The other day, Joe Biden solemnly declared that the barbarians who beheaded reporter Jim Foley would be chased down to the very gates of Hell, and then he twice repeated that it was there that they would reside. The first part of his statement, that we would chase them to the gates of Hell, is obviously a metaphor indicating that the America will not give up in bringing these people to justice. But the second part is quite different. Biden declared that the terrorists would reside in Hell because of their barbaric murder of this American reporter and many others as well.
So Biden opened the door to a kind of severe judgment. Personally, I agree that these men are truly barbarians, and that their crimes deserve the punishment of Hell â?? but I would have to add: unless they repent. So thatâ??s a moral judgment with a condition placed on it, not a final or eschatological judgment regarding the destiny of such moral monsters.
Read Full Article »