At the core of Christianity is the doctrine that every person deserves an eternity of conscious torment just for being human. But surely, you might think, a perfectly just, merciful and benevolent God would let people who live a good life and do good deeds off the hook for His infinitely cruel punishment? Nope. The only way to avoid eternal torment is “salvation through Jesus Christ”, i.e. that you worship this monster of a God. Then, you can do whatever you want if you just sincerely say sorry from time to time. And you get the bonus benefit of going through life saying to people that they deserve infinitely cruel punishment just for not believing the exact same shit you do:
“That nice Jewish family down the street? Yeah, they’re very generous and hospitable, but they really deserve the perfect justice of eternal torment since they deny Jesus as their savior.”
“My Muslim co-worker? Yeah, she’s extremely nice and works hard to support her family at home and overseas, but she and all of her relatives really deserve to be punished for ever and ever by my perfectly just God since they put their faith in a false prophet.”
“The owners of the Indian restaurant downtown? Yeah, besides serving delicious and affordable food they’re really active in the local community and support all kinds of charities. However, they deserve nothing short of an eternity of conscious torment in the afterlife since my perfect God cannot stand the stench of their unrepented sins.”
So, this OP is a reminder of what Christians are actually celebrating this holiday season: The infinite cruelty of eternal torment inflicted by their perfectly just God on the vast majority of their fellow human beings just for being human. Hallelujah!
Question: Can you think of anything viler, crueler and more anti-human than the Christian doctrine of hell and salvation?