Comparitives

21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Matthew 5:21-22

Let's see an example of the statutes and precepts in action. So, statues are things like the ten commandments, made from a set of rules upon which the foundation of society rests. If these rules are bent or otherwise broken, then all chaos would break loose as it did once before the flood. Surely it might have just been a legend that was told of once to scare all the bad boys and girls. It's another thing entirely when there's a whole historical record made from it complete with fossils, extinct species, sudden climate upheaval and all that. Basically, fossils are just a really, nice fancy way of saying hidden bones found buried under layers of dirt and mud that either occurred suddenly all at once or over the slow creep of hundreds of millions of years.

Although, I would tend to bet on them being buried all at once and in a very tragic manner given that most animals do not stand still long enough to allow for their slow and gradual decay. Regardless of all that, there are also mentions of the flood found in a number of historical manuscripts authored by various ones dating back hundreds if not thousands of years. Then too there's small commandments and large ones arranged from the greatest to the least. The greatest commandments of them all to you might be by order of significance. The command not to murder for instance is a common one repeated throughout many societies today. Then again, stealing just may be a lesser commandment among them all, quite possibly even among the least. 'Which of them is greater than them all then,' you may ask. Let's start off small at first. Can you pick the commandment mentioned from out of the text? Very good, I see you have found the greatest of them all that reads something like this:

Thou shalt not kill.

Let's say for instance that you have someone brought up on two separate charges. We'll look at each of them in turn. It's a situation of two people arguing. The first one turns to the other and says a very bad word without any provocation at all. So, I don't know about you, perhaps you haven't heard many bad words said before. Just maybe your culture is one that believes the power of life is found in the tongue and rightly so. Many cultures though do not hold to this view as strictly nor quite half as well. The issue with bad words though is there is a spirit behind them to do whatever is found said in the word. Thus, if I insulted your intelligence, by nature that would mean I had wished evil or harm to come upon your mental powers.

Should that come to pass, and I be found to have insulted you just prior, that would make a very bad case for me indeed. Add to that the fact that I'm angry and no apparent reason can be found, this is really not going to set well with the people before whom this case appears. Then, let's say a little more time goes on and I call this same person again with whom I was angry before. Only this time I call him a fool without knowing anything more, save only that he was once very smart until the day I got angry with him and now he is no more. I would well imagine that the council would want to know what has become of this one. Then let's say I charge him without anything else, which is what calling him a fool ultimately is. Scripture says it's reward shall be a danger of hell fire. Now, before we go any further, I want us all to see why very clearly.

There's a little matter of the precepts that have existed for many a year. In fact, these are the annals of history both written and unwritten for how such cases have been judged. Now I'm not saying that you really ought to decide every case that comes before you from out of a history book. The writers of those got it wrong at times, twisted the facts, or otherwise messed the story all up. Whether you like it or not, that's just what happens when you have imperfect memories of events told and retold in various forms down through the ages. Anybody's bound to have gotten it wrong somewhere just as there are some who will still get it right. The precepts then are what we in western culture would refer to as precedent. Precedents are those things that offer guidance for both written and unwritten law. These can be used in cases of deciding judgement and well as offering some explanation to the law.

Now, let's revisit the council once more with this matter concerning the angry brother and the brother suffering loss. In no way am I suggesting that you should be capable or even responsible for keeping your brother. Care and concern of this nature is something that is decidedly lacking in most cultures. Let's say for instance though that your culture is one of the rare ones that demands and requires it even. The issue of murder as seen at first is that of the statutes. The deciding factor in the case will be found under the precepts, whether little or much force will be used. The murderer as they are found guilty will be brought before judgement as in a courtroom either in like fashion or to something similar.

Remember the restorative justice we spoke about before. This person before us today might need some restorative justice to be sure. However, restorative justice will not correct the source of the issue just yet. First, it must be brought to justice. At this time, for the injury that has been suffered there will be the council. These will have the final say over all matters concerning truth and justice. Let's say for instance though that this brother has charged another falsely and loss has been suffered as a result. In matters such as these, there is then a far greater justice who sits above all before whom this case must answer. In one case, since loss has been suffered restitution will no doubt occur unless the offending brother does not agree with the decision in the case. Because of this, the case will then be sent up to the higher powers, which is God, who will likely not be as easily swayed.