A Candle in the Dark

In the news recently,

A man in the US state of Idaho cut off his hand with a circular saw and cooked it in the microwave because he believed he bore ‘the mark of the beast’, US police said.

The man, who has not been named, called emergency services to inform authorities that he had cut off his hand and was severely bleeding.

But hey, the poor guy is just probably adhering to the rules of “The Book”.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Matthew 5:30

Does anyone know if it was his “right hand”? Besides, I don’t think cooking it in a microwave technically qualifies as “throwing it away”. Unless he believes that he’s burning away that sinful hand to hell.

Pity that no one handed out advice to him that such passages are nearly always allegorical, and shouldn’t be interpreted literally, especially when they seem stupid.