Should God Punish Evil People?

I heard Denis Prager, radio talk show host/political and socila commentator, say today that God should punish evil people. In fact, he said, he would not be religious if he felt God didn't punish evil people.


From time immemorial, God has been punishing evil people, who are defined as people who don't believe in the correct God. Ben Laden refers to us as "infidels." We are therefore evil and must be punished. All of the European countries who invaded the "New World" justified their policies as being willed by God. From Columbus on, they believed that the enslavement, exploitation, and extirpation of the naked infidels gave them strength and new vitality and was desired by God. John Underhill, addressing criticism of the burning of Pequot men, women and children in 1637 (well before Foxwoods) said that "sometimes the Scripture declareth women and children must perish with their parents. We had sufficient light from teh Word of God for our proceedings."


Shouldn't we be beyond this by now?