sbaii

I don't know if anyone has used this tack recently. If you stop to consider that hell supposedly lasts for eternity in addition to being very painful, then what crimes could warrant an eternal punishment? Especially since both the christian and the muslim god is supposed to be merciful in addition to all-just, etc. This could get fundies thinking since most of their religion is based on fear of hell. Just a small crack in the ideology.

RJS

sbaii -

What is your opinion about life in prison for 10 minutes of rape?

Or how about the death penalty for a crime that took all of 5 minutes?

thanks.

beoba

Life isn't eternity.

Other point: Wouldn't hell get boring after a while though? I mean, you'd probably used to that colorful burning sensation after a couple centuries.

Laera

Maybe the boredom is part of the torture? I know I hate to be bored for long periods of time!

I saw a bumper sticker today that read:
"If you live your life like there is no God
YOU'D BETTER BE RIGHT"
(and the second half was text engulfed in flames)

Now, all I can think when I read something like that is "How can someone who claims to 'love their neighbor' drive around with a threat on their rear bumper?"

They also had a sticker that said:
"Don't be fooled by the car,
My treasure is in heaven"

I guess the carrot and the stick still work wonders for some folks...

On topic: I agree that eternal torture constitutes cruel and unusual punishment - at least a rapist in prison has the opportunity for parole! (oh, and the whole POINT of punishment is as "corrective" - but if there's no end, there's no hope - at least prisoners have hope for something better if they're paroled, and some even do good/fun/life-affirming things while in the slammer)

Oxidizing Material

Mine: Oh well, you lose, better luck next time.

wdog

oh, my loving father would do that simply if I don't believe in him sight unseen

I ate Pascal's Wafer

RJS, let me use an example along the lines of what you're saying. For the sake of discussion let's assume the Christian god exists.

Somebody living a good life and disbelieving in a deity for honest reasons is the rough equivalent of spitting your gum on the sidewalk. In both cases the offender was unaware he was doing anything wrong. To punish the disbeliever in hell for simply being mistaken is similar to sentencing the guy who spit chewing gum on the sidewalk to death by hanging, drawing, and quartering. Both punishments are cruel and unusual punishments.

Now, even assuming that a person is a horrible scum in life, does he deserve an eternity in hell? It is doubtful. What could he possibly do to deserve to rot in hell for all eternity? Sure, maybe a few millenia, but eternity? Even "life" sentences sometimes have a cap of a few hundred years. Assuming the person somehow lives that long he gets to go free. Even with the death penalty the person only suffers for a few minutes, if that. It's not an ongoing punishment for all eternity.

-Nick

RJS

I think we were discussing timing differences. You have confused the issue. To try to diminish the unimaginable nature of "eternity", lets try to bring the argument closer.

Let's assume that humans live for 1 million years, and that murder (which can take less than a second with a gun), carries the punishment of 1 million years in prision (hard labor, etc) with no chance of parole.

Do you think such an arrangement would be fair?

btw, your comment "In both cases the offender was unaware he was doing anything wrong" really invalidates your argument, imo. You are aware that you have sinned, right?

beoba

What about all those non-christians who aren't (aware)?

RJS

most likely reason for a new thread "Can an atheist sin?"