"love thy neighbour as thyself" link to "Mercy to all" vs "Justice to some"
February 25, 2012 at 5:57 pm
In Christianity and Islam, the disbelievers are promised an awful torment. When people want justify the idea of hell, they usually retort to people whom did major crimes against humanity, like Hitler, Stalin, and Sadam. If you think of these people, the natural feeling of humanity is to want justice to be implemented. The idea of hell has been around for a long time, so people anger at them is maximized at them deserving huge torment. Now I don't have too much of a problem with hell for super evil people, but the problem is that in Islam and Christianity, hell is extended to some people whom I would consider good people. They also include people whom Worship God and believe in his Oneness.
Now it's hard to argue that some people deserve a harsh punishment for the crimes they did and the evil way they lived, but should there be a limit on compassion and mercy?
When it comes to "love" - the love of "self" comes highest for most people, then immediate familiy, then extended family, then either nation or religion/sect, but both of those come pretty close.
In the Bible, there is a line "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
This is a teaching easy to praise, hard to do. But it something Christians feel proud of, and it is because of how beautiful that teaching seems.
It seems it is the right thing to do to try as much as possible to love a people as much as you love yourself.
I think this is virtually impossible to do, but perhaps what is meant, is in the same way, not the same level, that you love yourself, you should love others.
It's hard not to have more love for your family then others, it's perhaps impossible. Even loving the same way is perhaps impossible. But we should want the love to be as close as possible.
Now when people do something wrong, everyone wants to be forgiven by God. No one wants God to punish them. Everyone doesn't want to be tortured.
Say if you commited a huge crime against humanity, like genocide, and then you feel you have done a great wrong, would you then be so angry at yourself that you want yourself to get tortured in the next life in most agonizing way possible? Would you want justice on yourself? No, you would seek forgiveness.
Now suppose you didn't recognize the wrong you did in this life, or didn't care too much about it, and you die, would you want God to torture you?
The point of these question, it shows, that the love of yourself, is such that it doesn't seek divine justice against yourself, it seeks mercy no matter what the circumstances. Every soul would rather welcome compassion of God rather then his vengeance.
If we love ourselves that way, and we should love others like we love ourselves, in the closest possible way, then really we should not want people to be punished in the next world just as we wouldn't want it for ourselves, if we commited no matter what crime. When it comes in this world, ofcourse, crimes need deterance, and there needs to be punishments that deter those crimes. And you can't have everyone getting away with crimes.
God's love should even be greater then self-love. He should love us in a better way then we love of ourselves. His love is suppose to the most highest form of love. Therefore it stands to reason that his love will compel him to have mercy and compassion, instead of seeking to retribute some people with justice.
My natural feelings towards evil people is that of vengeance and wanting retribution, and that of hate. However, I find compassion and mercy and forgiveness and forbearance to be more beautiful.
I think compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and forbearance would not be as noble, if it weren't for the natural feelings of vengeance.
However, what I feel proves it logically, is that the principle, that we should want for others what we want for ourselves, and should want for ourselves what we want for others, and the love, compassion, and mercy, and forbearance we want of God for ourselves should be what we want for others.
If we apply this to the disbeliever situation, you should ask yourself, if you are in the wrong religion, do you want to be punished for it? Or if you didn't believe in the right religion, do you want to be punished for it? Ofcourse you don't.
If you love others as you love yourself, then you wouldn't want them to be punished either.
Therefore - I feel - with the princple that we should try as much as possible to love others like we love ourselves - and that our love is a lower manifestation of the highest love - God - then hell doesn't stand to reason.
Now it's hard to argue that some people deserve a harsh punishment for the crimes they did and the evil way they lived, but should there be a limit on compassion and mercy?
When it comes to "love" - the love of "self" comes highest for most people, then immediate familiy, then extended family, then either nation or religion/sect, but both of those come pretty close.
In the Bible, there is a line "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
This is a teaching easy to praise, hard to do. But it something Christians feel proud of, and it is because of how beautiful that teaching seems.
It seems it is the right thing to do to try as much as possible to love a people as much as you love yourself.
I think this is virtually impossible to do, but perhaps what is meant, is in the same way, not the same level, that you love yourself, you should love others.
It's hard not to have more love for your family then others, it's perhaps impossible. Even loving the same way is perhaps impossible. But we should want the love to be as close as possible.
Now when people do something wrong, everyone wants to be forgiven by God. No one wants God to punish them. Everyone doesn't want to be tortured.
Say if you commited a huge crime against humanity, like genocide, and then you feel you have done a great wrong, would you then be so angry at yourself that you want yourself to get tortured in the next life in most agonizing way possible? Would you want justice on yourself? No, you would seek forgiveness.
Now suppose you didn't recognize the wrong you did in this life, or didn't care too much about it, and you die, would you want God to torture you?
The point of these question, it shows, that the love of yourself, is such that it doesn't seek divine justice against yourself, it seeks mercy no matter what the circumstances. Every soul would rather welcome compassion of God rather then his vengeance.
If we love ourselves that way, and we should love others like we love ourselves, in the closest possible way, then really we should not want people to be punished in the next world just as we wouldn't want it for ourselves, if we commited no matter what crime. When it comes in this world, ofcourse, crimes need deterance, and there needs to be punishments that deter those crimes. And you can't have everyone getting away with crimes.
God's love should even be greater then self-love. He should love us in a better way then we love of ourselves. His love is suppose to the most highest form of love. Therefore it stands to reason that his love will compel him to have mercy and compassion, instead of seeking to retribute some people with justice.
My natural feelings towards evil people is that of vengeance and wanting retribution, and that of hate. However, I find compassion and mercy and forgiveness and forbearance to be more beautiful.
I think compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and forbearance would not be as noble, if it weren't for the natural feelings of vengeance.
However, what I feel proves it logically, is that the principle, that we should want for others what we want for ourselves, and should want for ourselves what we want for others, and the love, compassion, and mercy, and forbearance we want of God for ourselves should be what we want for others.
If we apply this to the disbeliever situation, you should ask yourself, if you are in the wrong religion, do you want to be punished for it? Or if you didn't believe in the right religion, do you want to be punished for it? Ofcourse you don't.
If you love others as you love yourself, then you wouldn't want them to be punished either.
Therefore - I feel - with the princple that we should try as much as possible to love others like we love ourselves - and that our love is a lower manifestation of the highest love - God - then hell doesn't stand to reason.
