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What with all the death and macabre stuff floating around this board I thought it fitting to share the absolute best, most painful death one have one's enemies undergo. Kill with kindness.

It's even scriptural. Sure, there's that thing about loving your enemies (but not their sins), but there's another fun scripture:

Proverbs 25: 21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.
(see also Rom. 12:20 where Paul references this).

asbestosman wrote: 22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.[/i] (see also Rom. 12:20 where Paul references this).

You know what I've long suspected? If you were to change the name -- let's say you took that same scripture, and said to someone, "Hey, check out what Lord Vishnu said in the Vedas! He told people to heap coals on the heads of their enemies!" -- most really good Christians would respond with something like, "Wow, how barbarous and monstrous that Vishnu is! How disgusting!" ...but when it's their own religion, the exact same thing is okay....

Kind of like, I suspect, Gaz is horrified when Muslim extremists cut the heads off of their victims, but would happily turn around and cut the throat of the target of his particular religious ire...

Hally McIlrath wrote:He told people to heap coals on the heads of their enemies!" -- most really good Christians would respond with something like, "Wow, how barbarous and monstrous that Vishnu is!

In context, the point is to NOT hurt your enemy with literal coals so I'm not sure I see it as barbarous.

I think Karatie Kid (3 I believe) makes a similar point. Mr. Miyagi is fighting this dude who ends up cutting both his hands by missing Miyagi and punching car windows. Mr. Miyagi scares him a bit by talking about how the enemy deserves no mercy, takes his hand back, then honks the dude's nose. Daniel asks why Miyagi didn't let him have it and Miyagi replies that for him, living is worse than death.

Now, I'm not advocating being mean through niceness. What I'm saying is that niceness is often the best punishment and can be hard for one's enemy to take (at least if he's guilty of hurting you and has a glimmer of a conscience). I am NOT advocating leaving all criminals alone as many criminals pose great danger to others.

I agree, abman. The coals of fire are Hebrew symbolism, not literal coals.

asbestosman wrote:In context, the point is to NOT hurt your enemy with literal coals so I'm not sure I see it as barbarous.

Oops! I read that wrong. It's kind of ambiguous. God will "reward" you for heaping coals on your enemy's head...you're killing him with kindness. Yah. I get it now. You got the sense of its deeper meaning, and I didn't.

Now, I'm not advocating being mean through niceness. What I'm saying is that niceness is often the best punishment and can be hard for one's enemy to take (at least if he's guilty of hurting you and has a glimmer of a conscience).

That goes along nicely with "turning the other cheek" in the New Testament.