I never was a dub, but brought up going to chapel it was usual practice for Sunday morning sermons to be OT based, Sunday evenings were NT.
The OT is full of rules, commandments, punishments and 'stoning to death' is a feature. Sadly it's a practice still in force in benighted, religion-fuelled, backward societies even today.
I lived in Cyprus 2005-2010 and did my best to learn the modern history of the island. Not inspiring.
Until independence in 1960 Cyprus was a UK colony. The indigenous Greek Cypriot majority wanted to become part of Greece. The minority Turkish Cypriots wanted independence (under Turkish surveillance). Both formed armed groups. TMT for the Turks, EOKA for the Greeks. Both groups killed more of their own contrymen than the opposition. There is a huge and deep divide between right wing and left wing in Cyprus which continues to this day. Following independence in 1960, things didn't get much better and in 1974 Turkey invaded 'to protect the rights of Turkish Cypriots' and still occupy one-third of the island.
Cyprus is now a member of the EU and the eurozone, has applied for an EU bailout proportionately bigger than any other EU country, and has had to 'borrow' money from the pension funds of the Electricity Authority, the Telecomms Authority and the Port Authority so that it can pay public service salaries and pensions for December.
That's a potted and simplistic history/current affairs update.
I read the 'Cyprus Mail' online daily, and this story struck home to me.
I can't make the link clickable, but it's from CM 16 Dec 2012 in a story titled 'Vindication for EOKA Traitors' http://www.cyprus-mail.com/eoka/vindication-eoka-traitors/20121216 and what it brought it home to me was this bit:
'Others might have considered themselves lucky to have been killed by a shot to the back of their head.
Savvas Menikos from Goufes died a horrific death after having been tied to a eucalyptus tree in the village church courtyard on May 23, 1958. Primary school children stoned him in the presence of the priest, according to information gathered by Michael. Eventually, they untied him, placed a stone on him so he could not breathe, kicked dirt into his mouth and urinated in it while kicking.'
That's the reality of stoning to death, my friends. Note the involvement of a Cyprus Orthodox priest (the Cyprus Orthdox Church is, IMO, one of the most corrupt and evil organisations). When you've read that, I defy anyone to sit and listen to an OT-based sermon or 'study' and NOT think about it. This was in my lifetime.
Yes, I know that this horrific practice is still going on today, but it's happening in places which (to my shame as a caring primate) I can more easily close my eyes to as they're 'places in Asia under extremist Asian religions'. Geographically, Cyprus is in Asia.
I may just print out that article and next time someone knocks on my door, dub, Mormon, whatever, I may ask them to read it THEN talk to me about their god.
Sorry about the length of this - sometimes I get a bit wound up!