You're just hit on why Catholic Purgatory is considered theistic fanfic by the rest of Christianity, though - there is no basis whatsoever as far as the actual canon goes, and it, like so much of Catholicism's awesomeness, stems from a bunch of priests trying to resolve the issue in the most palatable way possible. (Also, without purgatory, stillborn babies go to hell. Imagine being in the position of telling the mother of a stillborn baby that, by the way, not only was her kid dead but it hadn't gone on to a "better place" so much as one of eternal burning agony. Incentive!)
But my favorite idea is one that I came up with myself back when I was a theist: to just make Heaven the sort of place where no one truly evil could really be happy. No outlandish sensual delights, just peace, equality, and modest prosperity for everyone – a Marxist-styled Heaven. Just let it be impossible to hurt others or raise yourself up above anyone else. That would drive them crazy. And if they ever grew to the point that they could enjoy it, that would probably in and of itself mean that they had earned it.
The problem is that this ends up begging the question of why God can't just make the current world be that way. With the traditional Heaven/Hell setup, God comes off as a total bastard, but it at least justifies why people can do bad on Earth without any apparent punishment, since Earth is just the current sorting ground and good/evil is determined by action.
(Admittedly the traditional begs its own set of questions, like, if a sadistic child murderer type was scared of Hell and so never committed actual crimes and led a blameless life, what exactly would their heaven experience entail?)
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Date: 2007-09-09 03:27 am (UTC)But my favorite idea is one that I came up with myself back when I was a theist: to just make Heaven the sort of place where no one truly evil could really be happy. No outlandish sensual delights, just peace, equality, and modest prosperity for everyone – a Marxist-styled Heaven. Just let it be impossible to hurt others or raise yourself up above anyone else. That would drive them crazy. And if they ever grew to the point that they could enjoy it, that would probably in and of itself mean that they had earned it.
The problem is that this ends up begging the question of why God can't just make the current world be that way. With the traditional Heaven/Hell setup, God comes off as a total bastard, but it at least justifies why people can do bad on Earth without any apparent punishment, since Earth is just the current sorting ground and good/evil is determined by action.
(Admittedly the traditional begs its own set of questions, like, if a sadistic child murderer type was scared of Hell and so never committed actual crimes and led a blameless life, what exactly would their heaven experience entail?)