I only wish he covered the fact, even if it is a choice, who cares? God gave people free will for a reason. The typical response is that god will judge us as a nation for allowing it. So using that as an example, since god is the perfect father, and the perfect example of fatherhood I should follow. If my one son warns the other not to misbehave and the other does anyhow, I should punish both children in different ways. I mean the one acted of his own free will to violate my rules, and the other warned of the dangers and obeyed my rules but needs punished because his brother acted improperly. If my son warns a schoolmate not to misbehave and the schoolmate does, I should punish my son for that child's misbehavior, the schoolmate I can cast off and keep from my sight forever, but my child needs punished for the behavior of another person acting of their own free will. How then should I punish him in either case?

*quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Boise_Lib.

*Not NSFW.

[Oops, I for got about Ricky saying, "fucking".]

*sfw!

Those poor homosexuals...can't even afford a car, put's their signs on their backs.

Excessively long intro is excessively long. Skip to 5:20 to hear potholer54 speak (don't you love how he pronounces homosexual?).

How then should I punish him in either case?


Taking this a step further, why punish anyone for anything?

I mean, in a practical sense for us non-omnipotent types there's lots of valid, utility reasons to punish: deterrence, recompense (through fines or labor), rehabilitation/education, and mechanically preventing further crimes. Probably a few others.

The only one of these that could possibly be countenanced by an omnipotent being would be education.. but why should violence or pain be required for this - can't God accomplish this some other way (ie. isn't he omnipotent... or at least more powerful than the human methods for rehabilitation that function pretty well without eternal burning)? And don't any lessons you learn during the infinite burning seem a bit wasted if you're just going burn in Hell forever anyways?

"Justice" can be a utilitarian virtue, just like "not wasting money", or "properly sterilizing dental equipment". But I don't see how it's an eternal one that God needs to worry about. I don't see what need or virtue is served by God punishing anyone, especially when it flies in the face of "love", "mercy", "fairness", and other virtues or properties that seem a lot more valuable.