No Incentive to be Good

When I was a kid and went through my confirmation classes I was taught that ‘if you break Gods laws you go to hell’.

Simultaneously, I was taught that if I was truly sorry for my sins then I’d be forgiven and granted access to Heaven. I even remember asking my priest (or Vicar- he was a protestant) if this applied to any sin I’d committed to which he responded that this was the case if I was truly sorry.

So...if I have a bad night and accidently end up shooting 36 people, rape 14 goats and assault 3 beavers and a tree frog, but really regret it, at least on my death bed, I’d be OK and the gates of Heaven will open up for me. I can see why the Devil invented fatal accidents, ‘cause if people had time to regret their sins he’d probably go out of business.

So if all you have to do is be sorry after a life of being bad, then there’s no real incentive to be good, is there?!