Moral Punishment Quotes
This quotation which is so shocking to most people is classic amongst many religious fundamentalists. They regard infidels and blasphemers as so evil, that in their view it is doing the evil person a favor to kill him. While in the 21st century, most people believe that his view is that of fundamentalist Muslims, it is also the view of some fundamentalist Christians who cite the Biblical call for the death penalty for blasphemers. The difference is that there are very few Christians who believe that today, while there are many Muslims who do. However, in the past, this was a common view amongst Christians. The Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church held this view and it even prevailed into the early 20th century where Spain continued to execute heretics.
The Synod was held in Ankara, the current capitol of modern Turkey, and at the time, the provincial Roman capitol of Galatia, The Church leaders wanted to make the punishment more lenient than the lifetime of penance that had previously been required. Abortion was very frequent at the time. Note that the penalty was a religious one that did not curtail the civil freedom of the offending woman. When abortion has been outlawed by law in the last century, the penalties have been much harsher than 10 years of penance.
