I'd hope for justice, too. Would you say we've all commit a sin like that in the past, in some part of our lives, including in our youth, then? For example, the simple acts of stealing or lying can both cause a form of suffering to another person for our own personal gain.
For sure. That's why we strive to become better everyday.
It sure is. What about our past sins, however? Will we not still have to pay for our crimes for those, even if we live a life of good for the rest of our years?
I'm not sure. If a person is regretful of their past misdeeds and tries to make amends then I don't think they should go to hell or whatever, unless they've committed truly heinous acts.
The issue with that, from my view, is how we can tell what "regret" and "making amends" is and isn't, as well as simply what's "truly heinous", as there are degrees here to all of these things, in that you might see an act as truly heinous that I might see as only partially heinous, and so by that thinking, of not following an exact standard value to sin, we are entirely clueless to what God may condemn or not condemn, as we all feel different ways, however slight those differences may be, about something. Some things we feel much less impartial on than others, but there is always the free will of humanity to put degrees and values to different misdeeds. Because of that, it would be illogical for God to assign these different, ambiguous values to sin, since, just from what I'm thinking, He would have to see it all from His perspective (as our eternal master and creator) as equivalent ploys designed to stray humanity away from Him and His will (and, of course, we must be inclined to desire what God does because we're in His universe).
In Orthodoxy, Holy Tradition has nearly as much authority as the Bible. Something doesn't have to be in the Bible for us to endorse it. We can read the writings of the church fathers and our saints to see what they have to say about the matter. Saint Tikhon says that any sensible person must love his country. Albeit, since nationalism as westerners understand it is a product of the French Revolution perhaps it would be better to categorize Orthodox Nationalism separately. Because most traditional Orthodox Christians tend to be in favor of empires & absolute monarchy instead of nation states. Doesn't mean love for the nation is excluded but it's a bit distinct from how westerners will understand it. Some forms of nationalism would assume your nation is better than all others, if this is the case then it's incompatible with Orthodoxy because it's a form of idol worship. If you are nationalist without thinking of yourself as superior then it's compatible. The center of life must be God, this is the most important principle.
There is still a problem. Let's say a guy rapes and kills his whole life up until the last 10 minutes before his death and repents to God. Do you think it's fair that he gets to go to heaven?
Good question, I like thinking about this one because it makes me think more about salvation in accordance to human evil. First, I'll look to our own Christian scriptures. To start, I will say that it is written plenty that Jesus died for the sins of all men, from the greatest to the worst, across the board. All sins are forgiven through Him. With that said, one of my favorite verses for this subject can be found in the Epistle to the Hebrews (12:14, I use the English Standard Version), where it is written:
Oh, and I forgot, in addition to all this words-words-words about salvation, in regard to justice, true repentance will provide that accountability, for that shocking revelation of having an inability to ever repay the debt of one's sins would likely make the most evil men the humblest in what time they had left on Earth, like that 10-minutes-to-live rapist, for example.
Why wouldn't they be? If a man believes in quite literally nothing, then he won't work towards a higher goal either. He'll just do whatever gives him the most pleasure at the moment.
Wouldn't this be the difference between man and animals? Animal just does whatever it feels like, but human can focus efforts and believe faithfully in something they cannot directly see.
You are allowed to protect you and your family, and at large your dominion, because it is your role as a man. Take for example, mass immigration. Not inherently harmful but it's effects are so devastating that it is neglectful and harmful to the people you take on the responsibility of as a man (your family, wife, kids, etc.) and Jesus was a stickler of self-defense.
Nationalism isn't just protecting your country. It's puttung your country's wellbeing before other countries'. History has shown nationalism is harmful. There are hundreds of examples from ww1 to the yugoslav wars.
It's a really profound idea, to be "free from sin", and most people simply fail to grasp it. People see themselves as masters over their action but when they indulge in sin they resign their sovereignty, they let the devil guide them. People don't realize how swayed by sin they are, how they get shackled by lust, greed, hatred, pride and the rest of it, how it is now those that pull the leash they have put around their neck, and they are now merely dogs, being commanded, and given a treat every now and again for their obedience. It really is such a profound concept that eludes so many, people completely miss it and yet it's so damn evident, even through a secular lens. Can you imagine a person saying he's free because he could get addicted to cocaine? Well we do have people saying that to be fair... But somehow the understanding that addiction takes away agency is just foreign to people, they have such a surface level understanding of freedom. I guard not my "freedom" to "do as I please", but I would give the world to be freed from the influence of sin and it's clouding of my judgement and the strings it has attached on my spirit to pull on.
Very poignant problem for any legalistic view of the divine, if I may chime in. This is where I find Orthodoxy to be much more compelling, as the matters of salvation are somewhat left up in the air, we don't say for sure where people will end up, but we do affirm that God is both merciful and just and that everyone will get their due, and while the Church will refrain from casting judgement on people's afterlife, it will provide guidance. I think this is a much more important thing to focus on than any hypothetical involving Hitler or Stalin repenting on their death bed
It’s not always harmful. Hitler saved Germany from inflation, homelessness, and poverty in the span of a few years.
Hitler did, not nationalism. Yes nationalism was a part of his administration but it wasn't the only part that helped climb germany out of poverty. Germany would've been fine under hitler's administration even if he wasn't nationalistic (for example if he had a different ideology).
Also I think I could've worded this better. I meant it means that you are a selfish little fuck about your country and don't care if the world around you burns while your country's doing fine. Usually they are the cause of the world burning because of being so selfish.
