I’m just sitting at my computer, shaking my head that someone can think this way.
And that comparison is terrible.
And “nicer” is a terrible way to try and describe the difference between a rapist/murder and someone who isn’t convinced that Jesus was resurrected and is the son of God.
And some people in this thread wonder why I think religion is a terrible, terrible thing.
It actually makes a tremendous deal of sense. Imagine a person born into terrible circumstances, abused, exposed to drugs, etc. All he knows is violence and he acts accordingly. One day, he truly repents, asks Jesus for forgiveness.
Then you have a person born into relative privilege and benefits accordingly. S/he doesn’t believe in Christianity and acts like a fairly decent person. It doesn’t make sense the person had it easy gets a pass into heaven, basically by luck.
I understand your point that it doesn’t seem fair to condemn someone who is basically a good person. However sinful one may be, not accepting Jesus seems such a superficial fault. (The better versed to explain what that isn’t the case). I do wonder (and I have heard Christians wonder as well) whether God makes an allowance for those who find it difficult to accept the Bible/Jesus. I can see why it makes sense not to say that up front, since then people would feel free to ignore the Bible and just “be a good person,” however that makes sense to them.
What has been irreconcilable to me is the idea that you have to accept the Bible/Jesus in order for it to make sense, as that seems fairly backward.