David,
God. Allah. Buddha. Zeus. That one guy. I've asked all to strike me down and none have.....'cause none are there to do so. If anyone should be struck down it should be me, and their lack of striking only proves I'm right. Right?
And if I'm wrong, which I am not, I've already resigned to the fact I'd be going to Hell. I'm quite okay with that. To quote my dad, who was quoting Classy Freddie Blassie: "I'd rather be a King in Hell than a Stooge in Heaven."
etc., etc...
I'm not sure how "rational" this person is being.
At the same time, I think things like this, if heartfelt, go a long way in "justifying" what the Scriptures teach - that sadly, there will be those who will be seperated from the blessed on the Last Day, and placed in "gehenna". The word, interestingly enough, comes from a real place, which being an infamous place, came to be used as a garbage dump by the Jews. Hence, why the name is used to describe the place where the damned will be placed.
It is not because God is vindictive, or for a lack of "trying" on His part. It is because each of us, has to work out what Light we have been given, or I should say, work out our response to said Light. Should we find ourselves condemned to gehenna, it will be because we rejected that Light, and preferred other things to It. IOW, the "judgement" is just that - God's appraisal of what we fundamentally have made of ourselves.
Of course, we should not condemn anyone in this life to such a miserable fate, judging that it is their lot - for until our last breath, there is always time to turn around (not to mention that there is much in the lives of others which will always remain hidden to our eyes.)
However, things like the above are a sobering wake up call. For while I may not speak with flamboyant blasphemies or overt words of malice towards the Divine Majesty...do I do just the same (or worse!) by my deep seated indifference and hypocricy?
Seraphim
