Would you please consider going back and re-reading the article?
Did you see where the Maccabeean revolt began when Mattityahu killed a fellow-Jew for simply "exercising his right to worship as he pleased" rather than the way he was supposed to???
Get these eighteenth century enlightenment notions out of your head! "Freedom of conscience" (as understood by enlightenment liberals) did not exist then and in actual fact does not exist now in the eyes of G-d.
It seems like I have a lot of studying to do. I have always read and heard that the villager that Mattathias killed was basically surrendering to Antiochus’ order. He wasn’t doing something out of freedom but out of fear.
..also, please don’t take my questioning/comments as disrespect, I really am interested in this. I mostly had read the original article snip posted here, not the full one, which I did now. I have really just been exposed to Reformed understanding and that, along with my very Objectivist belief system made me filter through that.
I do see that I have a lot to learn (which, of course, is the fun part).