2007-08-14

Atheists in Massachusetts

From the department of God's law = civil law.

PART IV. CRIMES, PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES

TITLE I. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS

CHAPTER 272. CRIMES AGAINST CHASTITY, MORALITY, DECENCY AND GOOD ORDER

Chapter 272: Section 36. Blasphemy

Section 36. Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.

All this essentially means that, by law, an atheist who publicly declares that God doesn't exist and the Bible is wrong can be jailed for up to a year.

I mean, I think atheists who deny God and those who deny the Bible will get their comeuppance in eternity - but actually punishing such people in civil law is surely not what the NT speaks about.

After all, adultery is a sin (Exodus 20.14). Adultery resulted in capital punishment in OT Israel (Leviticus 20.10). But Jesus forgave the adulterous woman and prevented her from being executed (John 8.1-11). The legal outcomes of OT law are no longer in effect with the coming of Jesus because the New Covenant is different from the Old.

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