Dante is so money

 

So, the other day I was watching Comedy Central (like you do) and there was a guy doing stand-up.  I don’t recall his name, but he had rheumatoid arthritis, so you can look it up on the off chance that you feel really passionate about it.  Anyways, he told this story about his confirmation, and how the first “adult” decision he made was to never go back to church.  This got a laugh from the crowd, but they really lost it when he further speculated that “hell is probably ok”  and that he wouldn’t mind going.  Keep in mind people: Hell.  The crowd was cheering and clapping.

This, naturally, reminds me of Dante’s Inferno.  If you haven’t read it, I (along with everyone else who has an opinion on such things) recommend it highly.  The opening sequence, as Dante is going into Hell, is a picture of people literally climbing over each other trying to get in.  Dante’s point here is that God doesn’t send anyone to Hell, that we as people will run screaming straight into Hell, if only it means that we don’t have to listen to God.  It should be noted that Dante wrote this 700 years ago.  We have, apparently, made zero progress.