(March 31, 2013 at 2:51 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: But a person for example can state it's evil to love people like Hitler or Stalin or Saddam...and that love where appropriate and hate where appropriate is the right approach. That unconditional love is not right.
I would not begrudge the mothers of these men to love their sons in spite of how terrible they were. Nor would I be strictly opposed to the idea of God dealing out a punishment suitable to their crimes, that is something a loving parent will do, as well, but a loving parent does it in the interest of helping the child better his or her behavior. I guess we'll have to ignore the implications of an omnipotent God doing nothing to stop any of these men.
Quote:I think emotionally, it is had to decipher which view is right. To love unconditionally or hate to evil people like Hitler or Saddam.
I don't think so, because it is contextual. I don't expect anybody to love these men, not even a parent or loved one. I would not be surprised if a parent or loved one loved these men in spite of their crimes.
What is startling about the Christian God is that he doesn't care about crimes. What matters to God is whether or not you do exactly as he tells you to do. God equates love with obedience to him, and that is his only criteria for salvation. It's hard to tell whether God would embrace Hitler and Stalin as humanity's best expressions of his own viewpoints and behavior, or whether he would punish them for being competition. But, for God to not love these men, unconditionally, is an indictment on his own perfection, because he created them and he is ultimately responsible for everything they did.
