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In previous columns, we have explored, among many other topics, “casting out demons” and “casting pearls before swine.” Here, we shall “cast the first stone.” Well, not exactly, since (according to John 8:7) only those without sin should do so. Although a correspondent for The Irish Times seems apologetic for engaging in this activity—“At the risk of sounding biblical, who am I to cast the first stone?”—most of the rest of the world seems downright dead set against the practice.
An Australian letter-writer to The Daily Telegraph, not convinced that “lifting the price of pre-mixed alcohol drinks” will succeed in stopping binge drinking among her country’s youth, vigorously pins her opposition in these words: “I detest this moral superiority. In leafy suburbs, there are many of [the older generation] who have toxic levels of alcohol and are a burden to the health system … Remember: He who casts the first stone should not demonise our youngsters.” From the United Kingdom’s Express comes a similarly incensed comment, also dealing with health care or the denial thereof: It is directed against an individual who “thinks it’s fine to deny smokers and the overweight [medical] operations … Since when was NHS [National Health Services] treatment available only to the blameless? As Jesus Christ himself said, ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’ Even if [the woman being criticized] doesn’t overindulge in puddings or suck on a cigarette, she’s bound to have other, possibly less socially acceptable, vices.”
While the reporting reported on just above owes most to the waywardness of the principals themselves, other stories show, on the part of the writers, a certain cleverness in combining John 8 with other New Testament passages. So we have, in a feature article from London’s Guardian with the somewhat convoluted title “Watching the Spectators: Coverage of What Goes on Around the Polo Pitch Rather Than on It Reflects Our Voyeuristic Society,” the author-commenter combines the casting of stones with removing the beam from one’s eyes, in this case his own (Matthew 7:3–5, paralleled in Luke) in this way: “Having cast the first stone, let me remove the beam from the eye through which I normally watch the world.” And, from Scotland’s Daily Record comes this unlikely coupling of stoning with Judas’ acceptance of thirty pieces of silver (uniquely found in Matthew 26): “As the Bible might have said after Judas accepted 30 pieces of silver and one of the most famous bungs [a bribe, fee, or tip] in history: ‘Let he who has not bunged cast the first stone.’ ”
We also meet with a diverse group of stories that present “stone” in a quite literal sense. Thus, The London Times features a first-person account of a gentleman’s bout with an occlusion in his left kidney, with this headline: “How I Cast the First Stone—Finally.” An Australian newspaper (Sunday Telegraph) story, headed by “Oliver Casts First Stone against Coddled Actors,” not unsurprisingly, copiously quotes, “veteran film-maker Oliver Stone [who] still has a fire in his belly” (perhaps, somewhat less painful—for the individual concerned, at least—than in a nearby kidney). Another article in the same Australian publication introduces us to “rising star Joss Stone [who has] sold more than 7.5 million records.” The headline? “Don’t Cast the First Stone.”
Let us not overlook the enterprising entrepreneur. “Let whoever has never needed a small alibi for their little fibs cast the first stone!” This, London’s Guardian informs us, is “the welcoming comment on the [Alibila] company Web site.” It is especially suited for those who are “in the midst of a ‘passing adventure’ but don’t want to jeopardise their marriage.” I don’t know about you, but I’d think long and hard—and look at a number of other Biblical passages, such as Exodus 20:14 and Matthew 5:27ff.—before availing myself of this company’s expertise. In a sense, Alibila covers itself well with the following warning: “Customers wishing to cheat on their partners do so at their own risk.” And the company offers no refunds!
In previous columns, we have explored, among many other topics, “casting out demons” and “casting pearls before swine.” Here, we shall “cast the first stone.” Well, not exactly, since (according to John 8:7) only those without sin should do so. Although a correspondent for The Irish Times seems apologetic for engaging in this activity—“At the risk of sounding biblical, who am I to cast the first stone?”—most of the rest of the world seems downright dead set against the practice. An Australian letter-writer to The Daily Telegraph, not convinced that “lifting the price of pre-mixed alcohol drinks” will succeed […]
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