1) You are a middle-class white male in the 25-40 age range. Two blocks from home is your local grocery where you shop a couple times per week. Over the years, you've developed relationships with the staff. Sam, the manager, knows you by name and greets you whenever you walk through the automatic doors. Elena, in the meat department, knows all your favorite cuts and will without hesitation go out of her way to get you the meat you desire. If ever you find yourself unsatisfied with a purchase you can return it for a full refund no questions asked, etc... This is your local grocery, and it feels like it.
One afternoon, you run in after work to grab a bottle of wine and some hummus. As the doors open, a man walks past you without making eye contact. He is an African-American man who appears to be in his 50's. His clothes are rumpled and his hair unkempt. Under his stained shirt, you can see the clear outline of some sort of square box, approximately the size and shape of a box containing a dozen donuts. He is walking out of the store on the side opposite the checkout lanes, and he carries no grocery bags.
Do you tell Sam?
2)You were raised in a large northeastern American city by a progressive family. You attended church as a child, but are not especially rigid or pious in your beliefs. After a good showing in high school, you decide to attend a competitive state university in the South.
At college, among your newly formed group of friends, you meet a boy named Isaac. Isaac is from a small town in the same state as the college, and grew up in a stern, Baptist family. As the members of your new clan begin to revel in the delights of college (new ideas, progressive politics, new sexual & drug experiences), Isaac is torn. He is drawn towards the new ideas and experiences but fears that they violate the tenets of his faith.
One late night, during an alcohol fueled bull session, Isaac confesses his fear of being condemned to hell for his sins. Feeling philosophical (and a little intoxicated), you look him straight in the eyes and declare "Isaac, man, there is no such thing as hell."
He takes it to heart. At first it's funny and kind of wonderful to watch Isaac embrace his newfound freedom from fear. But he goes overboard, falling into a rut of mindless hedonism and substance abuse. A few years after graduation, you run into Isaac at a party. Clearly high on cocaine, he tells you that he's living with three men and a woman in Brooklyn in a bizarre polyamorous relationship. He admits he is depressed and sometimes contemplates suicide.
Are you to blame? At least somewhat?
3) You are a dogmatic believer in your faith and always abide closely by its rules. After a long and devout, but not unhappy life you pass away quietly one night while sleeping.
You arrive at the gates of Heaven, and the mysteries of the world are revealed to you. Turns out you got it right, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was the Lord's one and only true vehicle into heaven. As you glimpse through the bars of the pearly gates into the bastion of eternal bliss, you feel pretty good about yourself.
Looking around, however, you realize that many of the people you love are missing. Moreover, most of the best people you knew on Earth have failed to make the cut. Close members of your immediate family have been cast out for minor transgressions, like missing mass a couple Sundays or wearing immodest bathing suits. You begin to worry that perhaps your wife will not be joining you when she dies.
You communicate your concerns to St. Peter, who goes and gets Jesus. JC listens, he understands. After mulling it over, he offers you a deal. If you agree to give up your spot in heaven, your family can get in. Further, if you agree, old JC will go ahead and let everyone up who was basically decent but ended up in Hell through the workings of some cosmic red tape.
The trouble is, while you will have surely done a wonderful and selfless thing, you'll never get to enjoy it. If you agree to the deal, you spend eternity in bitter agony and soul-killing loneliness. Of course, if you decide to take your rightful spot in Heaven, you experience eternal joy while many of your loved ones perish in damnation.
You think you've worked hard to earn your salvation and deserve it, but on the other hand, saving your friends and family from Hell seems like the decent thing to do.
Do you take the deal?
