On the Nature and
Essence of Forgiveness and Eternity
The three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam along with countless other faith traditions and philosophies have
sought to address the grand concept of eternity and its central meaning within
existence. The task of explaining eternity presents an arduous challenge since
its essence is infinitely great for a mere mortal harboring a mind of limited
proportions to fully comprehend and appreciate. The eclectic global religions
who seemingly borrowing elements from ancient polytheistic mythologies have
devised their own narrative accounts of an individual’s ultimate fate upon
death usually involving reward or punishment primarily on the basis of karma.
Strict adherents of a particular faith would be inclined to defend their
religious dogma of an indefinite heaven or hell for those who apparently
deserve it. Nevertheless none seem to fully realize what eternity would encompass
even if such individuals claim out of sheer vain on the basis of their faith.
The Abrahamic monotheisms possess differing yet similar
accounts of reward and punishment upon the death of an individual’s physical
body. The idea of heaven is an eternal state of paradise and happiness where
those who lead a good and benevolent life are destined for while the idea of
hell is a place of eternal torment, agony, misery, and misfortune for the
wicked ones who lived a life of sin and evil. Those who are rewarded a place in
heaven are eternally blessed while those who are punished in the flames of hell
are eternally damned for all of eternity until the end of time. But is it so?
Does the human mind really envision an eternity of inflicting everlasting
punishment and anguish for those who seemingly deserve it on the basis of their
actions they have committed during the course of their limited lifetime? Or as
the old and familiar saying goes, does time heal all wounds? Such a thought
provoking question begs a serious philosophical discussion.
All of the billions of human beings that have ever been here
on Earth, lived only for a limited time. With the exception of some living a
little more than a century, no human has ever lived long enough for even an
insignificant fraction of a percentage of the four and a half billion year
duration of the planet’s existence. Furthermore no single human being ever in
all of history has lived or endured a “perfect” life free of guilt and
wrongdoing. Every single one of us are guilty of some form of transgression or
“sin” as the monotheistic religions would describe in one way or another. The
idea that some actions though finite in proportion may warrant an eternity in
damnation is one that should be questionable and dealt with by simple common
sense.
There are perhaps an endless variety of wrongdoings that the
human mind can conjecture. Such wrongs or transgressions can be placed on a
spectrum that characterizes the intensity of the offense. They can range
anywhere from a simple impolite word to smacking someone across the cheek to
robbery to actual murder and even to the most heinous crime which is none other
than perhaps genocide. But regardless of the severity of the criminal action,
no such ‘evil’ is of infinite proportion. There are undoubtedly crimes that are
grotesquely abominable but even the most monstrous and heinous ones are all
limited in scope and magnitude. As a knee-jerk reaction to such horrific
crimes, it is psychologically common to respond in a way of extreme anger and
vetting that often desires and wishes vengeance upon the wrongdoer with expressions
that involve the inherent absurdity of eternal damnation.
The ancient ideologies have beheld a variety of differing
principles regarding appropriate punishment towards any individual wrongdoers.
The most commonly well-known concept is the law of retaliation or the more
familiar phrase “an eye for an eye”. Such a rule was enacted by the ancient
Code of Hammurabi which is known to predate the Hebrew bible. The idea was
later passed onward for generations to come as its emergence was noted in
several biblical verses. Simply put the principle of an “eye for an eye”
essentially states that the punishment must fit in proportion and magnitude
towards the particular crime. Even if such an ethical precept is assumed to be
true, the doctrine itself would effectively and conceptually nullify the
biblical rule of eternal damnation. For someone to deserve an eternity of
torment, anguish, and punishment would require the individual to commit an
offense of infinite proportion for which there is no such thing.
Everyone of us has committed an offense. Perfection is not
confined within any particular individual. Every particular wrongdoing we
commit is limited and therefore cannot be extended to a perpetual psychological
state of forever hating someone. An interesting point to conjecture is that
each of our wrongdoings can be idealistically represented by mathematics and to
estimate how long each offense could take in principle to actually be forgiven.
For that very reason, it is thereby here assuming that all
things are equal in proportions, where I have conceptually concocted a somewhat
humorous and simple mathematical equation that can estimate the approximate duration
of time it would theoretically take to forgive a crime, specifically one that
involves the wrongdoing of homicide. The equation is preceded by a formal
theorem that I have mentally self-conceived. The theorem which is known as the
Forgiveness Theorem harbors two central axioms.
The Forgiveness
Theorem:
1. No crime or
wrongdoing is infinite in scope and proportion. All crimes and wrongdoings are
finite in magnitude.
2. Given enough time
any crime committed or even imagined is theoretically capable of being forgiven
by anyone.
The equation therefore
is as follows:
Time duration for
Forgiveness = Number of Victims x Number
of Years to forgive per victim.
Let us assume for the sake of argument that some stranger
murdered someone I knew and loved whether it be a relative or a friend. How
many years will it take me to forgive? Honestly speaking for virtually any
average person, it will be probably take at most a hundred years to forgive another
for murdering one particular person. In that case, one should theoretically ‘forgive’
the transgressor after a mere century. For two victims it would take two
centuries, for ten a thousand years, and so on. Yet the average person can
often be heard replying “I’ll never ever forgive the person who killed my
family member! I hope that person will burn in hell for all of eternity!” But
will the victim’s relative really out of sheer vengeance or desire wish an ‘eternity’
of torment upon the wrongdoer for just a single crime of murder? It could be
that perhaps when someone insists “I’ll never ever forgive” is really just
another way of greatly exaggerating their true intentions of saying that “I
will not forgive you for a very very long time”. Desiring and wishing an
eternity of endless torture, pain, misery and agony upon someone else is
infinitely worse than the crime that the individual inflicted upon in the first
place.
Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
To further explore this conceptual equation formula, let’s
consider a thought experiment by applying it to perhaps the most vile, vicious,
heinous, and despicable human being to ever walk the Earth. That person who
easily comes to mind is that insane shithead and disgusting animal from Austria
who is none other than the all-powerful fuhrer of Nazi Germany or the Third
Reich, Adolf Hitler! The existence of Hitler, who in his finite lifetime
initiated the second World War and was the central force behind one of the
largest and horrific genocides in modern history that is the Holocaust poses an
extreme scenario behind this conundrum of eternity and justice. Without
question his crimes were beyond reprehensible and appalling to human
imagination and would easily nominate him for the supreme douchebag of the
universe who is most deserving of an everlasting eternity of divine punishment!
But even Hitler’s crimes which involved millions of deaths in the Holocaust as
well as millions more in World War II, are finite in proportion. Statistics
indicate that anywhere from 50 million to perhaps 85 million people perished
during the Second World War including the victims of the Holocaust. Assuming
that for each and every single life lost it will take a century to forgive, the
hypothetical ‘forgiveness equation’ would calculate an approximate average of
about 5 to 8 ½ billion years to forgive. Though several billion years is an
unfathomably long period of time, it is never close enough in the slightest
amount to what the full extent of ‘eternity’ would entail. The average person
would often express his or her utmost hatred towards Hitler and his minions by
saying something like: “Hitler and the Nazis were evil scumbags who will never
be forgiven! I hope they all burn in hell and get tortured by Satan and his
demons forever and ever and ever for the rest of eternity!!” The central
problem behind this banal pattern of thinking lies within the context of
eternity. Since it is impossible for a mere mind to grasp the concept of
eternity in its entirety, no mortal could ever possibly imagine an eternity of
endless torture.
If one would possibly object to the obvious fact that
eternity itself carries forth a paradox then consider the following imaginative
scenario involving Hitler himself. After being cast into the realm of hellfire
that will leave him with a punishment of terrible agony, torture and pain, he
is left there for an unimaginably long period of time.
One hundred billion years later! I mean that in the literal
sense of the term! A period of 100 billion (100,000,000,000) years, which is
several times the current age of the universe (13.7 billion years) passes by.
Imagine enduring that length of time. One surely would be incapable of grasping
what it will be like to experience such a prodigiously lengthy duration of time
to flow by unless one single-handedly experiences it first-hand. At this point
the Sun has long since burned out tens of billions of years earlier. The Earth
assuming it still exists is now nothing but a cold deserted and barren
wasteland. The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies have merged together long ago.
The distant galaxies beyond the Milky Way and local group have expanded way
beyond the cosmic horizon and are no longer visible within the scope of the
observable universe. The descendants of mankind if they are still on the radar
have most likely colonized the entire observable universe several times over.
Two individuals walk past the chamber of hellfire and
witness Hitler burning there. It has been a hundred billion years since the
last time they saw him.
Individual A says: “Hey look it’s Hitler! That despicable
bastard! Do you remember what he did a hundred billion years ago?!! That is
World War 2 and the Holocaust?!!”
Individual B (Looking confused): “Eh... wait what? World War
2? The holo...what? I don’t remember any of that or such a thing at all. In
fact I’ve forgotten anything from even a billion years ago, never mind a
hundred! Can you please remind me again why is he still being tortured?”
Individual A: “Oh yeah I don’t remember either but who cares
let’s still torture him baby! Right on!”
Individual B: “Um...sure
ok...even though I don’t see any purpose at this point on.”
Individual A: “There is most certainly no purpose from now
on, but he still must burn for eternity! Just keep him there to fry and suffer!”
Individual B: “Ok but...I fail to see any point to his
continued suffering.”
Individual A: “Just keep on burning and torturing him
goddamn it! It’s that simple!”
The scenario described would clearly be problematic on so
many levels. First of all, is it remotely possible that these two random
individuals will remember anything from billions of years ago? Common sense can
easily indicate that it is highly unlikely that even Hitler’s name will be faintly
recognized to say the least. Although one could still in principle argue that
some crimes can never in fact be redeemed regardless of the amount of time
endured, it is far more probable that crimes or wrongdoings will rather be
forgotten instead of merely being forgiven eventually after the passing of
enough time. As the old metaphorical saying goes, “Time heals all wounds” or
are there exceptions to the age old phrase? Anyone with the slightest amount of
basic reasoning can perceive the situation involving the reaction of the two
random individuals especially the first one to be inherently fallacious. A
hundred billion years is an incomprehensibly long period of time that a mind
cannot fully understand unless one literally experiences it. No one by
definition has the authority to describe enduring an extraordinary period of
eons on the magnitude unless one has genuinely experienced it flow by.
Strict religious fundamentalists would be enthusiastic to
defend the idea of an eternal hell often adhering to their sacred texts and
would passively search for biblical verses in defense of their extreme sadistic
views. But it is highly unlikely that even the most ardent religious fanatic
would sincerely believe in a vicious idea of an eternity of everlasting
damnation. If one would still object then let’s consider an extension to the
original scenario itself.
Eventually another 100 billion years passes by! This
essentially adds up to a total of 200 billion years of torture and torment for
Hitler! At this point the problem is clearly self-evident. Isn’t 200 billion
years of suffering for Hitler excessive and enough? Nothing lasts forever.
Eventually everything must come to an end including an individual’s suffering
and torment. The same two individuals reappear and their upcoming response is
one of hysteria and interesting.
Individual A: “Well look what we have here! It’s um...yea
Hitler! That worthless son of a bitch deserves what he’s receiving for the way
he treated his victims in World War 2 and the Holocaust!”
Individual B: “Dude what in bejesus name is World War 2 and
the Holocaust?! When the heck did such a thing even happen? How do you even
remember such a thing?! I don’t remember any of those at all! Yo man this shit
ain’t cool anymore! Yo ding dong yo!”
Individual A: “I...but...I....hey I actually....think you’re
right....buddy pal...this shit definitely ain’t cool at all. Yo ding dong yo!”
Individual B: “I think we should just forgive him and let
him off. All of his victims whoever they were have long since forgiven him and
they’re up there in heaven now hoping to reconcile. I think God himself would
forgive him.”
Individual A: “Yea I agree. Let’s just forgive him baby!”
The two individuals walk to the chamber where Hitler is.
They release him and all three hug each other.
Individual A: “Listen whoever you are Hitler, we forgive
you. Whatever you did it was a shit long time ago! We forgive you now.”
Individual B: “I’m sure everyone else who suffered from you
has long since forgiven you.”
Hitler: “I’ve finally repented many billions of years ago. I
have been awaiting for this moment to reconcile to heaven and all of the
victims who suffered at my inhumanity.”
The two individuals and Hitler go back to heaven and all of
the victims of World War 2 and the Holocaust from billions of years ago have
reconciled and are thus forgiven. God finally granted Hitler amnesty for his
sins committed eons ago.
So there we have it. If an unimaginable monster and
disgusting evil individual like Hitler does not deserve eternity in torment
then who does? The most assured answer is that no one deserves to be punished
and tortured endlessly regardless of the crimes committed. Nobody deserves an
eternity of everlasting torment for a finite lifetime of wrongdoings. Not you,
not me, not that jerk who you hate, not Hitler, and not even the Devil/Satan.
An eternity of punishment is infinitely immoral and unjust.
No actually if 200 billion years of torture isn’t enough for
Hitler how about 500 trillion years? What about 700 quadrillion? If not how
about 100 quintillion? Why not wait until the final supermassive black hole
evaporates in a googol (10^100) years from now?
Take a minute and sit back and try to grasp exactly what
“eternity” even means. Don’t try it! I repeat do not even try it! Do not even
try to try to pretend to understand “eternity”! Imagine billions of years
followed by hundreds of trillions and quadrillions and quintillions of years
passing by and nowhere are you near eternity! Multiply that by a googol years
and even by a googolplex (10^googol) and nowhere are you near eternity! The
concept of eternity is patently absurd and serves as an embarrassing and
humiliating theme for monotheistic religions to even attempt to address to its
followers!
Consider the list of victims to see how long it could
theoretically take to forgive a list of some of the worst crimes ever committed
in the history of humanity. The simple idea is that all crimes regardless of
the severity or heinousness are limited and therefore forgivable after enough
time passes by.
Below is a Table chart of some of the worst crimes and the
approximate time duration for forgiveness:
Name of Crime/Perpetrator
|
Number of Victims
|
Time to forgive (100 years/victim)
|
Time to forgive (1,000 years/victim)
|
Suicide bombings
|
~50-100
|
5,000 – 10,000
years
|
50,000 – 100,000
years
|
Oklahoma City
Bombing (Timothy McVeigh)
|
168
|
16,800 years
|
168,000 years
|
9/11 attacks (Osama
Bin Laden)
|
~3,000
|
300,000 years
|
3 million years
|
Saddam Hussein’s
Regime crimes
|
~100,000 – 300,000?
|
10 – 30 million
years
|
100 – 300 million
years
|
Idi Amin’s Regime
crimes
|
~300,000 – 500,000
|
30 – 50 million
years
|
300 – 500 million
years
|
The Holocaust
(Hitler and the Nazis)
|
~11-17 million
|
1.1-1.7 billion
years
|
11-17 billion years
|
Genghis Khan’s
Mongol Conquests
|
~45 million
|
4.5 billion years
|
45 billion years
|
Stalin’s Communist
Regime
|
~30 to 60 million
|
3 – 6 billion years
|
30 – 60 billion
years
|
One of the early Christian theologians, Origen of Alexandria
expressed belief in a doctrine known as Apocatastasis in which he himself
devised. The theological principle stresses that eventually after enough time,
all sinners and wrongdoers including the devil and his fallen angels will be
restored to grace and be reconciled with all others in heaven. The torment and
fires of hell are not eternal but rather corrective in punishment much
analogous to the process of purifying gold. Other Christian thinkers including
St. Gregory of Nyssa and Clement of Alexandria expressed similar beliefs in universal
reconciliation.
In order for anyone to sincerely believe that a place like
hell even if it exists is truly and literally everlasting with no shred of hope
of redemption for any crime or wrongdoing of finite proportion, one must
believe that no matter for how long whether it be until every star burns out in
the universe in a 100 trillion years or until the last supermassive black hole
evaporates via hawking radiation (after a googol or 10100 years), or
even until the literal absolute end of space and time after endless eons, that
the transgressor will never be pardoned even after having repented and asked
for forgiveness trillions of times over where his or her victims have long
since forgiven the transgressor. My personal take is that only a non-existent
being of infinite psychopathy and lunacy could possibly believe and firmly hold
unto such an absurd nonsense.
