The Noahide Laws and ISKCON
BY: NARAHARI DAS
Jul 06, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA (SUN) — I did some research on the point about Noahide Law that Achyuta das brought up in his article, “Hamsavatar Prabhu’s Prophetic Boast”.
This means one Government, one King and one Religion. The goyim or non-Jew will have to follow Noahide Law. Hamsavatar did not add the Noahide Laws, which have been accepted as the base of all civilized law in most countries like North and South America and Europe. We are the top of the list of no no’s in the Naohide Law. That is, no idol worship. In the Hasidic University website, there is a breakdown for idol worship, and we get a mention:
“Not to participate in worship ceremonies of Hinduism, Hare Krishna, or various “New Age” cult movements - including transcendental meditation or Yoga - even if no idol is physically present.” The punishment for idol worship by Noahide Law is death by stoning, and I can assure you this is not a nice death.”
He makes a valid point. I do not wish to get into the issue of JBD’s in ISKCON, I simply want to understand what is happening in the Secular World in which we live that may impact on our preaching activities and the spreading of Krishna Consciousness.
When I checked his reference, I saw we are mentioned in the above Hasidic University website and when I checked further, I saw that Idol worship is one of the most prominent laws as part of the Law of Noah. Noah, as we know, is a biblical character who saved mankind in his Ark. To see Hare Krishna’s mentioned was very sobering for me and I realized that this must not be taken lightly, for they prescribe the death penalty for anyone who worships another God besides the God of Israel.
The Noahide Law does exist and there is definitely a push for their implementation by many lobby groups, especially the Lubavitch and the Druze Communities in Israel. Many Religious Leaders as well as public figures signed agreements for its implementation in Israel. Around the world, many Christian groups are beginning to include these Noahide Laws as an integral aspect of their faith as there is the commonality of these laws in both Christian and Jewish tradition.
The punishment for breaking this Law according to the Hasidic Law is death by stoning. The actual process of stoning is available if you search for it on the Internet, and it is quite disturbing to read its descriptions. Following is a direct cut and paste from the Hasidic University Website and it is validated by many other reference sources within Jewish literature:
"Commandment Profile: - 5) No idol-worship in four standard ways
Application to gentiles: Required
Mandated punishment for violation: Death penalty
Brief description: Not to worship any false god in any one of four standard ways: (a) bowing, (b) making sacrificial offerings, (c) burning incense, or (d) pouring libations (such as wine or water). These four ritual acts are all involved in the worship of the true G-d in the Jerusalem Temple (once it is rebuilt from its current ruins), and thus are sanctified modes of worship that are forbidden to be exercised for any false god, even if the act is not part of the customary ritual for that false religion (whereas commandment -6 deals with the established rituals specific to each false religion). Thus even if it is not an established Christian custom to offer sacrificial foods to Jesus, nor would Buddhists normally pour libations for their idol, either act would nonetheless be a capital crime.
This commandment also prohibits the verbal acceptance of any false god as one’s deity, on pain of death penalty. Examples: Not to verbally accept Jesus as one’s god or “lord.”
Category: Idolatry Commandments
Biblical source(s) (Rambam): Ex. 20:5; Lev. 17:7
Biblical source (Sefer HaChinuch): Ex. 20:5
Number in Sefer HaChinuch: 28
Sources explaining relevance to gentiles: (See bibliography) Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Melachim 9:2 All idolatry-related offenses that carry death penalty for Jews also bring death penalty for gentiles.
This is common knowledge amongst the Jewish people and Rabbis, similar to how we know the five Vedic Laws that warrant the death penalty. The Idol Worship Law in all Noahide Law specifically states Idol Worship as a Capital Crime. There is an argument that in modern times the death penalty only denotes the seriousness of the crime, does not mean death, and is only symbolic of death. I am not entirely sure what this means, but this may be true. So long as these Noahide Laws are not enacted this may, in fact, be the case, but what if they are?
Most if not all countries of the Secular World have laws that they do not enact, but if the time place and circumstance is right they will and do enact these laws or create new ones to fit the situation. The Laws on terrorism is an example of this process. They on one hand protect us, and on the other hand can take away our civil liberties.
Surely if North America and Europe as well as many other Secular States throughout the world have accepted the Noahide Laws as the basis of their civilization, then where does this leave the Hindu and the Vaisnava if this law is ever enforced? To think in this day and age that this Law will never be enforced is naďve. It is entirely possible. This is the Kali Yuga and eventually devotees will be hunted down and killed, as is predicted in the Srimad Bhagavatam.
I believe it is a very important matter that we as a movement look more closely into how the application of Noahide Law would affect the ISKCON devotees, Vaisnavas and Hindu Communities who worship the murti form of Sri Guru, Sri Krishna and the Demigods. Even if it was not seen as a Capital Crime that warranted the death penalty, it is still is a serious offence under Noahide Law to worship any God or form other than the Hebrew God.
Perhaps some of the more learned JBD’s of ISKCON can illuminate us on any possible ramifications of this, that may help us in gaining a better understanding of how this will impact upon our Vaisnava Society. For make no mistake, this is not a whimsical set of Laws and they will and are being taken seriously by people outside of ISKCON, so please let us not be ignorant about this and make a careful study of it.
I do not bring this issue up as scaremongering, but we need to know the nature of the world around us and how it will and does impact on us in the prosecution of our service.
Narahari das NSW AUS
