Those who live in the Bay are familiar with the story that this article addresses. (click the stinkin link and then peruse the comments for full effect, or stop reading because without context the rest of this post is gibberish) However, what I found interesting were the comments. I love the SFGATE comment feature because you can get a real feel for the eclectic world view of the Bay Area by reading through the comments on any given article.
The race tinged hatred of many of the comments was telling. But what I would like to focus on is the number of people who either expressed a desire that Lovelle would rot in hell, or stated as fact that he was there now suffering for eternity for the crimes he had committed while in the flesh. I found this interesting because I am sure that the people who were commenting as such would not identify themselves as religious (based on observation of the general attitude of the SFGATE commenting community towards religion), nor would the explicitly identify as Christian. Yet they overwhelming find comfort in knowing or believing that this life is not all that there is and that evil doers will be brought to justice in eternity.
One of the reasons that Christ's eventual victory over our enemy Death is so important is that Death levels the playing field in a manner that is cruel and unjust. If both the righteous and the unrighteous die and then simply cease to exist then God is unjust. Go out and indulge in as much wickedness as you heart desires, destroy other people's lives, and then put a bullet through your own head and you will never have to suffer for what you have done. But if one day all will be raised bodily, the righteous to eternal life, and the unrighteous to eternal torment and suffering, then God is just. What hell is, where it is, or who will be there I do not know. That it does exist is comforting to me because it assures me that one day justice will be served, every tear will be wiped away, every victim will be comforted, and the wicked will be punished.
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Another interesting fact about people in the Bay Area is that among those who believe in the afterlife, almost all are very sure that they will end up in some version of Heaven. They also believe that almost everyone they know will be there,too, even people who really have messed up in this life. They reserve their thoughts about Hell for poeple whose behavior shocks or appalls them. If asked, they really don't have an authoritative source for their ideas. Maybe this is true of people all around the country.
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