Why Modern Christians Reject Wisdom

The breakdown of the United States begins with the collapse of the Mainline Protestant denominations which once formed our national moral consensus. A partial diagnosis and possible cure.

In our last thrilling episode, I showed how the United States could have avoided most of the mess of the 1960s, and maybe even won the Vietnam War -- had Christians paid attention to the Wisdom found in the Law of Moses. Do recall that the US was still a Christian nation at the time. That is, most people paid at least lip service to Christian values -- even those who did not truly Believe.

The lesson I listed was an easy one, fully compatible with the broadly liberal mindset of the time. The Law of Moses was less harsh than the laws of the United States on the subject of military drafts.

So why did Christians miss it?

Habit, I think. Habit, because many of the lessons found in the Law of Moses are not so easy. Some lessons involve indelicate topics. Other lessons deeply offend modern sensibilities. Indeed, they are hard to reconcile with the messages of the New Testament.

As an exercise, let's go deep on one of these hard lessons, a lesson which could have saved many lives four decades ago. Warning, though this is a Bible based post, it is NSFW, and probably not one to share with the kids.

Solutions to the AIDS Plague

The Old Testament has several laws which would have prevented the AIDS epidemic if enforced in the modern age. The most basic is:

Lev 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Well, killing all homosexual men would have been one way to contain the AIDS epidemic. But ouch! That's a rather harsh solution. Killing off homosexuals is double plus brutal to First World sensibilities. It seems brutal even to me, and I'm rather angry at the Alphabet activists these days. Indeed, it should be disturbing to modern Christians, as Jesus tasked us to be more gentle and forgiving than the Hebrews of Moses' day. We are tasked to set a good example while living among sinful nations, vs. running a righteous nation as an example for other nations.

Furthermore, disgusting acts aside, to dispose of all homosexuals is to dispose of many otherwise nice guys. You'd be getting rid of an awful lot of chefs, artists, musicians, intellectuals, ballet dancers, movie stars, and helpful healthcare workers. For ye Trad West fans, I have news for you: a lot of that beauty you like so much is...gay. Finally, without gays, you can pretty much write off any chance and finding a decent cup of coffee.

The apparent brutality causes many Christians to go overboard with Dispensation theory. Many Mainline Protestant denominations skip over this and other offensive passages entirely. Better to make sermons based on the verbal equivalent of home movies or the latest story on National Public Radio.

These are grave errors. Those who grow up in such denominations are prone to leave once they try actually reading the Bible and come across such disturbing passages. Worse yet, those who use NPR more than the Bible for their sermon materials are liable to put political correctness ahead of Divine commandments and attempt to sanctify sin. The Mainline Protestant denominations which were once the core of American society have gone into deep decline for good reason.

The better approach is to look at those disturbing death penalties as divine exclamation points.

1Jn 5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

1Jn 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

We should pay special attention, and where such passages appear to contradict Christian notions of justice and mercy, we should ask why such laws were in place in the time of Moses. Were such laws particular to Bronze Age tribes trying to survive in the Levant surrounded by empires? Were such laws examples of the personal standards Christians should set for themselves? Were such laws Wisdom and warning to future generations?

For starters, let us ask just how brutal was the Law that called for stoning men caught doing homosexual acts? This law would not have killed off all Hebrew men with gay tendencies! Some of those men would have obeyed the Law out of either fear or reverence. Others would have been extremely discreet about their forbidden pastime, and successfully avoided prosecution. Keep in mind that the standards of evidence for death penalty cases in ancient Israel were pretty high:

Deu 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

Deu 19:16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;

Deu 19:17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;

Deu 19:18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;

Deu 19:19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.

Deu 19:20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

So while there weren't any Pride rallies/orgies in areas where they Law of Moses was in force, there were likely underground homosexual communities, just as there are where homosexuality is illegal today.

Still, some homosexuals were killed just for doing there thing, and that seems harsh by modern standards -- because sometimes it was.

Sometimes.

Let's adopt the Alphabet of Abominations practice of breaking homosexual acts into categories.

For starters there are otherwise heterosexual men who demand or even force homosexual acts as a means of intimidation, of establishing rank. Stoning such men to death, or at least giving their targets a free pass on delivering a fist to the face (depending on the relative strengths of the men), strikes me as a worthy practice even today. It is far more merciful than current law.

Then there are the trannies who attempt to pass themselves off as women and seduce heterosexual men. This is attempted rape. Death penalty -- or justifiable homicide law -- is most definitely warranted.

Deu 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Then there are those who try to recruit the young. Puberty is a confusing time. When the hormones rage, imprinting is often possible. Those who encourage the youth to "experiment" during this time deserve a good stoning even in this gentle age. (Members of the audience who disbelieve in imprinting are cordially invited to lovely Afghanistan, where the women wear bags over their heads and the men have disgusting traditions going back to the ancient Greeks. The aggressive members of the gay community understand this and have been cashing in during the recent Demoncratic administration.)

With such justifiable [by even modern standards] stonings the number of remaining gay men in ancient Israel would have been much reduced. But it would not have been zero. Some men are truly born that way. The sissies I knew in elementary school are now long dead from AIDS.

Dead. No death penalty needed. The era of Coming out of The Closet proved to be more deadly than the persecution and sodomy laws that preceded it.

Some sex acts are dirtier than others. Worm-eating liberal neener-dancers notwithstanding, a vigorous disgust reaction is healthy and warranted. Furthermore, homosexual men are still men. The underlying animal instinct which whispers more partners = more progeny is still active. Without vigorous social constraints, the gay community engages is mass promiscuity doing extra unsanitary acts. This spreads plagues.

To our knowledge, AIDS had not jumped to humans in ancient times, but there were many other diseases, and far less in the way of effective medical care. By quashing open homosexuality, the Law of Moses limited promiscuity, isolated networks. That death penalty may well have saved as many gay men as it killed.

Hard to say. But let's also keep in mind that it was the Holy Land. There were a lot of death penalties on the books which don't apply worldwide. Indeed, it seems to be a general principle that the closer one gets to God the more harsh the penalties for violating divine Law. When God was manifesting as a pillar of fire by day and proving manna six days a week, kindling a fire on the Sabbath was a death penalty offense.

Exo 35:3 Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

Num 15:32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.

Num 15:33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

Num 15:34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.

Num 15:35 And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

Num 15:36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Things seem to relax a bit when the miracles become less obvious. Think on this when driving to church on Sunday. Unless you are driving an electric car, your car is kindling thousands of fires per second. (Also, Sunday is not the Biblical Sabbath.)

As the miracles receded in Old Testament times, the principle still manifested. The Law for the Holy Land was not to be enforced worldwide. Within the Holy Land the Levites were under restrictions which did not apply to Hebrews in general. Priests even more so. Burning the wrong incense in the Temple or Tent of Meeting could be fatal.

So no, I am definitely not advocating a general death penalty for homosexuality here in the United States. The US is not the Holy Land. We're supposed to be the Land of the Free, so I still stick with a libertarian mindset on this subject. And even where there are victims, as listed above, death penalties are impractical even where morally warranted. If a jury won't convict, what's the point? Stick with enforceable penalties.

And for goodness sake don't go freelance. You'll just cause a crackdown or a civil war. While civil war might be preferable to the direction we were heading, note that we just won an election! Things are turning around in a lawful and mostly peaceful fashion. The Enemy feared this and was trying to provoke a lynching during the past few years. Note the Alphabet of Abominations community's insistence on holding rallies and Drag Queen Story times in conservative towns.

So what can we do with this bit of Divine Wisdom in a free society? Should we have kept the sodomy laws on the books?

Not necessarily, but we should have not have treated the right to do homosexual acts as so sacred as to transcend concerns over public health. When AIDS appeared, liberals were quick attack quarantines as a violation of civil liberty. AIDS was treated with kid gloves compared to how tuberculosis was treated back in the day, or COVID-19 more recently. Many died as a result.

William F. Buckley proposed a compromise measure: a tattoo on the buttocks on those infected with AIDS so that other homosexuals would know what they were getting into. Reason magazine mocked the idea. It was not enacted. People died.

How about treating certain unsanitary acts as vices, as dangerous pleasures? Then apply the same standards that libertarians would apply to alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, opium, and coca leaves: do your own thing as long as you can handle your high and aren't hurting innocent bystanders, or exposing children.

Consider tobacco smoking. Today, the rights of those grossed out by tobacco smoke trump the rights of those who like to smoke tobacco. In most states it is illegal for workplaces and restaurants to allow indoor smoking. The Joe Camel advertising campaign was made illegal because of potential influence of the children.

Imagine if we treated tobacco smoking the way we treat homosexuality. Everyone would have the right to smoke indoors. Complaining about cigarette smoke would be a hate crime. Public libraries would be holding Joe Camel Story Hours.

I'm a live and let live guy when it comes to tobacco -- even though I strongly dislike the smell of cigarette smoke and it's lingering scent in rooms. If someone wants to open a restaurant that allows cigarette smoking, they should be allowed to. If a business owner wants to allow smoking in the workplace, this should be allowed.

But I also support the right of people to be grossed out by cigarette smoke. They should be allowed to prefer smoke-free restaurants and workplaces. They should not be condemned as tobaccophobic and subject to ostracism and reeducation.

The same goes for homo sex. It's more disgusting than tobacco smoke, and were it not for extreme weighting in the scientific research, it would be more deadly as well. (Yes, there is evidence that the harm from smoking can be offset by other health measures. See the video below.)

I would not outlaw it. But having social pressure to keep certain things in the Closet is a good thing -- even for the gays. They need something to constrain instincts for extreme promiscuity, else deadly diseases spread.

And children should be protected. The openly gay should not be teaching children. And gay couples should not be allowed to adopt children. Those who disagree deserve to be treated as ten times more wicked than the Charlottesville tiki torch protesters and ostracized and canceled accordingly.

But we on the Right need to humble ourselves as well. Our prison system is an abomination before God, and our nation is likely under divine curse because of it. Homosexual rape is common and is treated as part of the punishment. Those who giggle about it can be added to the list of those who deserve to be stoned, or at least subject to a smart flogging. And I deeply fear that Trump's enthusiasm for El Salvador's overcrowded gaybomination prisons is going to inspire both voter backlash and divine wrath.

The Law of Moses had no provision for caging man in close quarters. There were no prisons whatsoever. This is an area where the Law of Moses is way more merciful than most modern Christian and secular systems of criminal justice. We'll study the alternatives to prisons in a future post.

A Case of Divine Unfairness?

Let us turn from State to Church. The Mainline Protestant denominations are going Rainbow. This is a huge theonomical error -- but kind of understandable.

First the error. While you can make a Christian case for disobeying some provisions of the Law of Moses, this is not the case for homo sex. The practice is specifically condemned in the New Testament.

Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jud 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Even St. Paul condemns it, though he treats it as a side-effect of other sin:

Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

The Bible ends with a chapter which says no homosexuals in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

And here's the understandable part: some of those driven to homosexuality are indeed Born That Way. And many of those men are otherwise very nice guys -- nicer than average, even. Demanding that such men live lives of celibacy as a condition of being a Christian while other men get to enjoy the pleasures of sex -- within the bounds of marriage -- seems rather unfair.

Here's the deal: this earthly life is unfair -- for everyone. Some are born rich; some are born enslaved. Talents vary enormously. Temptations vary as well. The poor are more tempted by envy. The rich are more tempted to shirk their duties. The good looking are more tempted to engage in fornication. Healthy heterosexual men are more driven to territorial and rank establishing behaviors. (Remember what I said about many gay men being extra nice?)

Justice will come on Judgment Day. And note that those who will rank high in the Kingdom of Heaven will have paid a dear price in this life for the privilege.

Still, being born forbidden to engage in sex seems extra unfair in our era loose sexual morals. We forget that sex was an activity that had serious consequences prior to easy birth control and antibiotics.

And there is this compensation: mysticism. Many a mystical tradition -- not just Christian monasticism -- teach celibacy as an important tool towards achieving ecstatic states of consciousness. Orgasms use up brain chemicals that could be used for other highs. And the consequences of sex -- family -- are an even bigger impediment to Enlightenment. That Buddha feller had to abandon his family in order to achieve his particular form of Enlightenment. Perhaps the better way of looking at the situation is: the pleasures of the bedroom are compensation for the interruptions, duties, and worries which come with raising a family. And replacing these pleasures with more mystical pleasures may well be the eventual fate of everyone:

Luk 20:34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:

Luk 20:35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

And recall what I wrote about the beauty of Trad West being gay. Those who are Born That Way are heavily over represented in the arts. Or observe those who shop at New Age bookstores. The tendency towards mysticism is already there -- for good or ill.

Other AIDS Measures

Enough picking on gay men. The Law of Moses frowns on particularly unsanitary hetero sex as well.

Lev 15:19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:20 And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.

Lev 15:21 And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:22 And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:23 And if it be on her bed, or on any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:24 And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.

Lev 15:25 And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.

Lev 15:26 Every bed whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation: and whatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her separation.

Lev 15:27 And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:28 But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

In general the blood of humans and unclean animals was to be treated like toxic waste -- a rather good policy for preventing the spread of AIDS and other blood born diseases. With this attitude in mind and a slight bit of imagination we can see that the Law of Moses frowns upon certain ridiculous sexual practices common in parts of Africa which are the main vector spreading AIDS among heterosexuals. Perhaps we should include some Old Testament wisdom along with our foreign aid packages of AIDS drugs -- instead of the Rainbow nonsense of the previous Demoncratic administration. (And yes, drugs to prevent children from getting AIDS from their mothers is a particularly worthy bit of foreign aid. The babies to be are not the guilty parties and the Old Testament wisdom cannot suffice without also employing a time machine.)

And, of course, if everyone ate according to the Law of Moses, AIDS would not have made the jump from apes to humans in the first place.

Lev 11:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

Lev 11:3 Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

Lev 11:4 Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Lev 11:5 And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Lev 11:6 And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Lev 11:7 And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.

Lev 11:8 Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

Ape was not on the menu in Old Testament Israel.

This brings up a theological conundrum similar to the homosexuality: What are people supposed to eat in jungles and other places where there are few, if any, clean meat animals to choose from? This was a dilemma even for the earliest Christians, and the ruling out of the Jerusalem church [Acts 15:20 ] hearkens back to instructions given to Noah.

Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Gen 9:2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

Gen 9:3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Gen 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

So maybe the meat limits given to Moses were meant to be specific to the Holy Land. Pigs are forest creatures; raising pigs in a dry climate is extremely wasteful of water. And eating shellfish grown in waters in a high population density area with no sewage treatment is a recipe for contracting interesting diseases.

Or maybe the diet given to Moses was meant for a holy people. Whether modern Christians should aspire to this aspect of material holiness is an exercise I leave to the reader.

Regardless, don't eat blood sausages. The prohibitions against eating blood extend to everyone.

Other Public Health Measures

The Old Testament is not exactly a treasure trove of herbal lore or other medical procedures. But public health measures figure in bigly, and even to this day sanitation, nutrition, and quarantines are more important than medicine when it comes to general lifespan.

The Holy Land is a fairly dry place, and the ancient Israelites didn't have the Roman knack for public water systems, so washing was limited by modern standards. But the Law did mandate baths at certain times. Some samples:

Lev 15:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean.

Lev 15:3 And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his flesh run with his issue, or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his uncleanness.

Lev 15:4 Every bed, whereon he lieth that hath the issue, is unclean: and every thing, whereon he sitteth, shall be unclean.

Lev 15:5 And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:6 And he that sitteth on any thing whereon he sat that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:7 And he that toucheth the flesh of him that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:8 And if he that hath the issue spit upon him that is clean; then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:9 And what saddle soever he rideth upon that hath the issue shall be unclean.

Lev 15:10 And whosoever toucheth any thing that was under him shall be unclean until the even: and he that beareth any of those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:11 And whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue, and hath not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:12 And the vessel of earth, that he toucheth which hath the issue, shall be broken: and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

Lev 15:13 And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.

Lev 15:16 And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:17 And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.

Lev 15:18 The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.

Deu 23:9 When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing.

Deu 23:10 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:

Deu 23:11 But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.

And the danger of fecal born disease was known:

Deu 23:12 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:

Deu 23:13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:

Deu 23:14 For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.

Ditto for the importance of isolating people with communicable diseases:

Lev 13:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying,

Lev 13:2 When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:

Lev 13:3 And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

Lev 13:4 If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days:

Lev 13:5 And the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:

Lev 13:6 And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.

Lev 13:7 But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin, after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest again:

Lev 13:8 And if the priest see that, behold, the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a leprosy.

[...see the rest of Leviticus 13 and the first half of Leviticus 14]

Based on the context of the quotes above, I rather suspect that the word translated as leprosy referred to skin conditions in general, especially diseases of the pox variety. (What we call leprosy today is not curable, but Leviticus gives instruction on when to declare someone to be healed and safe to be around.) Isolation is very important -- and temporary -- for such diseases.

My speculation on the definition is further reinforced by this amusing on first glance passage:

Lev 14:33 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

Lev 14:34 When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

Lev 14:35 And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house:

Lev 14:36 Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house:

Lev 14:37 And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall;

Lev 14:38 Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days:

Lev 14:39 And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house;

Lev 14:40 Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city:

Lev 14:41 And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place:

Lev 14:42 And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house.

Lev 14:43 And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered;

Lev 14:44 Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house: it is unclean.

[...see the rest of Leviticus 14]

Leprosy of the house?? This was probably just a metaphor for mold, mildew, and/or algae. Dave Asprey has built an entire health guru career on the foundation of the importance of avoiding mold. And oops! Moses beat him to the punch by around 3000 years, thanks to some Divine consultations. Regardless of your thoughts on dispensations, the Law of Moses remains relevant to this day.

On the Proper Role of Government

Back when I was a libertarian, I considered the proper role of government to be national defense and the protection of life, liberty, and property -- that is, when I wasn't a full blown anarchist, believing that private protection services could do the job.

Well, the Law of Moses was rather anarchic. National defense was purely by militia. Rounding up an army during the time of the Judges was rather like putting together a posse during the American Wild West. Law enforcement was through a mix of controlled blood feuds and entire villages serving as both jury and executioner. There were no paid soldiers, police, or prison guards.

But there were paid public health officials: the Levites. This make me feel less bad about supporting MAHA despite its nanny state potential.