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Originally Posted by ns123  Let's take this another step further shall we? What about in regards to evil? There are those out there that will actively harm us, or our children, or our loved ones. If we do not destroy them they will continue to do harm until we or our loved ones are dead.
So if we are to apply the Golden Rule, would that mean that if we kill Hitler, we in think we should be killed? What about what happened in Rawanda (genocide, killing, raping, of innocent people, women, elderly, children, etc) ? If we do not simply destroy the people going on the rampage killing, how do we stop them? I doubt treating them with civility and applying the Golden Rule would work. |
Well, what I would do is, imprison such people someplace nice and cozy where they hopefully can't get out, but it will be so comfortable they won't even want to. The object being not to take vengeance, but simply to prevent them from hurting anyone else.
It's also quite possible for innocent people to end up in jail, so if every prisoner is treated well, then, no innocent person will ever get mistreated.
I guess the way this fits in with the Golden Rule is, if I ever had the misfortune of ending up in jail, I would want to be treated very well, and be very comfortable, especially if I was innocent.
Also, even guilty criminals can have innocent family members, etc., who love them and don't want to see them suffer, so, I think it's good to be merciful at least for the sake of the innocent.