God DOES send people to Hell?

[HabemusFrancis]

Whenever I hear a priest ( or a parent for that matter) answer my questions about Hell, or talk about it, they always assure me that if people are there, it is only because they do not want heaven, or don’t want to be near God themselves. Hell is where they are “happier.”

I have heard this phrase quite often, “God sends no one to Hell, people send themselves there!”

The more I think about it… the less I am convinced it is true. I think God certainly sends people to Hell, namely those who die in a state of mortal sin (for any number of reasons.)

While I don’t know the mechanism for how God sends people to Hell (whether by opening a huge trapdoor where the sinners fall through, grabbing them and flinging them facefirst into the furnace etc.), I realize the mechanism itself does not matter. God does it, because its God’s will certain people burn forever. There simply seems (to me) no of getting around it.

God willed for Hell to exist. He could simply kill the souls of the impenitent damned, but he chooses not to. The whole “people send themselves there” smacks of the wishy-washy, Post Vatican II pseudo-Catholc teachings that became ever so popular after that council.

We can’t wash God’s hands of Hell, we cannot. We have to give God his credit for sending every soul where it truly belongs.

I feel Catholic youth need to hear this message: God is your only hope. Your not good enough without God, can never be good enough without him. Catholic youth must be taught that they had better not dissapoint or disobey God. They have no idea what will happen to them if they do so.

And Heaven help the Catholic who decides to reject God, or find another god ( or gods) they like better. Those thinking of apostasy should keep in mind, that God will hurt them if they leave Him. There is nowhere they can hide from God when he decides to come for them.

 

[mikekle]

I think the statement of people sending themselves to hell is sort of like, when people rob a bank and get caught, while it is the police that literally put you in jail, YOU actually did the action that resulted in you being in jail, the police did not send you to jail, you did, by doing something which leads to jail.

Personally though, I believe there is a moment right before your bodily death, and those moments may only be a fraction of a second in our time, it may feel like hours, this would be a persons ‘final choice’, if they truly wanted nothing to do with God and were not interested, they make their choice, but for those on the fence, they can choose Heaven, and spend that last .0003 of a second asking for Gods forgiveness.

 

[HabemusFrancis]

I think the statement of people sending themselves to hell is sort of like, when people rob a bank and get caught, while it is the police that literally put you in jail, YOU actually did the action that resulted in you being in jail, the police did not send you to jail, you did, by doing something which leads to jail.

Personally though, I believe there is a moment right before your bodily death, and those moments may only be a fraction of a second in our time, it may feel like hours, this would be a persons ‘final choice’, if they truly wanted nothing to do with God and were not interested, they make their choice, but for those on the fence, they can choose Heaven, and spend that last .0003 of a second asking for Gods forgiveness.

Mmmhmm. For the first part, keep in mind the eternal jail the celestial police send you to is more hideous than we can conceive of. It makes Stalin and Saddam’s prisons seem like a gentle bubble bath. It makes the Hanoi Hilton seem like the actual Hilton.

I don’t believe your second paragraph is supported by scripture or any Church teaching, or Saint’s vision of any kind. One can hope though.

Do you recall the rich man, whose greed, gluttony and selfishness landed him in Hell? He seemed mighty unhappy, and keen to get out, but God made sure he staid where he belonged. He would have loved to have gone to heaven, and been spared the horrid heat, but it was a no-go for him:shrug:

 

[Vico]

Whenever I hear a priest ( or a parent for that matter) answer my questions about Hell, or talk about it, they always assure me that if people are there, it is only because they do not want heaven, or don’t want to be near God themselves. Hell is where they are “happier.”

I have heard this phrase quite often, “God sends no one to Hell, people send themselves there!”

The more I think about it… the less I am convinced it is true. I think God certainly sends people to Hell, namely those who die in a state of mortal sin (for any number of reasons.)

While I don’t know the mechanism for how God sends people to Hell (whether by opening a huge trapdoor where the sinners fall through, grabbing them and flinging them facefirst into the furnace etc.), I realize the mechanism itself does not matter. God does it, because its God’s will certain people burn forever. There simply seems (to me) no of getting around it.

God willed for Hell to exist. He could simply kill the souls of the impenitent damned, but he chooses not to. The whole “people send themselves there” smacks of the wishy-washy, Post Vatican II pseudo-Catholc teachings that became ever so popular after that council.

We can’t wash God’s hands of Hell, we cannot. We have to give God his credit for sending every soul where it truly belongs.

I feel Catholic youth need to hear this message: God is your only hope. Your not good enough without God, can never be good enough without him. Catholic youth must be taught that they had better not dissapoint or disobey God. They have no idea what will happen to them if they do so.

And Heaven help the Catholic who decides to reject God, or find another god ( or gods) they like better. Those thinking of apostasy should keep in mind, that God will hurt them if they leave Him. There is nowhere they can hide from God when he decides to come for them.

Before Vatican II - Baltimore CatechismA.1379 Hell is a state to which the wicked are condemned, and in which they are deprived of the sight of God for all eternity, and are in dreadful torments.
A.1380 The damned will suffer in both mind and body, because both mind and body had a share in their sins. The mind suffers the “pain of loss” in which it is tortured by the thought of having lost God forever, and the body suffers the “pain of sense” by which it is tortured in all its members and senses.

Condemned is used before and after Vatican II. The souls suffer eternal separation from God.

After Vatican II - Catechism1034 Jesus often speaks of “Gehenna” of “the unquenchable fire” reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.612 Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,"613 and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"614
1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire."615 The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

 

[Catholic1954]

Whenever I hear a priest ( or a parent for that matter) answer my questions about Hell, or talk about it, they always assure me that if people are there, it is only because they do not want heaven, or don’t want to be near God themselves. Hell is where they are “happier.”

I have heard this phrase quite often, “God sends no one to Hell, people send themselves there!”

The more I think about it… the less I am convinced it is true. I think God certainly sends people to Hell, namely those who die in a state of mortal sin (for any number of reasons.)

While I don’t know the mechanism for how God sends people to Hell (whether by opening a huge trapdoor where the sinners fall through, grabbing them and flinging them facefirst into the furnace etc.), I realize the mechanism itself does not matter. God does it, because its God’s will certain people burn forever. There simply seems (to me) no of getting around it.

God willed for Hell to exist. He could simply kill the souls of the impenitent damned, but he chooses not to. The whole “people send themselves there” smacks of the wishy-washy, Post Vatican II pseudo-Catholc teachings that became ever so popular after that council.

We can’t wash God’s hands of Hell, we cannot. We have to give God his credit for sending every soul where it truly belongs.

I feel Catholic youth need to hear this message: God is your only hope. Your not good enough without God, can never be good enough without him. Catholic youth must be taught that they had better not dissapoint or disobey God. They have no idea what will happen to them if they do so.

And Heaven help the Catholic who decides to reject God, or find another god ( or gods) they like better. Those thinking of apostasy should keep in mind, that God will hurt them if they leave Him. There is nowhere they can hide from God when he decides to come for them.

Your own free will sends you to hell. God has given us many resources, opportunities and graces to keep us out of it. Those who die in a state of unrepentant moral sin have rejected God and all He offers and choose hell.

 

[jackydarapper]

Your own free will sends you to hell. God has given us many resources, opportunities and graces to keep us out of it. Those who die in a state of unrepentant moral sin have rejected God and all He offers and choose hell.

I remember reading the following line from another thread ‘Hell was created for the devil and his angels but people land up there following them’

God never sends people there as said by your priest and others, its he people who reject God thus go to hell.

Now here is a question for you and others Is hell a literal place or state of being?

 

[Micosil]

…] The whole “people send themselves there” smacks of the wishy-washy, Post Vatican II pseudo-Catholc teachings that became ever so popular after that council.

I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Pre and post-VII teachings are identical. Someone already pasted what the Catechism teaches; this is, in addition, what the Compendium of the Catechism teaches:

1. In what does the final judgment consist?

1038-1041
1058-1059

The final or universal judgment consists in a sentence of happiness or eternal condemnation, which the Lord Jesus will issue in regard to the “just and the unjust” (Acts 24:15) when he returns as the Judge of the living and the dead. After the last judgment, the resurrected body will share in the retribution which the soul received at the particular judgment.

And Heaven help the Catholic who decides to reject God, or find another god ( or gods) they like better. Those thinking of apostasy should keep in mind, that God will hurt them if they leave Him. There is nowhere they can hide from God when he decides to come for them.

Eh, God does not “hurt” anyone… Did the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son “hurt” his older son when he wanted his inheritance? No; he gave it to him no questions asked, even if the son’s choice was intrinsically bad.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

I lifted this from the Catechism -

God upholds and sustains creation.

301 With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and*** at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end***. Recognizing this utter dependence with respect to the Creator is a source of wisdom and freedom, of joy and confidence:

I’ve put this in to emphasise that God “upholds and sustains them in being”. The universe incidentally is a sum zero energy universe (you can google heaps of articles on that), which effectively means that it adds up to zero or nothing.

Nothingness does not sustain intself in any form other than nothingness, so something is maintaining this universe at all times and at all points.

Now if God can do that, He’s not going to have much trouble shuffling off a rebellious spirit to His left so to speak.

As for whether God sends people to Hell, or they send themselves, I think it’s a bit of both.

Way back before He created the world, God would have searched out and foreseen the consequences of giving intelligent and moral creatures free choice, whether spiritual (angelic) or earthly (human). And He’d have realised some of His creatures would rebel, even before He instituted creation.

He had a choice - either don’t make anything, and just continue as God alone with no other company, which would be an empty existence, just Himself and nothing else for eternity. Or He could go ahead and create other beings.

Obviously He chose to do the latter.

If He’s going to make these creatures for eternal company of some sort, what’s He going to expect from them in return? Selfishness? Greed? Kill their own unborn, and call it good? War? Murder of their own kind? Cruelty, whether physical or emotional? An unwillingness to share in their common created order? Rape? Domestic violence? Manipulation of others for their own ends? Torture?

I don’t think so. So if these creatures engage and continue to engage in this behaviour, what’s He going to do about it, if they’re still going to be eternal beings?

He won’t want them polluting HIs perfect environment. So He’s going to have to create some other place to put them. The trouble is that all these evil doers are going to wind up in each other’s company for all eternity, like some enormous jail with nothing but an unbreakable wall around it, and only the most powerful of the evil beings within it able to keep discipline, by more of the same evil and cruel behaviour that put them there in the first place.

So in one sense He sends them there, and in another sense they willingly send themselves there.

It’s a bit of both.

 

[MaryHelp777]

I think the statement of people sending themselves to hell is sort of like, when people rob a bank and get caught, while it is the police that literally put you in jail, YOU actually did the action that resulted in you being in jail, the police did not send you to jail, you did, by doing something which leads to jail.

Personally though, I believe there is a moment right before your bodily death, and those moments may only be a fraction of a second in our time, it may feel like hours, this would be a persons ‘final choice’, if they truly wanted nothing to do with God and were not interested, they make their choice, but for those on the fence, they can choose Heaven, and spend that last .0003 of a second asking for Gods forgiveness.

I have read upon this…

On earth people live.with original sin, which gives us the freedom to choose evil. Or good.

At death, that choice is taken away.
We become like the angels in Heaven, and the saints in Heaven completely incapable of sin, temptation or evil.

We at death will truthfully choose where we know is where we truthfully belong

There is no denying truth before God. We will know in His presence where we belong and the answer will be logical.

 

[nodito]

The other day I took my kids to the park. While there, I saw my four-year-old son shove his little sister. I said to him, “DS, you may not hit your sister. If you hurt her again, we have to leave the park.” He looked at me, understood, and shoved her again. So I scooped him up, put them in the car, and we went home. On the drive home, he complained that I “made him leave the park.” He was wrong. I didn’t make them leave the park. I wanted to stay. It was a nice day and I had a good book and would have preferred to watch the kids play nicely while I relaxed. But DS forced my hand. He knew the choice was between hitting or staying and he chose hitting.

Yes, forfeiting heaven is infinitely worse than forfeiting a playground, but then, mortal sin is infinitely worse than a little 4 year old hitting his sister.

 

[fhansen]

Whenever I hear a priest ( or a parent for that matter) answer my questions about Hell, or talk about it, they always assure me that if people are there, it is only because they do not want heaven, or don’t want to be near God themselves. Hell is where they are “happier.”

I have heard this phrase quite often, “God sends no one to Hell, people send themselves there!”

The more I think about it… the less I am convinced it is true. I think God certainly sends people to Hell, namely those who die in a state of mortal sin (for any number of reasons.)

While I don’t know the mechanism for how God sends people to Hell (whether by opening a huge trapdoor where the sinners fall through, grabbing them and flinging them facefirst into the furnace etc.), I realize the mechanism itself does not matter. God does it, because its God’s will certain people burn forever. There simply seems (to me) no of getting around it.

God willed for Hell to exist. He could simply kill the souls of the impenitent damned, but he chooses not to. The whole “people send themselves there” smacks of the wishy-washy, Post Vatican II pseudo-Catholc teachings that became ever so popular after that council.

We can’t wash God’s hands of Hell, we cannot. We have to give God his credit for sending every soul where it truly belongs.

I feel Catholic youth need to hear this message: God is your only hope. Your not good enough without God, can never be good enough without him. Catholic youth must be taught that they had better not dissapoint or disobey God. They have no idea what will happen to them if they do so.

And Heaven help the Catholic who decides to reject God, or find another god ( or gods) they like better. Those thinking of apostasy should keep in mind, that God will hurt them if they leave Him. There is nowhere they can hide from God when he decides to come for them.

Read the definition of mortal sin. Mortal sin is a choice -with a persistent pattern of acting against love of God and neighbor.

 

[HabemusFrancis]

The other day I took my kids to the park. While there, I saw my four-year-old son shove his little sister. I said to him, “DS, you may not hit your sister. If you hurt her again, we have to leave the park.” He looked at me, understood, and shoved her again. So I scooped him up, put them in the car, and we went home. On the drive home, he complained that I “made him leave the park.” He was wrong. I didn’t make them leave the park. I wanted to stay. It was a nice day and I had a good book and would have preferred to watch the kids play nicely while I relaxed. But DS forced my hand. He knew the choice was between hitting or staying and he chose hitting.

Yes, forfeiting heaven is infinitely worse than forfeiting a playground, but then, mortal sin is infinitely worse than a little 4 year old hitting his sister.

You sound like a fantastic parent:thumbsup:.

I am sort of sorry for my over the top, tongue-in cheek description of how God might go about sending people to Hell. Several fundamentalist churches believe that is exactly how it goes actually.

I guess one of the problems I have with Hell is how people say it is necessary to encourage good behavior. I generally am a kind and personally charitable person in my dealings with other people, and have generally tried to honor my parents, since both have been quite good to me over the years.

In doing acts of love, charity and concern for others (when Im not being selfish) fear of Hell has rarely been a driving motivation. I really just thought that is the way I ought to act, and it just wouldn’t be right to do otherwise.

 

[mikekle]

I have read upon this…

On earth people live.with original sin, which gives us the freedom to choose evil. Or good.

At death, that choice is taken away.
We become like the angels in Heaven, and the saints in Heaven completely incapable of sin, temptation or evil.

We at death will truthfully choose where we know is where we truthfully belong

There is no denying truth before God. We will know in His presence where we belong and the answer will be logical.

Im not sure I believe that, My main problem is free will was a gift from God, it was given to us when we were conceived, I just dont see how a gift from God can be taken away just because your earthly body dies.

There is a verse I think supports this, its when the man in hell is asking God to let him come back and warn his relatives about the dangers, so they do not end up in hell, God tells him, even if he allowed the man to somehow warn them, they would still not believe, the fact that the man was asking God this, shows he wished to change.

 

[MaryHelp777]

Im not sure I believe that, My main problem is free will was a gift from God, it was given to us when we were conceived, I just dont see how a gift from God can be taken away just because your earthly body dies.

There is a verse I think supports this, its when the man in hell is asking God to let him come back and warn his relatives about the dangers, so they do not end up in hell, God tells him, even if he allowed the man to somehow warn them, they would still not believe, the fact that the man was asking God this, shows he wished to change.

The Bible translation is the man was in hades.

A priest in Ireland argues it was Purgatory.
Because a Soul in hell becomes like the devil’s, full of hate, incapable of good towards anyone.

Those in Heaven are incapable of sin.
Those in hell are incapable of good.

It’s the reward of Heaven never to be tempted again.
Our heavenly bodies will not carry down the bloodline from Adam with original sin. No sin can exist in Heaven.

We will be free from that tendency towards sin in Heaven

 

[ericc]

You sound like a fantastic parent:thumbsup:.

I am sort of sorry for my over the top, tongue-in cheek description of how God might go about sending people to Hell. Several fundamentalist churches believe that is exactly how it goes actually.

I guess one of the problems I have with Hell is how people say it is necessary to encourage good behavior. I generally am a kind and personally charitable person in my dealings with other people, and have generally tried to honor my parents, since both have been quite good to me over the years.

In doing acts of love, charity and concern for others (when Im not being selfish) fear of Hell has rarely been a driving motivation. I really just thought that is the way I ought to act, and it just wouldn’t be right to do otherwise.

Interestingly the OT commandments are generally couched in negative terms i.e. do not do xxx whereas NT is positive, love your neighbor. God knows all too well that behavioural responses can be motivated by various mechanisms such as reward/punishment, negative/positive commandments both have their own places. Legally minded people will twist and turn to play with words to just comply via lip service. Hence Jesus approach is really inward changing, love. Under the new covenant , works can’t get us to heaven but love and grace will.

Does God send people to hell? Depends on who is doing the arguing. Bottom line, there are only 2 places for permanent residency; heaven or hell. Nothing unclean can enter heaven. God doesn’t force or cause one to be “dirty”, we have to make ourselves dirty. Hence, if we can’t enter heaven, it must be our own fault then. The rest is just finding excuses of not being able to make it there. No one is surprised at finding themselves at the doorstep of hell. The Divine Judge knows your innermost thoughts and deeds and whether you know fully those deeds are mortal to your soul. All that will be revealed and one knows the destination one deserved. His judgement will be fair and merciful.

 

[Vico]

Im not sure I believe that, My main problem is free will was a gift from God, it was given to us when we were conceived, I just dont see how a gift from God can be taken away just because your earthly body dies.

There is a verse I think supports this, its when the man in hell is asking God to let him come back and warn his relatives about the dangers, so they do not end up in hell, God tells him, even if he allowed the man to somehow warn them, they would still not believe, the fact that the man was asking God this, shows he wished to change.

That is Lazarus and Dives in Luke 16:19–31. DIves certainly wanted to be relieved, but that does not show that **he **wants to change but that he wants **a **change.

The free will choice that we have does not extend to the power that God has but is limited in what God allows us.

The Union Councils of Lyons and of Florence declared that the souls of the just are immediately assumed into Heaven, and that the souls of those that are not descend immediately into hell. D 464, 693. And purgation ceases at the Parousia.

Denzinger 464 (Council of Lyons)
464 We believe that the true Church is holy, Catholic, apostolic, and one, in which is given one holy baptism and true remission of all sins. We believe also in the true resurrection of this flesh, which now we bear, and in eternal life. We believe also that the one author of the New and the Old Testament, of the Law, and of the Prophets and the Apostles is the omnipotent God and Lord. This is the true Catholic Faith, and this in the above mentioned articles the most holy Roman Church holds and teaches. But because of diverse errors introduced by some through ignorance and by others from evil, it (the Church) says and teaches that those who after baptism slip into sin must not be rebaptized, but by true penance attain forgiveness of their sins. Because if they die truly repentant in charity before they have made satisfaction by worthy fruits of penance for (sins) committed and omitted, their souls are cleansed after death by purgatorical or purifying punishments, as Brother John * has explained to us. And to relieve punishments of this kind, the offerings of the living faithful are of advantage to these, namely, the sacrifices of Masses, prayers, alms, and other duties of piety, which have customarily been performed by the faithful for the other faithful according to the regulations of the Church. However, the souls of those who after having received holy baptism have incurred no stain of sin whatever, also those souls who, after contracting the stain of sin, either while remaining in their bodies or being divested of them, have been cleansed, as we have said above, are received immediately into heaven. The souls of those who die in mortal sin or with original sin only, however, immediately descend to hell, yet to be punished with different punishments. The same most holy Roman Church firmly believes and firmly declares that nevertheless on the day of judgment “all” men will be brought together with their bodies “before the tribunal of Christ” “to render an account” of their own deeds [Rom. 14:10 ].

Denzinger 693 (Council of Florence)
693 De novissimis] * It has likewise defined, that, if those truly penitent have departed in the love of God, before they have made satisfaction by the worthy fruits of penance for sins of commission and omission, the souls of these are cleansed after death by purgatorial punishments; and so that they may be released from punishments of this kind, the suffrages of the living faithful are of advantage to them, namely, the sacrifices of Masses, prayers, and almsgiving, and other works of piety, which are customarily performed by the faithful for other faithful according to the institutions of the Church. And that the souls of those, who after the reception of baptism have incurred no stain of sin at all, and also those, who after the contraction of the stain of sin whether in their bodies, or when released from the same bodies, as we have said before, are purged, are immediately received into heaven, and see clearly the one and triune God Himself just as He is, yet according to the diversity of merits, one more perfectly than another. Moreover, the souls of those who depart in actual mortal sin or in original sin only, descend immediately into hell but to undergo punishments of different kinds [see n.464].

 

[Protestor]

The more I think about it… the less I am convinced it is true. I think God certainly sends people to Hell, namely those who die in a state of mortal sin (for any number of reasons.)

I love moments when I can agree with people on this site.

 

[HabemusFrancis]

I love moments when I can agree with people on this site.

Its not that I agree with what I wrote. It just seems that way. I count myself a Catholic, and I try to keep in touch with God and the Church, but I do acknowledge that there are parts of God that seem quite problematic and difficult to accept.

I just feel a bit exasperated that there are people out there who can serenley say God as presented by the Church, makes perfect sense, and at any level is not hard to… take in.

I seem to recall somewhere Tim Staples, a noted Catholic apologist stated that Hell in a funny way is a mercy, since it isn’t nearly the punishment that even one mortal sin deserves. That line of thinking definitley seems to be an interpretation. Why even stop at mortal? According to the protestants, Hell is the just wages of *any * sin, whether mortal or venial.

Also, if that is mercy, I would love to know what the “just punishment is.”

If anyone is familiar with Game of Thrones, this whole “Hell as a mercy” business reminds me somewhat of the sort of things Ramsay Bolton, said to his captive Theon Greyjoy. Ramsay basically captured Theon and tortured him horribly, slowly flaying his fingers before cutting them off, starving him and knocking his teeth out.

He told Theon how merciful he was, that he could easily have skinned Theon’s face off or ripped his tongue out for the things he said. Ramsay showed mercy to Theon by only removing a few toes, when he could easily have removed both feet.

 

[MaryHelp777]

Read Gloria polo’s testimony online.
She was hit by lightning and saw Heaven,Purgatory and hell. Her destination was hell because she had become aetheists, arranged abortions, gone to tarot card readers, used contraception, encouraged an old woman to leave the catholic church (who later died without the Sacraments),
It is a fascinating read.

She changed her life after her experience and a daughter she later had became a nun.

She has a book available for ebook download from Amazon.com called “Struck by lightning, standing before the judgement,” by Gloria Polo

 

[HabemusFrancis]

Read Gloria polo’s testimony online.
She was hit by lightning and saw Heaven,Purgatory and hell. Her destination was hell because she had become aetheists, arranged abortions, gone to tarot card readers, used contraception, encouraged an old woman to leave the catholic church (who later died without the Sacraments),
It is a fascinating read.

She changed her life after her experience and a daughter she later had became a nun.

She has a book available for ebook download from Amazon.com called “Struck by lightning, standing before the judgement,” by Gloria Polo

I will read it.I myself narrowly avoided buying a deck of tarot cards, thanks to the advice of several kind people on this forum. In fact I purchased “Dark Night of the Soul” instead! Funny enough, after I purchased it and read, my desire/fascination with tarot dissapeared .My question is, how was Hell her destination if she did not die? God giving her one last mercy?

Further, I seem to recall our Lady of Fatima stating that “sins of the flesh” are the ones most responsible for sending souls to Hell. Out of the Seven deadly sins, the sin of lust is the one that causes most people to be damned? God’s ways are truly mysterious. I used to think the only truly abhorrent “sin of the flesh” was rape and child molestation. I suspect however, Our Lady was not referring to those sins exactly, more likely garden variety fornication, prostitution and adultery.

I wonder why it is that lust is the most Hell bound of sins? It is hard to believe that Saddam Hussein, Jeffrey Dahmer and Hitler share the same fate as “those kind of girls” you meet in dive bars. Yet God’s will be done, not my own.

I will not leave the Church of course, or truly become an atheist. I am well aware that I am a daily source of outrage and irritation to God, but it is only in his infinite mercy that I have not (as far as I know) been sentenced to roast in Hell like a hot kebab:blush:.