Heather, I’m not at all surprised by the phenomenon that you see either as ‘dissonance’ or an ‘unconscious’ mitigation of an older, sterner rule book. Think of (many) religions as being, in some ways, like the US constitution. There are some believers who will be ‘strict constructionists’ and others who will see the sacred writings of their faith as something similar to the ‘living constitution’.<\/p>\n
\u00a0As for the question of why some religious folk do not do more to try to save their more irreligious friends from hellfire, I’d think that the doctrine of free will has a great deal to do with it, along with simple good manners, a belief in a merciful God, the power of prayer and the temptation of redemption.<\/p>\n
For what it’s worth I did, way back when (well, law school), once ask a devout friend of mine whether he thought that I was hellbound. A nice, kindly fellow, he was (rightly) a little pained by the directness of my question (we were in England after all), but politely and sadly replied that my somewhat lackadaisical approach towards religion did indeed carry with it a distinct risk of brimstone. Some churchgoing, he felt, would be in order. It might, he thought, lead to a kinder, gentler final destination. We both then returned enthusiastically to our drinks – and I to my plans for a spectacular deathbed conversion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Heather, I’m not at all surprised by the phenomenon that you see either as ‘dissonance’ or an ‘unconscious’ mitigation of an older, sterner rule book. Think of (many) religions as being, in some ways, like the US constitution. There are … Continue reading