Sounds about right to me, dear wagglebee! Sometimes I just think such folks are experiencing the same kind of terror that comes when ones is trying to "whistle past the graveyard"....
Satan's work always goes to an "inversion of Reality."
Pascal's Wager is particularly addressed to people who are tempted by such an inversion. Who do not seem to realize that simply "wishing God away" doesn't make God "go away." He is still there, no matter what these people want to be otherwise.
And His Judgement will catch up with them, sooner or later.
We try to warn them. They do not listen.
And if they think I'm wrong about this, the risk they bear for not heeding to "my mistake" is all their own to absorb and bear — with fatal consequences to themselves, now and forevermore.
Thank you so very much for your outstanding essay/post!
I learned long ago, and I make sure my kids understand this as well -
you can’t debate someone to salvation.