Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.I recently read a certain story in which the emotional climax hinged on a decision to do evil to prevent evil. That is not how the narrative presented it: it is written as a tragic necessity, someone loving his friend enough to take his friend's life. I believe other readers found this extremely moving, while I found it shocking and off-putting; in fact if not name, murder.
Why does this happen? I currently think it stems from godlessness, the idea expressed by Carl Sagan — "... there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us." (via Wright) — that makes life a closed system, pain a negative-sum game, killing about cutting off all hurt rather than all help.
Thoughts?
