2 Nephi 26

2 Nephi 26:4-5 Wherefore, All those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day cometh that shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble. And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and  mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder. This is a little odd.  The reality is, the vast majority of those who actually kill a prophet also die, after living full lives; and really, not many people go around killing saints anymore.  So, does it mean, that in the millennial day, those who would have qualified as participants in such a group will suffer this? Or is it referencing judgment day?   An Angel will stand there with a bull-horn yelling, "all right, everybody who killed a prophet, come stand by this mountain! Saint-killers on the left, by the falling building, and the rest of you, grab your stubble suit and head to the fire!" It seems kind of lame. Words like this have been passed around to and by people who have actually lost loved ones, who want to know that the perps will be caught and punished, but if they just get the same allegorical Hell that the rest of us get for normal failings, then it becomes small comfort in the moment.  Of course they should all be fine with it in the end, at judgment day itself, when their perspective should be changed and their nature (if they are saved) should actually regret that any soul should suffer.

In that vein, what is it about our existence here that makes it so hard for us to have that perspective?  Obviously there are people who have it, e.g. the sons of Mosiah, some of the prophets, but there are some notably righteous people who clearly lack it, e.g Jonah (he was upset when the Lord didn't follow through on the destruction of Ninevah, even though they repented), Elisha (he had the she-bears rip up those kids for calling him baldy).  Something about us feels a need for immediate and physical punishment of injustice.  I have it, myself.  I wonder if I need to evaluate that further, but I'm out of time.