God As Court Judge

I had another talk my coworker who believes in demons and he sent yet another shiver up my spine. We were talking about the death penalty and he said that he was a strong supporter of the death penalty because we needed a strong deterrant to crime.

I asked him what he thought about potentially killing an innocent person. His response?

"God will judge us all in the end anyway."

*shiver*

He also said that if there IS an innocent person put to death, then the people who did it were either carrying out God's will or would call God's wrath upon them if they had lied.

*shiver* *shiver*

I then asked him if he felt that by supporting the death penalty for such religious reasons, he was forcing others to abide by his religious beliefs. His response?

"What do you mean?"

Now, I'm not saying that that's accurate. I don't actually think that supporting something for religious reasons is "forcing" anyone else to abide by your beliefs. But he is so steeped in the rightness of his faith that he can't even wrap his head around the concept of someone having valid, non-religious reasons to think something's wrong.

I'm not getting into the rightness or wrongness of the death penalty. Personally, I think the system is too flawed to use to kill a man, but I've never been a victim, either, so I can't really say how I'd feel. I am just amazed that an otherwise reasonable person, with a college education, can put others lives in the hands of a capricious God.

During the same converation, he also admitted that he thought it was okay to pray for God to send his wrath against someone who had wronged him! So much for turning the other cheek!

But to him, it's okay, because it's God's wrath, and not his own. So, apparently divine proxy cures all ills. And people wonder why Evil Uncle Chuckles is still around.