When someone jumps off a building is it unjust for them to die splattered on the ground below? When someone straps a bomb to themselves, is it unjust for them to get blown to bits? When something is the natural logical consequence of what they are doing, then I don’t see how it is unjust that they suffer the consequences. So if you are talking about eternal torment as a punitive measure then I quite agree that it makes no sense whatsoever. I don’t believe in any such thing.
But I see no reason why our choices cannot make any significant impact on our eternal happiness, or that our choices and actions should be care-free and without consequences. So I see the following options:
- God is a mafia boss with a protection racket requiring you to do things in order to protect you from his own wrath and threats to torture you for eternity.
- The Bible is lot of antiquated nonsense and there are no consequence in a life after death because there is no life after death.
- God is a parent who loves us and therefore seeks to prepare us for a life that extends beyond our physical existence and thus warns of real dangers in the effects our choices and actions can have on our eternal happiness.
I reject the first option completely. Such a “god” sounds more like a devil and will have nothing but my middle finger. The second option is much more acceptable, and I don’t see anything particularly wrong with that option. But the one I believe in is number 3. I certainly have no interest in imitation life where our actions have no meaning because they don’t affect anything. And I think H.G. Wells was completely right in his portrayal of the results of such a consequence free life is the eloi who behaved more like sheep than people.
But how about the options proposed by others here? Shall we sum it up in a number 4?
4. God is a parent who “loves” us and therefore will one way or another will insure that nobody suffers the consequences of their choices and actions for eternity whether He has to remove them from existence or force them to be as He demands “for their own good” even if He has to send them to reform schools and re-education camps called “hell.”
What do I think about that option? That isn’t even remotely resembling love at all. It is not only selfish and self-centered through and through, but intolerant of the very essence of life. This is not a god who would ever create living things. This is a god who would create only tools, always choosing power and control over love and freedom.
So… I do not believe God has constructed a torture chamber to punish people who dare to disbelieve what some church says. But I do believe that people habitually torment themselves and create a hell for themselves and everyone around them wherever they go. It because I see this on the earth that I believe hell exists and I don’t think death changes things as if it were some solution to people’s problems. I believe it is the logical consequence of the choices people make and the self destructive habits they have fallen into.