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| Adam Lanza. Would you send him to Hell? |
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| Matthew 25:32: "All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." |
Is Adam Lanza in Hell?
Is Nancy Lanza in Hell?
Was Nancy Lanza the first innocent victim of the December 14th shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School?
Was Nancy Lanza a guilty perpetrator?
I googled "blaming Nancy Lanza" and "Nancy Lanza guilty" and found many debating the question.
One answer: those who assess Nancy Lanza as guilty give the December 14thdeath toll as twenty-six. Those who assess Nancy Lanza as a victim give the December 14th death toll as twenty-seven. President Obama gave the death toll as twenty-six.
Nancy Lanza gave her son guns and allowed him to play the ultra-violent video game "Call of Duty." Maybe she is guilty.
Is there any reason to give the death toll as twenty-eight? As including Adam Lanza?
Is Adam Lanza in Hell?
I asked on facebook. A devout Christian, a Jehovah's Witness, an atheist, and a New Ager each provided answers. Each answer was well thought out and well supported.
Atheists, of course, say that the question doesn't matter.
It does, though.
Do we, as a society, assess Adam Lanza as an innocent victim of mental illness? Or as an active agent who freely and consciously choose his horrific and cruel path?
One atheist on facebook insisted that "Adam Lanza was probably that way from birth."
I doubt it. American gun culture, the ultra-violent video game "Call of Duty," also beloved by other shooters, and Nancy Lanza all had an impact on Adam Lanza, impacts that contributed to his choices.
Atheists, in recent years, have been arguing hard for their being no such thing as choice, no such thing as free will. Adam Lanza, like the rest of us, was just a wind-up toy, a machine responding to physical stimuli.
In "Save Send Delete" I describe my debate / love affair with a prominent atheist. He would advance such ideas in our discussions. No such thing as free will. No such thing as a soul.
As a Christian, I believe in free will. I believe in a God who separates the sheep from the goats, as Jesus said in the book of Matthew. What separates us? The choices we make.
But I also believe in Universal Salvation, or Universal Reconciliation, an ancient Christian belief.
What I wonder about is choice. I wonder about the road Lanza took to his own personal Hell. Guess I'll never know.
Is Nancy Lanza guilty? Is she to be blamed? I do feel sorry for her. I also don't think giving guns to an obviously socially handicapped young man is a wise choice. Leviticus, 19:14, tells us not to put a stumbling block before the blind, nor to curse the deaf. You don't add to someone's handicap.
So I guess I'm one of those who give the toll of the innocent dead we mourn as twenty-six.
Is Nancy Lanza in Hell?
Was Nancy Lanza the first innocent victim of the December 14th shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School?
Was Nancy Lanza a guilty perpetrator?
I googled "blaming Nancy Lanza" and "Nancy Lanza guilty" and found many debating the question.
One answer: those who assess Nancy Lanza as guilty give the December 14thdeath toll as twenty-six. Those who assess Nancy Lanza as a victim give the December 14th death toll as twenty-seven. President Obama gave the death toll as twenty-six.
Nancy Lanza gave her son guns and allowed him to play the ultra-violent video game "Call of Duty." Maybe she is guilty.
Is there any reason to give the death toll as twenty-eight? As including Adam Lanza?
Is Adam Lanza in Hell?
I asked on facebook. A devout Christian, a Jehovah's Witness, an atheist, and a New Ager each provided answers. Each answer was well thought out and well supported.
Atheists, of course, say that the question doesn't matter.
It does, though.
Do we, as a society, assess Adam Lanza as an innocent victim of mental illness? Or as an active agent who freely and consciously choose his horrific and cruel path?
One atheist on facebook insisted that "Adam Lanza was probably that way from birth."
I doubt it. American gun culture, the ultra-violent video game "Call of Duty," also beloved by other shooters, and Nancy Lanza all had an impact on Adam Lanza, impacts that contributed to his choices.
Atheists, in recent years, have been arguing hard for their being no such thing as choice, no such thing as free will. Adam Lanza, like the rest of us, was just a wind-up toy, a machine responding to physical stimuli.
In "Save Send Delete" I describe my debate / love affair with a prominent atheist. He would advance such ideas in our discussions. No such thing as free will. No such thing as a soul.
As a Christian, I believe in free will. I believe in a God who separates the sheep from the goats, as Jesus said in the book of Matthew. What separates us? The choices we make.
But I also believe in Universal Salvation, or Universal Reconciliation, an ancient Christian belief.
What I wonder about is choice. I wonder about the road Lanza took to his own personal Hell. Guess I'll never know.
Is Nancy Lanza guilty? Is she to be blamed? I do feel sorry for her. I also don't think giving guns to an obviously socially handicapped young man is a wise choice. Leviticus, 19:14, tells us not to put a stumbling block before the blind, nor to curse the deaf. You don't add to someone's handicap.
So I guess I'm one of those who give the toll of the innocent dead we mourn as twenty-six.
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