Was YHWH/God the first God to push human rights, the poor, widow, foreigner, etc?

Here are some examples.



Deut. 15:7. If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.
Deut. 26:12. When you have finished paying the complete tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and the widow, that they may eat in your towns, and be satisfied.

Lev. 19:19ff. Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.

Prov. 31:8ff. [Commandment to kings.] Open your mouth for the dumb, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.

Is. 58:66ff. Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Jer. 22:3. Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Luke 12:33. "Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys."

Luke 3:11. And [John the Baptist] would answer and say to them, "Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise."

Mt. 5:42. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

I'm not sure if this will be helpful to you, but Wicca predates Christianity, and one of the key tenets of the Wiccan belief system was/is: "For the good of all, and with harm to none". (Oneness with the divine and all that exists is also emphasized, in this belief system.) Thus, Wicca advocated love and compassion for all life that exists in nature, on this planet and beyond, far before Christianity was even invented.

In addition, quite a few (far too many to be purely coincidental, in fact) of the concepts, ideas and even occurrences mentioned in the Bible mirror the ones that were previously described in the ancient pagan belief systems. Thus, it appears that Christianity derived from these systems and, thus, that the Judeo Christian beliefs were not the first to advocate responsibility and compassion, by any means.

(You may find some more info posted on this site, as well: [link to www.religioustolerance.org] )

Honestly, the fact that the "God" figure in the Bible was not opposed to slavery, had an openly misogynistic view of women, and directly advocated violence and bloodshed against those that He considered "enemies" - amongst many other things - makes it rather difficult for one to view it as entirely compassionate, I would think; in fact, of all of the belief systems on this planet, Christianity is one of the least compassionate and tolerant overall, it would seem. (For instance, just compare Christianity to Buddhism, or Taoism...or, again, to Wicca.)

Hi thanks for the information, I know the golden rule is not exclusive to the Judeo-Christian tradition, zoraotrians, Buddhists, Hindus had similar beliefs, what I mean, is the actual directive to help the outcasts of society, and not view them as sinful, or victims of karmic debt from a previous life, etc.

Checking out the link now, peace!