When Hell Isn’t Enough: Why Are We Not Criminals, But Total Pricks?
Tell me if this sounds familiar: You’re driving down the fast lane on an expressway. It doesn’t take long for you to reach another vehicle driving at the same speed as the vehicles on the left. You flashed your headlights, put on your signals, and still that god-damn vehicle doesn’t move.
Deep down, you wonder how the hell the driver got their driver’s license. But at the same time, you’re pretty sure that whoever they are, though their horrible pricks who shouldn’t be driving, they’re not a criminal.
What I’m describing here is a form of moral discrepancy. Most of us aren’t criminals. But we’re total jackasses: we litter inconsiderably, park our cars horribly while taking up two spaces instead of one, smoke in non-smoking areas, and cut queues.
Interestingly, this “discrepancy” is relatable to myths about the afterlife. Murderers and rapists get sent to hell. Saints who spent their entire life helping starving children get sent to heaven.
But what about the rest?
People who litter and clog up the fast lane don’t seem to belong in hell. They’re jerks, but surely their deeds don’t qualify as cardinal sins. What about the…