Torment for Ignorance?

The classic case of bad religion is the teaching that God sends all people to hell even if they have never heard any testimony of Jesus.  Romans talks about there is a place for seeing creation and coming to the conclusion that the must be a God... somewhere, by some name.. unknown.  Well that's pretty limited.  So what of him or her.  They die. As millions have.  Where do they end up?  They end up in the grave.  Dead.  Eternal life is not theirs.  But neither is eternal torment.  They are those of no stripes.  They have eternity without God.  Dead.  Perished.

Consider this.  You are a person who grows up in the back desert of Tibet.  You are never even exposed to anything close to the truth of the Gospel.  You may have some religious leanings, but pretty much you are totally unexposed.  You die.  IF you were to go into torment.. with what or how would the demons torment you?  You are not guilty of anything.  You never heard the truth at any level.  You do not however inherit eternal life.  That is reserved for Believers from the moment they believe.

On the other hand, you are a person raised in the heartland of the USA.  Dragged to Sunday School.  Sat thru sermons. Witnessed to by friends and relations.  You out of hand reject all of that. You think it is a bunch of fiction and reject it out of hand.  Now you die.   You now will expereice the rejection, torment, pain and seperation from God you could have had.  Hell is that. It's alone.  It's dark. And the demons cry out YOU FOOL.  YOU COULD HAVE HAD HEAVEN.  NOW YOUR ARE TRAPPED HERE FOREVER WITH US.

I use the following passage from Luke 12 to help explain this.  Highlights are mine.

35 “ Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. 36 Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. 38 Whether he comes in the  second watch, or even in the  third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 39 “But  be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be  broken into. 40 You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not  expect.” 41 Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his  servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that slave whom his  master finds so doing when he comes. 44 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; 46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. 47 And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of  a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Do you see?  You are responsible for the light you receive and are rewarded (Punished) by how much you carry.  I pity the one who has heard and even at one time tried to walk with God.. but now has rejected Him fully.  His stripes will be MANY in hell.

Hell is NOT the same for all people --- by the way, neither is heaven.. but that's another story