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"All we have to remember is that God is just. I rest my case."

Your response clearly reflects a lifetime of wisdom. I have been regretting that post a bit since I wrote it. But it reflects my feelings nonetheless. Let me see if I can explain why. I am a prosecutor and deal with criminals all day from murderers to petty drug offenders. Every day I see people get in front of judges and say insincere things that always seem to lessen their punishments. Here is an extemporaneous top 10:

1. "I was running with the wrong crowd"

2. "I made poor decisions"

3. "You'll never see me in this court again"

4. "Please don't send me to prison and take me away from my family*" (*they never say their family consists of 5 children and 4 "baby-mommas")

5. "I am an drug addict, not a [murderer, rapist, armed robber, burglar, or all of the above]"

6. "I was abused as a child"

7. "I am a follower, not a leader"

8. "I only stole those [cars, motorcycles, four-wheelers, tools, quarters, sex toys] because I could not find a job"

9. "If I had only had family support I would not be a [drug dealer, burglar, rapist, serial indecent exposer]"

10. "I shot those two pimps in the back of the head in self defense"

Why judges buy this I will never understand. But they do.

Of course those that get to make excuses to the judge are but a small part of those who commit crimes. Many are not caught. We know who many are, but do not have enough admissible evidence to arrest and/or prosecute them. Many (more than the public wants to know) are acquitted by juries because the juries never get to hear the most damning evidence. Far fewer than half ever face our justice system, and far fewer still get the sentence my conception of justice demands. In short, the law is not justice, it is a process. That process rarely leads to real justice. We only nibble away at the edges.

Divine justice, in theory (as I have yet to see it in practice), is quite unlike our legal system in that it is perfect. No proof beyond a reasonable doubt is required. No hearsay is allowed. No jury, no closing arguments. The Lord looks into the soul of the accused and knows, with divine perfection, whether the person deserves Heaven or Hell. Such perfection can not be matched by any system designed by man.

It seems quite unjust that a person could kill and rape their way through life and, at the last minute, repent and go to heaven anyway. That the victim of the crime I referred to in my original post could ultimately find herself in heaven with those who killed her as she begged for mercy is unthinkable. I have also learned enough about human nature to know that the kind of people who kill and rape their way through life do not repent. Maybe one in a million truly repents of their sins before they die, be it in "Old Sparky", the lethal injection room, or at the hands of their fellow criminals.

I suspect that, for my own good, I need to learn to wish even the cruelest earthly criminal should repent and avoid Hell. I am glad to know you are nearing that point yourself. But right now, I do not see how one so cruel as the murdering rapist I originally referred to should ever deserve heaven. I can not yet bring myself to hope that, if I get to Heaven, I find Hitler, Idi Amin, Joseph Stalin, and Chairman Mao waiting for me with now-enlightened outlooks on life. They all caused so much pain, how could eternity in paradise ever be theirs? I know that no one with any true religious beliefs could do what they did, but, in theory, they could be there. Perhaps when I learn to love even them, I will have a shot at Heaven myself. I admit I am not there yet.

I am Catholic and have the concept of Purgatory to help me deal with this perceived injustice. Even that is not enough. Perhaps, if I am blessed with 72 years on earth, I will be able to deal with this as well. I can only hope.