Bootstrap wrote:RZehr wrote:Bootstrap wrote:It's an error in moral reasoning. To take the focus off of a horrible wrong, it points at another moral wrong and tries to change the subject. It's the opposite of looking seriously at both sets of sins, it turns into a race to the bottom where each side feels justified because the other side's sins are worse.
What about John 8:7?
Was Jesus engaging in whataboutism in the case of the woman taken in adultery?
Only if you don't read to the end of the story.
At first, Jesus does deflect from her sin, using whataboutism. He does this to protect a vulnerable woman against righteous judgement. But he never says that her sin does not count or that it is not important. He deals with the sin of the Pharisees first, creating a space so that he can address her sin.
I don't think there's a problem with pointing out that Antifa is also inflaming violence and hatred that needs to be stopped. That can calm things down in the heat of the moment. But if you deny the adultery, you miss the entire story. So let's not forget to discuss the Nazis, KKK, and white supremacists too.
An interesting detail in that account is that at the end Jesus stoops down and writes in the dust of the temple floor. This would have been a visual reminder to the Pharisees of the bitter water test of a woman for
hidden sexual sin described in Numbers 5:11-31.
The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. (v. 16,17)
From this I gather that when Jesus said "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone", he actually meant "let he who has not committed the
same sin cast the same stone". I believe that Jesus' challenge to the woman's accusers was even more pointed than most people think.
And when the Pharisees turned and left one by one, it was in accordance with the principle of the rabbinic teaching that if the husband himself was guilty of sexual sin, then the bitter water test would have no effect on his wife even if she was guilty. The effectiveness on the accused of the curse related to the test depended on the innocence of her accuser.
When she [the adulterous woman] dies [on account of the bitter water curse], the adulterer because of whom she was compelled to drink will also die, wherever he is located.... All the above applies provided her husband never engaged in forbidden sexual relations in his life. If, however, her husband ever engaged in forbidden relations, the [bitter] waters do not check [the fidelity of] his wife.
- Maimonides