Of course I believed in hell. Obviously. After visiting Auschwitz, who doesn’t? If hell can be on earth, hell can be in death. And after visiting Auschwitz, hell seemed more of certainty than heaven. Because I was 21 years old and there had to be justice. If there is no hell, then everything is permitted. Then Hitler is the same as you and the same as me, and he is laughing because now he’s only watching the game. There had to be a hell, and my friend had to make it personal.
Dostoevsky had the right conclusion: everything is permitted — but not because God is dead. Everything is permitted because we are free. We are free to ravage other men, to reap misery and destruction. But we are also free to be heroes, to make choices that correspond to the greatest capacities within us, to give our lives for others, to find meaning even when — precisely when — evil has its moment, to turn tragedy into triumph.
5 comments:
Is my life lived as if Heaven and Hell are real? Sadly, no.
Great link.
We can ALL live a better life (moral) can't we, Allen?
I know I could ...
Brilliant link, tiger.
Thank you for the link Mr. Tiger. I will share the article with my students who are sleeping in a womb of personal entitlement and ignorance. Discussing the horror of VT, I asked them about Columbine. They did not know/remember about it. They listen to their I-Pods-not even to the MSM! My students believe they are extraordinary and untouchable. I have frequently seen the question on BLOGS: "What will it take to wake people up?" Probably an event evil enough to kill them after the enlightenment just the Holocaust.
Ya gotta believe in something better than yourself or this crazy life on earth becomes meaningless!
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