Nothing Like a Good Fire to Prove a Point

The Lord appears to Abraham and Abraham comes up with a feast for them; as they eat, they talk the Lord questions where Abraham's wife, Sarah is. Abraham points to the tent behind him and the Lord decides that Sarah will have a child. Sarah, overhearing the conversation, chuckles to herself because 'old-age and menopause don't bode well with childbearing, silly Lord, babies are for maidens!'. The Lord sets out for Sodom and Abraham walks with him. The Lord reveals to Abraham that he plans to destroy Sodom if the situation is as bad as he believes. Abraham then begins bargaining with the Lord and asking some deep questions like 'isn't it unfair to destroy everyone and make the righteous pay for the sins of the wicked?' Finally, the Lord cracks under Abraham's insistence and agrees that if there are 10 righteous people, he will not touch Sodom.

The Lord arrives at Sodom and is greeted by Lot who is very hospitable - however, the rest of the city is not. All they wish to do is fornicate, which is not on the Lord's agenda. Lot tells them to back off and he will offer up his two virgin daughters if they stop harassing the Lord. By this time, a mob has formed, and they are not happy with Lot's proposition - they threaten to rape Lot, and then the Lord as well. However, the Lord takes Lot away from the mob and tells him to take his family away for he will soon unleash "brimstone and fire" upon Sodom and Gomorrah. The next day, everything is wiped out, and the only inhabitant left is Lot (who was actually a foreigner so does it even count?) Abraham visits the spot where he bargained with the Lord and sees the city sizzling. The city didn't even have 10 righteous people in it. Only Lot was innocent and God sends him out to the city to remind Abraham that God upheld his end of the bargain that he should not destroy the innocent along with the guilty. So, Lot is pretty much a reminder from God that 'haha, in your face. take that Abraham, i was right and you were wrong. all men are wicked'.

As for unfair punishment, the general consensus seems to be that there will always be 'oppressors' and there will always be 'the oppressed'. I don't see how that will ever change for the better, at least in the near future. Further, it's a general rule that 'the oppressed' usually feel as if their oppression is undeserved. Whether punishment is warranted, I have no say - and thank god, because I do not feel comfortable making that kind of a decision. However, looking at the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, I can't help but question the judgement behind the decision to burn and destroy the city. I somehow doubt that Lot was the only righteous person and all the rest just wanted to sex everyone up. I don't know that, that could just be a personal hunch. I am firm in my belief that punishment, if needed, should always be just and have merit, and never be unjust.