Believers aid
their credulity by resorting to large assumptions for which there is neither biblical nor other warrant. The deity so revealed declares himself to be jealous admits the existence of other gods, promulgates a policy of vindictive. punishment of innocent-even to the third and fourth generation; inflicts atrocious plagues on the innocent Egyptian people because their Pharaoh did what the deity caused him to do; and commanded his Chosen "utterly to destroy the men, women and children" of every city. of their enemies. ‘ The idea of personal sins being atoned for or washed away by the shedding of innocent blood, animal, human or divine, is repugnant to our notions of ethics. Viscount Samuel, a distinguished Jew, one-time High Commissioner for Palestine, in his text-book Practical Ethics, writes: "No one who would seek to initiate a religious movement nowadays could possibly persuade the general body of opinion that the killing of animals as part of a ceremonial could have any religious value. Such a practice would be regarded on the contrary as fatal to genuine religious emotion." Our orthodox Christianity is a derivative from the ancient erroneous Hebrew animistic religion; which may perhaps account for the fact that the historical record of Christianity is so grievously darkened by cruelties, persecutions and slaughter carried out by those adhering to their distorted conception of deity and its relation to humanity. It may also in part explain why today ethically admirable precepts are professed by people guilty of the bitterest sectarian intolerarnices and supporting satanic policies.
J. MALTON
MURRAY
(Oamaru).
( This correspondence is now closed.-Ed.)
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 659, 22 February 1952, Page 5
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316"SUNDOWNER" AND ISRAEL New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 659, 22 February 1952, Page 5
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