Hell doesn't add up

Two weeks ago, I reminded you that as we hit the home stretch for Tales of the Vuduri, I won't have time to truly flesh out all the Big Ideas I had for the novel The Milk Run. Instead, I am presenting some capsule summaries of the motivation behind a subset of those ideas. Today I want to expound on my personal philosophy of doing good, doing bad and whether you can go to Hell. Mostly I am thinking of the Catholic/Dante's Inferno model of Heaven, Hell, Purgatory and Limbo.

It is my opinion that it is just plain silly to believe that a person is born and tested for, say, 70 years and depending upon the results of that test sent to Heaven or Hell for all of eternity. It seems so unbalanced. If there is a soul and we are judged, there has to be some way to balance the books after we move on. Here is MASAL's take on the whole issue:

     MASAL sighed. “Everything is given a life and the way they live it is up to them. Whether they live a good life or bad by your measure, it’s their gain or loss. Contrary to what they told you, there is no one judging you. I suppose I did not spend my time as well as I could have. But there is no divine retribution. The gods upstairs…” MASAL emphasized his words by pointing up. “They simply don’t care.”
     Aason looked somewhat disappointed as MASAL continued. “Look, Aason, there is no good. There is no bad. Up top, they just call it seasoning. It gives our souls better flavor. We’re nothing but nourishment for them.”
     “So you’re saying there is no punishment for doing bad whatsoever? No, what’s the phrase, eternal damnation?”
     “Of course not,” MASAL said. “Life is too short. What would the purpose be for endless damnation? The math doesn’t work out. Why would any creature come into existence and be tested for a few short years only to fall short and be tortured for eternity. That would be just plain silly, don’t you think?”
     Aason shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything,” he said resignedly.
     “Well, now you do. Life is given to all of us and what we make of it is our own business. When we die, some go right to the top. Some come here and wait but when we’re ready, we join the rest of all souls until the end of time.”

Even though I put this in a science fiction book, I truly believe this. I always thought about the murder/rapist who confesses on his deathbed going to heaven versus a philanthropist and humanitarian who spent his life doing good but missed his final confession and did not have last rites going to Hell was just plain wrong. But what do I know? I'm Jewish and we don't believe in Hell in the first place.