"I hope that scumbag burns in hell.", said my friend.
A few things jumped out at me about this statement, the furst is that he had succesfully dehumanized someone with a single word. When he called the guy a "scumbag", he was making a determination about the mans intrinsic worth. Now, I don't think that this is what he had in mind when he uttered that, but consciously or not, he was assigning a label to someone that made them less than human. There are many words we could use to dehumanize each other, or assign levels of worth. The exact word is not the issue, but using it as a descriptor of another person is.
The second thing I noticed was that he made a judgement of the man's eternal destination. Hell. This is a place talked about quite openly in scriptures, and it doesn't sound like a place I would ever want to be; why would we want anyone else to go there?
The third thing I noticed was his use of the word hope. We don't usually hope for bad things, especially when it comes to other people. Hoping that someone becomes ill, fails to accomplish something, or dies horribly, are all things that most would say is in bad taste. And if you truly hope that evil and calamity befalls others, what does that say about you? But my friend didn't just hope for the killers mental or physical decline, but rather for the eternal punishment of his soul!
Did Jesus want anyone to burn in hell? I would argue no.Its made pretty clear in First Timothy 2:1-5 that God "desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth". And lets be honest, if you read through the gospels at all, you would know that Jesus gave everything to see that we would have a way to escape eternal damnation. This passage in First Timothy should only reinforce what we already know. Wishing or hoping for someones eternal punishment is not an attitude that a follower of Christ should have, because it was not Christ's attitude.
But I would like to take this a step further. Notice what the passage says before, that "entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men". That is tough if you think about what it is actually saying. The idea is not only to pray for your family and friends, not just those in the Church, but all men. Does this mean to pray for people like that guy who killed those two women? I think so, and there is more scripture that backs this up.
We were all made in the image of God. Humans are unique and special beings, not just fancy animals. God made us specifically to have a relationship with us, and it is that fact we should be aware of when we formulate opinions of others, or their ultimate end. Satan hates God, and hates all things made in his image. To him there is nothing better than us dehumanizing, marginalizing, and cursing each other; think about that next time you make a remark or judgement concerning another human. I know its not easy, and I will have to work at it too, but I think that if the Church shows initiative in loving our neighbors as ourselves- in deeds and in words- then others will follow.
Next time you are reading or watching the news, and you are confronted with the "worst" that humanity has to offer, think about how much God loves that person. Take a moment to pray for them instead of cursing them, and praise the Lord that he has the power to save anyone, and bring them to the knowledge of the truth!
