Justice in the Old World essays

Justice in the Old World essays Imagine living in ancient Babylon or Israel. Which would be better to live in, a monotheistic society with solid values, or a harsh, polytheistic society with many strict laws? while the cultural values of these two societies were not all that different, the way religion was viewed made the judicial process differ greatly in ancient Babylon and Hebrews. Babylonians were polytheistic showing the impact the two surrounding rivers in their lives. The Babylonians were a semi-secular society, worshiping their many gods to bring prosperity to themselves. When the rivers rose and flooded the flats, the Babylonians assumed the gods were angry; seeking retribution, they prayed, worshipped, and sacrificed to their many gods. Having many gods may not have been the answer to their problems, however, for with many gods comes many views of life, how it should be lived, and how justice should be carried out. When Hammurabi ¡s code was published and established, Babylon was finally made uniform in judicial code. With so many gods, most of whom had different views, many people may have taken it upon themselves to do things that may not have been socially acceptable. With many harsh rules in place, a law was established that would ensure 'just ¡ punishment under law. The Hebrew society, on the other hand, was a monotheistic one, which made it possible to make a uniform code of conduct as well as a uniform judicial system-all of which was described in the Torah. Because everyone believed in the same things, everyone could agree on the code of conduct, based on honor and respect towards one another and God, or Yahweh. With monotheism, everyone knew what to expect; everyone knew what was expected. The few cultural/social problems the Hebrews had were basic things: fidelity, honor towards elders, etc.; only a few things were odd, but reasonable, such as eating  ¡clean ¡ food, cloven of hoof, chewer of cud. Even these things aren ¡t all that o...