I was under the impression that most present-day Christians, even Evangelicals, feel that the New Testament abrogates the harsher laws of the Old. Looks like I was wrong—not only do these folks embrace the Old testament, they seem to take every word literally.

One very very important thing to point out is that the “harsher view” of the Old Testament is itself a throughly Christian meme.

The actual practice of Jewish Law is incredibly forward thinking in terms of women, women’s rights and the status of women. It is a very safe statement that it was not until the 20th century that women around the world began to enjoy the same rights that Jewish women had enjoyed for thousands of years.

“Old Testement” laws in practice, even the ones that sound harsh (in poor English, translation, without the benefit of the oral law, and pontificated on by people who have their own agendas) are not at all what many bible thumping Christians would have you believe. Not even close.