RE: Eternal punishment is pointless.
November 16, 2014 at 5:47 pm
(This post was last modified: November 16, 2014 at 5:48 pm by BrianSoddingBoru4.)
(November 16, 2014 at 5:36 pm)Heywood Wrote:(November 16, 2014 at 3:29 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Good post.
The point of punishment MUST be to encourage correct behaviour. Otherwise, it isn't punishment, but simply vicarious cruelty. If an individual makes it to a supposed afterlife, punishment should cease, as there is no longer any point in correcting that person's behaviour.
Boru
Eternal punishment is a deterrent and thus does encourage correct behavior....just not in the person being punished.
Also it is logically possible for a finite amount of punishment to last for any length of time...including infinite lengths of time.
While the threat of eternal punishment may act as a deterrent (although I remain unconvinced that it does), the act of eternally punishing someone for a finite transgression remains the province of psychopathy - there is no conceivable human crime for which an eternity of punishment is justifiable.
If a finite amount of punishment lasts for an infinite length of time, it is an infinite punishment, and all the ontological word-contortions that can be mustered won't alter it.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax