Perhaps you are right that this problem would be simply so terrible, that the an-cap position must be abandoned. But where does this leave us, except to accept the necessity that a State must exist and that it must engage in wrongdoing for practical reasons? This alternative doesn't sound desirable to me, so it seems the outcome is to eliminate all possible options as being viable. If you disagree, perhaps you can offer a reply to the problems I raised in Romans 13 and secession, and explain how it is that rulers can be exempt from certain moral laws that only apply to everyone else who is ruled (for example, that taxation appears to be equivalent to theft, among other issues).
Its not the fact that the State takes vengance in and of itself that was my reason for making a distinction here, rather it is that the characteristics of the State are that (1) it asserts a monopoly on the enforcement of law, and (2) that it compels participation in whatever arbitrary standards of enforcement it chooses through taxation.TheEditor wrote: Also, I do admit to finding it a bit amusing that you offer: "I would not rule out the possibility that the retribution could be voluntarily undertaken by another person or non-State organization". So, by your lights, if the avenging organization were "non-State", then it would be appropriate, but if it is a "State" avenging, it's not? It seems an awfully big stretch.
Yes, the Israelites had a unique position with God. I am assuming that, like in the days of the judges, that God may be late in exacting retribution for those who sin, and that He may never get around doing so at all until the final judgment. As far as I can tell, he seemed satisfied with this arrangement in the days of the judges, and I am making the presumption that he would be equally satisfied with that same arrangement now.TheEditor wrote: Plus, you keep referenceing OT principles and the era of the Judges, etc. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't the Iraelites have a unique position with God?
Didn't they, in essence, say to God, "Okay, we'll live like you say, and You will bless us. If we don't, You can curse us"?
And, in that arrangment, doesn't that assume God will act when humans fail to? We don't have such luxuries today as being able to march around cities and have them fall down and go boom.
Peter