(July 26, 2017 at 11:42 am)Whateverist Wrote:(July 26, 2017 at 11:14 am)Cyberman Wrote: Wouldn't it be infinitely more just for those people to face the consequences of their actions while they can still care about what happens to them, rather than being taught a lesson they'll never remember?
Also, ought not a truly just god consider wishing infinite torture upon someone to be deserving of hell in itself?
Perhaps punishment is good for the soul?
To be fair, even in surrounding and prior polytheism, the idea of divine conquest was worldwide. Back then the mortality rate was much higher and the competition between ruling families was falsely attributed to the will of the spirit/divine/god world.
Even when you read the ancient Greek play "Antigony" she gets punished for lending aid to the enemy. Back then rival rulers did not bury the dead of the enemy, you didn't give them that dignity. If you kept them as slaves even in polytheism, nobody back then would ever use a slave to build monuments to their rulers or gods.
Rivalries between societies were far more brutal in antiquity. The idea of global diplomacy is a far more recent thing because the world is far smaller now.