May we burn her?

When I was an undergraduate one of our favorite bad questions was "Is it acceptable to torment the damned?"

This was the sort of loaded bad question you could drop on zealous underclassmen who would emerge three hours later with some vague notion they needed to break up with their girlfriends and spend more time praying. (Though, to be fair, these were the default conclusions of underclassmen after any real discussion) Our very favorite bad question was "If God created a rock so big he couldn't lift it, would it make him insecure?" Once I asked it on a discussion board as a joke. Dozens of posts later earnest people were asking me for the true answer.

The bad question in question has bad premises, assumes badly that we could know, and uses the word "damned" which must be bad if you go to an evangelical protestant liberal arts college. And probably most times I asked the bad question it was with a supercilious air of torment with little concern for the immortal state of my targets. I am concerned that some day I shall have my reward in full. Still, the question came to mind today in consideration of Christian violence/non-violence.

Jesus models non-violence and exhorts us in almost every circumstance to do likewise, right? I think so. What do we make of Jesus inciting violence against himself? For he surely did. He incited individuals, mobs, establishments, and even governments against himself with the ultimate violent end. If violence is bad then how can this be a good thing? Was this spurring non-believers on to unrighteous acts? If you're Jesus is it acceptable to torment the damned?

Divine Justice is a tricky thing. Lord have mercy on those who may or must weild it.