During a fascinating discussion / debate with a close family member the topic of the Christian hell came up. It was kind of inevitable since this person is a devout Catholic well acquainted with my lack of religious belief. But he didn't know much of the story of why I abandoned belief, and that story starts with my struggles trying to square the existence of hell with the actions of a just and loving god. (I have long since discovered that the god described in the bible is neither very just nor much good a love; but back then I worshiped what I thought was the one, true god ... and that god had to be just and loving.)
In an attempt to overcome my objections to hell he told me that, according to Catholic ideology, no one is in hell who doesn't choose to be there. That was a new twist to me. Hell, according to my recollection of Protestant theology, is the place of banishment and punishment all of humanity deserves because of "original sin". God will spare a remnant of humans from this eternal torture, those who do what ever it is one does to be saved. (An action that is vaguely described as "accepting Christ as one's Savior" - and defined somewhat differently by various denominations). No one chooses to go to hell, the choice revolves around rejecting god's "get out of jail free" card.
The idea that those in hell made the choice to be in hell, and god is only granting them this exercise of free will, does not strike me as much of an improvement over the Protestant claims. When we find someone who deliberately hurts themselves we try to find a way to make them whole again. Such a one is broken, not evil. A person who flings themselves willingly into a eternity of torture is not availing themselves of free will, they are exhibiting a brokenness of heart that needs healing, not judgment. A god who would allow such a thing is not honoring free will, he is facilitating evil.
(I will admit the Catholic claim is an improvement over Calvinist ideology. Somehow those poor folks have twisted their way around to the idea that god created some for heaven. The rest of us he purposely created to spend an eternity in hell without hope of reprieve and, somehow, this gives glory to a god love and justice.)
It seems that evil can originate from only one of two places. Religion tells us that we are born evil, a broken species twisted by an original sin. The agency of this sin originated "outside" of the species, the allegory being a woman - who was created perfect - being seduced by an agent of evil to abuse her free will and disobey god. (Somehow she was supposed to know that this was "wrong" before eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.) She then seduced her mate. As allegories go it isn't a bad one. Those ancient creation stories are first attempts at explaining the conflicts that rage between doing good and doing harm.
Biology suggest evil is characteristic of a species of tribal ape evolving into an intelligent species, struggling with the conflicts that lie between contemplative actions and inherited, instinctive actions. We very often act like the brutes that lurk in our genes and our expertise with tool building can amplify those acts into appalling evil.
Either way hell is an inept response.
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