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Is it ok to hope anyone is in hell?
townhall.com ^ | 11/30/04 | Dennis Prager

Posted on 11/29/2004 10:32:50 PM PST by kattracks

The death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat raises an interesting and significant question: Is it morally and theologically acceptable to hope anyone goes to hell?

That was my first reaction to the death of the godfather of modern terrorism. But I recognize that many people, including many who share my moral assessment of Arafat, might reject such a reaction, let alone publicly express it. But there is a good case to be made for hoping that Yasser Arafat now finds himself in hell.

In order to do so, three issues need to be addressed:

First, is there a hell? Can rational people believe in such a thing?

Second, if there is a hell, does Arafat merit going there? And can any of us mortals judge a person worthy of hell?

Third, if there is a hell, is it acceptable to hope someone who we believe merits it goes there?

First, is there a hell?

Among those who pride themselves in being what is deemed sophisticated in our time, the notion of hell is either absurd, immoral or both. It is also identified with Christians, especially conservative Christians, and, therefore, the sophisticated feel particularly compelled to reject the concept.

Yet the belief that those who commit evil are punished after death is hardly restricted to Christianity. One of the Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith as laid down by the codifier of Jewish law, Maimonides (1135-1204), is that God rewards the good and punishes the bad.

One, therefore, need not be a conservative Christian to believe in some form of hell for the evil. All one need be is a rational believer in a just God. For if there is a just God, it is inconceivable that those who do evil and those who do good have identical fates. A just God must care about justice, and since there is little justice in this world, there has to be in the next. And belief in the next world is also not confined to Christianity. As the Encyclopedia Judaica, the greatest contemporary compilation of Jewish scholarship (edited largely by non-religious Jews) notes in the first sentence under the heading "Afterlife," "Judaism has always believed in an afterlife."

The second question is easily answered. Much of humanity has been adversely affected by modern-day terror. The lives of millions -- virtually all Palestinians and Israelis, for example -- have been terribly affected by Arafat. And there are hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been destroyed or shattered by him. At the same time, other than a few sycophants enriched by some of the billions of dollars he embezzled from the Palestinians, no one has had a better life because Yasser Arafat lived.

Throughout modern history, even terrorists had moral boundaries. Terrorists historically attempted to avoid murdering innocent men, women and children. Arafat, however, made the murder and maiming of completely innocent men, women and children the very purpose of terror and one of his life's major legacies.

Yasser Arafat single-handedly made nihilistic acts of cruelty routine, even respectable. Many people were horrified at the Palestinian slaughter of the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. But humanity gradually became inured to Arafat-style slaughter. Palestinian and Muslim disciples targeted schoolchildren for death in the Israeli city of Ma'alot and later in the Russian city of Beslan; tortured and murdered American diplomats in Sudan; and Arafat created a society whose only exports were new forms of religious hatred and new expressions of barbarity. Thanks to him, the Palestinian name is identified among people of goodwill with barbarity just as the German name came to be associated with barbarity as a result of Hitler.

If, then, there is a just God, and Arafat was the particularly venal human being described here, the answer to the third question is obvious.

Just as any decent human being would want good people to be rewarded in whatever existence there is after this life, they would want the cruelest of people to be punished.

So, of course, I hope Yasser Arafat is in hell. It means that a just God rules the universe. If you think that is hard-hearted, consider the alternative, that one of the most corrupt and cruel human beings of the past half-century is resting in peace. Whoever isn't bothered by that is the one with the hard heart.



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1 posted on 11/29/2004 10:32:50 PM PST by kattracks
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To: kattracks; GatorGirl; maryz; afraidfortherepublic; Antoninus; Aquinasfan; livius; ...

Ping.


2 posted on 11/29/2004 10:34:52 PM PST by narses (Free Republic is pro-God, pro-life, pro-family + Vivo Christo Rey!)
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To: narses

"Yasser Arafat single-handedly made nihilistic acts of cruelty routine, even respectable."

That's not what the pope said in his eulogy.


3 posted on 11/29/2004 10:39:21 PM PST by AskStPhilomena
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To: kattracks; NYer; Salvation; Salem

Ping


4 posted on 11/29/2004 10:43:47 PM PST by Fiddlstix (This Tagline for sale. (Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: kattracks

Simply put, it is not morally correct to wish or hope that anyone and I mean anyone goes to hell.

The truth of the matter is though; there are individuals who are hell-bent on spending their eternal life in hell. That's their personal decision -- not mine.


5 posted on 11/29/2004 10:43:53 PM PST by Cindy
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To: kattracks
If you think that is hard-hearted, consider the alternative, that one of the most corrupt and cruel human beings of the past half-century is resting in peace. Whoever isn't bothered by that is the one with the hard heart.

Actually this is completely possible. Anyone can truly repent and accept the LORD until death. It is because of his grace that anyone of us are saved and all of us are filthy sinners when compared to the spotless, holy LORD.

6 posted on 11/29/2004 10:44:53 PM PST by Bellflower (A NEW DAY IS COMING!)
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To: kattracks

Respectfully so, I hope Arafat may one day find some sort of peace, but I fear he may not. I don't hate him, I pity him. Let his fate rest in God's judgement, not mine.


7 posted on 11/29/2004 10:46:00 PM PST by msjhall
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To: kattracks

Gods judgement is righteous and good, and those of us who find themselves in hell deserve to be there forever.
Hell is so bad I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy, and will fight to keep them out as long as they still draw breath.


8 posted on 11/29/2004 10:47:06 PM PST by Manic_Episode (OUT OF ORDER)
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To: kattracks

I don't care. I wish Mugabe would be wormfood just like Arafatty is now. Cast down into the lowest circle.


9 posted on 11/29/2004 10:47:51 PM PST by cyborg ( Hy verkwik my siel; Hy lei my in die spore van geregtigheid, om sy Naam ontwil.)
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To: kattracks

I believe in a just God who is willing to send souls to Hell as a punishment for not meeting His requirements for righteousness.

However, I also believe that God is not honored when someone perishes and God may very well grieve over each one. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Not only are we commanded to not judge, I suspect we shouldn't gloat.


10 posted on 11/29/2004 10:51:08 PM PST by the_Watchman
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To: kattracks
Third, if there is a hell, is it acceptable to hope someone who we believe merits it goes there?

What one should hope is that the person receives whatever judgement God deems appropriate. I may harbor a certain suspicion of what God might have in mind, but in the event that God in his wisdom has in mind something else, I would hope that His will, not mine, would be done.

11 posted on 11/29/2004 10:56:08 PM PST by supercat (If Kerry becomes President, nothing bad will happen for which he won't have an excuse.)
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To: narses

No, it is not moral to wish Hell upon others.

I simply cannot believe in Hell. Those who do believe in it, in a literal sense have clearly never put much thought into it.

You have a stove. Turn on the front coil to 'High', let it heat up. Give it a good 10 minutes. Place your hand on it. If you're truly bold, let yourself get good and burned before jerking away. Look down underneath your stove into the oven. Imagine the pain you just felt, but across your entire body. Incalculaable, unbelievable, unbearable pain. Imagine someone locking in you in an oven and cranking it up. How long would it take you to die? 20 minutes? 30? What would it be like to sit in there as the heat built up, slowly scorching you, melting your body, blackening you.

Now, imagine this FOREVER.

FOREVER.

UNENDING.

Pain of a sort you will never truly know. Forever. No hope of respite. Ever. Simply put, there is no one deserving of this. No one, however terrible can deserve this. The Hitlers, Arafats, Bin Ladens of the world : give them oblivion. Erase them from our collective memories and from the history of the world. Hell? No - there's just no possible way to consign someone to that. No matter how evil the f*ckers are. And believe me, I have some pretty strong views on our Islamic buddies.

I cannot believe in Hell. It makes no logical sense, and in fact it only caters to the most base, ugly desires we as human beings possess. I make no statement about my believe in God. I'm still wrestling with this issue as I grow older.

But Hell? No. It has no place in the universe of a loving God.


12 posted on 11/29/2004 10:57:41 PM PST by OOPisforLiberals
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To: kattracks

I don't hope that anyone is in hell. Even God does not delight in the destruction of the wicked as the Scriptures say, but I do believe that there is a hell. Arafat will be there, not because he is a terrorist, but because he is an unforgiven terrorist.


13 posted on 11/29/2004 11:04:01 PM PST by Nosterrex
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To: kattracks
The bible says that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and that Hell was never intended for mankind but for Satan the fallen angels...

Only those who are without sin or those who the Father has given to the Son are saved from
the righteousness of God's final judgment.

And then committed to live eternally in either Heaven or Hell (then afterward the Lake of Fire)
14 posted on 11/29/2004 11:07:57 PM PST by joesnuffy ("The merit of our Constitution was, not that it promotes democracy, but checks it." Horatio Seymour)
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To: kattracks

Hell is for anyone who does not accept Jesus as their savior.
Jesus shed his blood to cover our sins.
Jesus said "knock and I will answer".
No where does it say if you are saved and commit another sin,you are unsaved again.

Do I believe Arafat accepted Jesus as his savior? No
Arafat goes to hell.


15 posted on 11/29/2004 11:18:48 PM PST by philetus (Zell Miller - One of the few)
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To: the_Watchman
While we hate the sin, we love the sinner. And because we are commanded to "love one another as ourselves" and would would not upon our own volition gladly enter into hell, we should take extreme measures concerning preventing others from doing so despite their ignorance in that regard.

1 Pt 4:12-19 tells us all that we need to know about standing up for righteousness.

Scripture tells the believer that if they follow Christ, and carry the cross in His name to:

1) Expect suffering (Ps 66:10, Isa 48:10, 1 Pt 1:6,7) 2), especially since 1 Pt 2:20,21 initmates the believer is called to suffer for Christ's sake.

2) regardless of a Christian's tribulations with respect to their efforts to pull souls from hell's fire, they should exhalt in the suffering forecast for them in that regard (1 Pt 4:13,14): 1 Thess 2:19. Peter describes in v13 something analagous to the pain a women experiences during childbirth, and yet the very thing causing the pain is the source of extreme joy i.e. a baby. In these verses Peter also exhorts the believer to exhalt in both Christ's name and spirit while experiencing suffering carrying His cross.

3) the believer should ensure that the suffering that they're to endure is for righteousness sake; suffering because of a drunken driving conviction doesn't count e.g.

4) the believer entrusts their very own soul to God (v19) as one would commit money to a bank for at least security, but with the hope of interest paid.

Did I answer the qwexion? If not let me be succinct: its wrong to relish in the misery of anybody. Its entirely proper to celebrate with extreme joy the entry into heaven (through their faith in the attoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha) of the most heinous, despicable, villanous person on their death-bead.

16 posted on 11/29/2004 11:20:11 PM PST by raygun
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To: Cindy

I take it that "not morally correct" is the same as a sin. But then didn't Christ go to the cross for All sins? Arafat is either in hell or going there soon. You don't have to wish him there. The Bible told me so. (In it's doctrine)


17 posted on 11/29/2004 11:20:48 PM PST by fish hawk
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To: the_Watchman
While we hate the sin, we love the sinner. And because we are commanded to "love one another as ourselves" and would would not upon our own volition gladly enter into hell, we should take extreme measures concerning preventing others from doing so despite their ignorance in that regard.

1 Pt 4:12-19 tells us all that we need to know about standing up for righteousness.

Scripture tells the believer that if they follow Christ, and carry the cross in His name to:

1) Expect suffering (Ps 66:10, Isa 48:10, 1 Pt 1:6,7) 2), especially since 1 Pt 2:20,21 initmates the believer is called to suffer for Christ's sake.

2) regardless of a Christian's tribulations with respect to their efforts to pull souls from hell's fire, they should exhalt in the suffering forecast for them in that regard (1 Pt 4:13,14): 1 Thess 2:19. Peter describes in v13 something analagous to the pain a women experiences during childbirth, and yet the very thing causing the pain is the source of extreme joy i.e. a baby. In these verses Peter also exhorts the believer to exhalt in both Christ's name and spirit while experiencing suffering carrying His cross.

3) the believer should ensure that the suffering that they're to endure is for righteousness sake; suffering because of a drunken driving conviction doesn't count e.g.

4) the believer entrusts their very own soul to God (v19) as one would commit money to a bank for at least security, but with the hope of interest paid.

Did I answer the qwexion? If not let me be succinct: its wrong to relish in the misery of anybody. Its entirely proper to celebrate with extreme joy the entry into heaven (through their faith in the attoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha) of the most heinous, despicable, villanous person on their death-bead.

18 posted on 11/29/2004 11:21:02 PM PST by raygun
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To: kattracks

To paraphrase Mel Gibson, I have to love them but I do not have to like them.


19 posted on 11/29/2004 11:21:11 PM PST by microgood
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To: raygun

Ah whatever. I hope all the 9/11 guys are in hell, arafat, hamas guys, chechyans.. And when bin laden goes too. Frankly, I hope anyone that believes in the false prophet mohammed spends an eternity in hell.

I hope that hell is far worse than anything humanity has ever imagined.


20 posted on 11/29/2004 11:22:50 PM PST by Kornev
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