Did Mussolini Go To Hell? (Vanity)

Me | 08/17/03 | Indrid Cold

[Indrid Cold]

My first post, rather than a reply, so bear with me if the HTML falls apart.

The question up for grabs is "Did Mussolini go to hell when he died?" While one's instinctive answer is probably "yes", the follow-up question, then, is "why?"

Mussolini didn't really do a whole lot in WWII, except spout off and generally suck at combat. If you think that Mussolini went to hell because he allied himself with Hitler and Hirohito, then would Roosevelt and Churchill have gone to hell because they allied themselves with Stalin, who was himself evil incarnate? Just curious to hear what the world thinks.

[this_ol_patriot]

I think Mussolini went to France.

[Mr. Mojo]

Same difference

[this_ol_patriot]

Whereas I may have to spend some time in Canada if I don't shut up.

[Consort]

Mussolini hung around for a while after the war, then he went underground.

[mfulstone]

You are asking on the wrong forum.

It is not up to us to judge until the time comes. Then, we will even judge the angels.

[jocon307]

"Whereas I may have to spend some time in Canada if I don't shut up."

LOL, that's funny, Canaduh as pergatory, very good, I never thought of that. Wouldn't be so bad, I expect to spend some time there!

[Salman]

What about what he did to the Italians?

[Welsh Rabbit]

From a Christian perspective (although other Christians may have other ideas), if he truely accepted Christ as his savior and was genuinely repentant of his sins sometime shortly before he died, he might not have descended. I somehow doubt it though.

[Faith]

In agreement with you. It all has to do with his acceptance or non-acceptance of Christ before he died.

[billhilly]

Didn't he just hang around?

[B-Chan]

I don't think it either fitting or possible for any of us to judge the eternal destiny of any man's soul. In the grand scope of a given man's life, the admixture of good and evil is too thourough for such judgments. Benito Mussolini was an atheist and a tyrant. He was also a patriot and an able leader. He was born tainted with a sinful nature like the rest of us, but in his life committed acts of beneficience (the resuscitation of Italy, his assistance to Franco) as well as wickedness (the brutal attacks on Ethiopia and Greece, to name only two). Yes, he was a great sinner -- but, in the end, which of us can claim anything different for ourselves?

While not condoning or excusng a single one of the crimes of the Fascist state, Mussolini was far from the worst of the bloody Twentieth Century's “great leaders”. While recognizing his regime as being brutal and expansionist, it is also important to remember that Mussolini achieved his power through the legitimate political process of the time, and remained popular with the average Italian throughout his lengthy term as il Duce. Although an ideologue and a bully, Mussolini was not a megalomaniac, and his regime was based neither upon a demonaic blood-and-soil cult (as was Hitler's) nor a satanic, sadistic paranoia (as in the case of Josef Stalin). He craved power, yes -- but for relatively human reasons.

Is Mussolini in Hell? As with all people, we can't say. He certainly commited acts which would merit eternal damnation -- but which of us has not? It's not always obvious in this life who the true saints and sinners are; I have always believed that there will be a great many surprised people in both Heaven and Hell.

It is my hope that no one chooses to go to Hell, and that even murderers and megalomaniacs like Benito Mussolini will, in their last moments of life, somehow realize the Truth and whisper with their dying breath a sincere Christe Eleison. May Christ have mercy upon us all.

[chuckles]

....." if he truely accepted Christ as his savior and was genuinely repentant of his sins".....

This is the ONLY prerequisite for heaven. Works cannot save or condemn. Your works are generally an indication if you know Christ, but they are not judged unless you know Christ. Every true Christian knows this. It's the denominations that are apostate that tell people "good people" go to heaven. Jesus clearly stated that no one is good, no not one. There is but one way to heaven, and that is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. If it were possible for even one person to go to heaven without Jesus going to the cross, do you really think God would have allowed Jesus to die? God would have said, it's very hard, but Joe Blow did it, so can you. It was imposible to get there with our own filthy works, so a loving God had to intervene on our behalf. This is how we know the depths of His love, by what He was willing to pay for our salvation. Look into your heart to see if you would give the life of your child for a whore or a drug addict or a democrat. We would scarcely give our lives for the ones we love, let alone the ones that despise us.

My job is not to wonder about the salvation of others, but to double check myself daily. One knows when they love Jesus and when they just know ABOUT Jesus. There are people that I know are saved, but still have a problem with their flesh. Then there are those that say they are saved, but don't show the love for Christ and His family. Both may go to church and sit in the front row, but one is going and the other will be left.

[jimkress]

Did Mussolini Go To Hell?

No. He was reincarnated as Bill Clinton.

[Atchafalaya]

Tough to know where you're heading when you're upside down. Vertigo and all that.

[Welsh Rabbit]

It's the denominations that are apostate that tell people "good people" go to heaven.

Yep. From Sayings of Light and Love by St. John of the Cross:

12. God desires the smallest degree of purity of conscience in you more than all the works you can perform.

13. God desires the least degree of obedience and submissiveness more than all those services you think of rendering him.

20. God is more pleased by one work, however small, done secretly, without desire that it be known, than a thousand done with the desire people know of them. Those who work for God with purest love not only care nothing about whether others see their works, but do not even seek that God himself know of them. Such persons would not cease to render God the same services, with the same joy and purity of love, even if God were never to know of these.

[A6M3]

Reply to post #1: Mussolini had his son in law (Galeazzo Ciano) shot in 1944. I think that would make him a candidate for the eternal fire at the very least.

[lowbridge]

The question up for grabs is "Did Mussolini go to hell when he died?" While one's instinctive answer is probably "yes", the follow-up question, then, is "why?"

Satan needed someone to keep his trains running on time.