Why is Hell so unfair?

[brooklynite]

We are all, presumably, doomed to suffer eternal torment in the fires of Hell...

BUT if we had the bad luck to be born in the 16th Century, we would suffer for eternity + 500 years.

So, relatively speaking, we have it easy, right?

[pscot]

1. The Bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling

For you but not for me:
For me the angels sing-a-ling-a-ling,
They've got the goods for me.
Oh! Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling?
Oh! Grave, thy victory?
The Bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me.

[dimbear]

2. Ever wonder what God's problem with Neanderthals is?

They've gotta be pretty flustered, waking up in hell and all without a clue.

[intaglio]

3. 500 years is nothing

remember that hell is "forever", infinite. Because of this an extra 500 or 2000 years in insignificant. What is worse is that you are being punished for mistakes made in an even more insignificant portion of infinity.

[Warpy]

4. The unfairness is that so few qualify for heaven

Think of the billions upon billions of hominids who have walked this planet over the last three and a half million years or so. Out of all those people, very few, 144 by some estimates, are considered worthy enough to enter the gates of heaven to spend eternity in bliss and flattery to god.

Personally, I think there are enough of us who will be stuck in hell that we can mount a revolution, depose Satan and get some AC in there.

Get the place a little more comfy and I'd willingly forgo all the bliss and flattery duty to remain with people I can relate to.

Heaven has always sounded horribly dull to me.

[Kennah]

5. Won't need to depose the Almighty. Just a couple of good HVAC workers.

Maybe a civil engineer or two, a hydrologist, three plumbers, and I think we're good.

[Soylent Brice]

6. lol

[Ron Obvious]

7. Hell...

I've heard it advanced that the idea of Hell must be made so incredibly awful (everlasting fire, wailing and gnashing of teeth) because the very concept of it and God is so ridiculous on its face. The meme just wouldn't propagate otherwise.

After all, if the idea of God were likely and plausible, a mere "believe in God, or suffer intermittent jock-itch" would carry enough weight to advance the meme.

Mostly off-topic, sorry.

[FiveGoodMen]

8. I've had the exact same thought.

The weaker versions of the meme (the jock-itch kind) might have existed once but died out, leaving the horrible one standing.

Memes definitely evolve.

[JRLeft]

9. The real question is if God loves everyone, why would he

need to create hell.

[Kennah]

10. A really great question

God is supposed to love us more than we love our own kids. How strong is our love for our children?

Supposedly, Ted Bundy's mother spoke these last words to him. "You'll always be my little Teddy."

[Arugula Latte]

13. Also, is the dude not omnipotent? He's gonna let Satan kick his ass now and again?

What a wimp!

[sakabatou]

11. Here's a mishnah (Jewish short story) about Hell

You can argue your way into Heaven. No, really, I'm not joking.

In a certain mishnah (I don't remember which one), there was a non-believer that lived a good life, treated his neighbors and family well. He died and went to heaven.

God asked him about his life, and then asked him why he didn't believe in him. The atheist argued about his life and why he didn't believe. His arguments were good enough so God let him enter Heaven.

[trotsky]

12. Reminds me of the awesome Jefferson quote.

"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."

[onager]

14. My theory (again) about the creation of hell...

The most common term for "Hell" in the New Testament - and the ONLY term used by Alleged Jesus H. Christ His Own Self - was "Gehenna."

Interesting, because "Gehenna" was a real physical place - a permanently burning garbage dump just outside Jerusalem. Some dead people - like suicides and criminals - may have been thrown in there if they were denied a religious burial or had no one to claim their bodies.

So the date is Something-or-Other BCE, just another miserably hot, suffocating day outside Jerusalem. Around the garbage dump it's even worse - the incredible stench of rotting garbage, swarms of flies, and the eye-watering smoke and heat from the burning trash.

A typical Jerusalem Mom is just trying to dump her garbage and get home. She brought her kids to the dump to help her. But as usual, they're busy running around, yelling and tossing dead rats at each other, trying to re-assemble broken pornographic pottery from those damn Greek traders, and generally raising Gehenna as kids tend to do.

Finally Mom snaps and yells: "If you little shits don't behave, when you die, you're going to end up in a place JUST LIKE THIS!"

Passing nearby, two clergymen overhear the Mom. Their eyes light up and they high-five each other. This is theological gold!

And with just a little minor tinkering/Sophisticated Theology, the idea of Hell is born.

(I can attest that, at least in Egypt, things haven't changed much and each village has its own Gehenna. The local government provides big Dumpsters for the villages, but does not empty them very often. Like apparently never. In summer I could smell those things from a LONG distance. The villagers eventually gave up and burned the garbage themselves. I don't know which stench was worse - unburned or burning garbage.)