Tammy said:
Yeah, Sol, i know. You're a one size fits all kind of person. In this case, a one size judge all kind of person.
See what I did there? I used a fundamental principle taken from YHWH Himself, and applied it to you. Hate it when that happens, huh?
You probably don't appreciate the irony of your objecting to the basic principle found in the Torah that the entire group bears the burden of punishment for the sins of the individual: if you had actually bothered to learn anything about the ancient Hebrews, you'd learn that IS a cornerstone principle upon which the Torah is based, and reflects the attempts of YHWH to build community values, a sense of identity in his "Chosen People". The shared punishment (regardless of individual culpability) is also the basis of Hebraic attempts to explain why God had foresaken them, with the sins of the few explained as the cause for the entire community to be punished (eg why they were exiled to Babylon: the explanation was that they were being punished for the few practicing idolatry).
In fact, they also used the same communal concept for atonement for sin, eg the practice of sending a "scape goat" into the desert to die and atone for communal sins is also a basic concept derived from Hebraic thought, but in reverse.
The point is, it's classic group-think: the group sinks or swims as a group, and NOT as individuals.
I know you think you can approach YHWH and Jesus as an individual, or on your own merits, but there's no basis for believing that: it's completely extra-scriptural.
So read them cards and weep: that's the way the system works in the OT and NT, and if you don't ascribe to it (and don't endorse nasty little practices like slavery), then perhaps it's time to find belief system more conducive to your loving nature, i.e. one that doesn't require you to sacrifice your own "in-born" (if you wish to think of it that way) sense of "right and wrong" and morality upon the altar to YHWH?
