Secretary of State Marco Rubio goes further than the Old Testament
“Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury.” Thus says Leviticus 24:19-20 in the Old Testament. In essence, if we feel the need to retaliate against what someone has done to us, we are supposed to do so in proportion to the injustice we are reacting to. I have always loved the pacifism of the New Testament. In Matthew 5:39, speaking to his followers during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said this: “But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Biblical scholars have said that Jesus meant this command to apply to personal insults and minor offenses. Obviously, when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fires missiles at a ship laden with oil and sets it ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz, it is not a minor offense for which the other ...