Apparently members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group in Uganda that want to overthrow the government there and set up a new one based on the 10 Commandments are working from a different set than the one most folks are familiar with. The rebel’s version not only allows for killing, but also for abducting teenage girls for use as child soldiers and sex slaves.
Uganda rebels abduct schoolgirls in night raid—MSNBC.com
The girls seized in the ambush on the Lwala Girls Secondary School in Kabermaido district, about 160 km (100 miles) northeast of the capital, Kampala, were aged between 12 and 18.
The rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony, has been fighting the government in northern Uganda since 1987.
The group has earned a terrifying reputation for abducting children to use as child soldiers and sex slaves, and for maiming villagers.
Army spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza said initial fears that 100 girls had been taken have been scaled down but added that around 30 were still unaccounted for.
Not that this is unprecedented. The Bible is full of passages where God condones and even orders his followers to violate the Ten Commandments. For example:
- NU 31:17-18 Moses, following the Lord’s command, orders the Israelites to kill all the Midianite male children and “… every woman who has known man ....”, but allows them to keep the virgins for themselves.
DT 20:13-14 “When the Lord delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the males .... As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves.”
DT 21:10-13 With the Lord’s approval, the Israelites are allowed to take “beautiful women” from the enemy camp to be their captive wives. If, after sexual relations, the husband has “no delight” in his wife, he can simply let her go.
JG 21:10-12 “… Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword and; also the women and little ones.... every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall utterly destroy.” They do so and find four hundred young virgins whom they bring back for their own use.
It goes on and on like that for pages. So who knows? Perhaps the Lord’s Resistance Army are just following God’s orders and continuing in the grand tradition of past Christians who have been glorified in that sacred tome. Various Christians are always telling me that the Bible is as fully relevant on how you should live you life today as it was 2000 years ago so I’d have to say these guys are just practicing what they’ve been preached. Needless to say I still find it appalling, but I’m told by many that I shouldn’t criticize someone else who is just practicing their religious beliefs.
These excellent points help to illustrate why I cannot accept Christianity as a valid religion. Since it’s God encourages and rewards this type of behavior, I don’t stand a chance of being someone He would like anyway. Looks like I need to find a deity I can respect, or more importantly one who respects me.