I think this is one of many things that just make more sense if you decide that it was made up for human purposes.
A Christian acquaintance told me about hosting a Cambodian family when they came to America. He said their favorite concept from Christianity was hell. Without a notion of hell, they would have to believe that Pol Pot and his henchmen got away with everything they did to their people.
I don't think of retribution as a very good moral cause, but human beings sometimes have a powerful emtional need to feel that justice will be done or that some balance of misdeeds will be corrected. "You cannot DO that to me!" is a feeling that can burn inside someone for ages. "Kiss the hand you cannot bite and pray that someday God will break it." People who cannot take vengeance themselves want to believe that there will be divine justice in the long run.
Sorry, this is a bit simplified, and poorly organized and written. Try to focus on the central idea. Religion is IMO made up to address certain human needs, and this is just one example.
This is Aristopheles on a defective browser
A Christian acquaintance told me about hosting a Cambodian family when they came to America. He said their favorite concept from Christianity was hell. Without a notion of hell, they would have to believe that Pol Pot and his henchmen got away with everything they did to their people.
I don't think of retribution as a very good moral cause, but human beings sometimes have a powerful emtional need to feel that justice will be done or that some balance of misdeeds will be corrected. "You cannot DO that to me!" is a feeling that can burn inside someone for ages. "Kiss the hand you cannot bite and pray that someday God will break it." People who cannot take vengeance themselves want to believe that there will be divine justice in the long run.
Sorry, this is a bit simplified, and poorly organized and written. Try to focus on the central idea. Religion is IMO made up to address certain human needs, and this is just one example.