(March 11, 2016 at 11:20 pm)bennyboy Wrote:(March 11, 2016 at 10:35 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: You are not wrong:Okay, let's say an Italian mobster kills dozens of people. They do not have the chance to confess-- and if they were hard of heart at the time of their deaths, they will be separated from goodness and love, and will be in Hell, whether that's a place or a spiritual state or whatever. Then the mobster, after sending dozens to hell, confesses on death's bed, with his heart full of goodness and love. He's going to Heaven, right?
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/18/arts/h...gewanted=1
What we believe is that, since God is goodness and love, we truly reject Him by rejecting those things. So separation from God in the afterlife means you have chosen to turn away from goodness and love. You have completely hardened your heart. You have nothing but hate and contempt. That's miserable for a human because we were made for love, and we need it to be happy. That's what the majority of us consider "Hell" now a days.
See, this is the thing-- Christians keep talking about free will, but not about victims whose free will is superceded by that of their attackers. They lose their chance for salvation, and this in itself should be enough to condemn their attackers-- no matter how many indulgences they can afford to pay for, or how sincerely they beg for forgiveness at their lives' end.
One more thing-- WHY can't you see that the constantly evolving positions of the Catholic church demonstrate that the institution is based on made-up fairy tales?
You can feel remorse without getting the chance to go to confession. And you can go to confession without actually feeling remorse. It's what's in the person's heart that matters.
As for your last question, that actually doesn't bother me. Over time, we come to learn more and understand more, through what we believe to be the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh