Religious Militants hang 8-year-old boy in southern Afghanistan - CNN.com

Two things. First, the quotes are out of context. The first two refer to the captivity of the Jews in Babylon and the results of how they were treated. The third is actually a warning of what would happen if the Jews didn't turn from their then-current ways. Those quotes are from the OT and set in a different historical/social context than ours, and in context, everyone was going to be destroyed for what the collective societies had done. Further, these were before Jesus came. The message and methodology changed. I notice you didn't include equivalent stories from other religions and mythologies.

Second, this is a story about a few greedy guys who took their atrocious access to power out on an innocent child to punish the father, thus sending a heinous message to all around them not to withhold whatever they ask. As I've said in other posts, the worst thing a human being has to face is the death of his or her own child. That's what those Afghan thugs were doing. They are vile cowards who need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of their laws. Same thing for the Norwegian, or militants and rebels in other countries who murder and rape innocents in the name of war. In all cases, it's psychopathology - religion, political ideology, or what happened to them in their childhoods (serial killers) are just the excuses to murder innocents. They all need to be ended.

dave, did you change the headline due to your atheism?

dave, you didn't answer the question. I think you thrill to such stories as a validation of your notions.

King Dave, you have no idea what does or does not offend me, nor should you speculate on a public forum. Did you not read my first post?

Where's the UN and the Human Rights Commission on this?

And why aren't those cowardly b@stards in jail right now?

In pointing out the true context of what you quoted in 'stand alone' mode, I also made it clear that in any generation, religion, culture, time, losing one's children is the worst thing a human being has to face. Those quotes, in context, were only part of what was going to happen. People need to start being honest about what they quote from the Bible and put it in context. Not doing so is one of the most dishonest and slanted things that go on here at the Vine.

What these guys did had nothing to do with religion - ANY religion. It was about revenge, power, greed, and psychopathic behavior. They are bereft of conscious, humanity, morals, or decency. Once again, I'll say it: they are letting everyone around them know that there are no bounds to what they'll do if they don't get what they want. And they should be ended.

King Dave,

You label yourself as "An Athiest, for lack of a better word" and then present single sentence quotations from three paragraphs in three different books of the Old Testament?

The common thread in those three paragraphs is of the suffering by God's chosen people when they became self-righteous through pride, among oher things.

^"And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters." A description of cannablism?

What's your favorite read? Would you have offered counsel about the consequences of pride?

Here we have a story of kidnapping and murder. The main characters obviously were not put off by a religious text.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the hanging, saying "this action is not permitted in any culture or any religions," according to a statement Sunday, which provided details of the incident.