Why Disobedient Children Should be Killed

Last night (August 9) I was on Boston's WTKK, 96.9 FM talk radio with the host Jenine Graf discussing, naturally, politics and religion (what else, these days?). One religious caller was extolling the virtues of biblical ethics and how it is good that our politicians not only endorse their favorite biblical characters (collect the whole set), but that they actually
reintroduce biblical ethics into politics. I said: "Oh, do you mean such biblical ethical practices as stoning to death disobedient children?"

The caller took offense at this comment, challenging me to produce the said passage. As I was no where near a Bible, he said that if I could post it to our web page within the next 24 hours he would donate to the Skeptics Society $100.00. If I could not produce, then I had to donate $100.00 to his favorite charity, which was some group I never heard of, something like Jews for the
Right to Bear Arms (I wonder if they are affiliated with the Jews for Jesus group?!). The host of the show took the caller's phone number and insisted that we actually play out this little bet and that she would have me on the show again tonight to settle the bet.

So, I give you the aforementioned biblical passages about how we should handle our disobedient children, along with a few other gems for which I can't help but wonder if the religious right would really like to enforce in our public (or private) spheres of influence. (Passages from the Revised Standard Version Bible, my own from my not so rebellious youth, although, thank God or whomever, my parents would not have practiced such antiquated ethics had I been rebellious.)

Why Disobedient Children Should be Killed