# If you ran hell, what punishments would you set for the infamous dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2015, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197 "2015-03-28T11:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/1 "2015-03-28T11:46:46Z")
While the visions of Hell of antiquity tended to focus on brutality, I like more modern interpretations, where each punishment is tailor made for the individual’s crimes and psyche. Pick any dead real life figure who’s generally acknowledged to have done sufficient evil, from Cain to Andreas Lubitz. How would you have him or her spend their damned eternity? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/2 "2015-03-28T12:43:45Z")
The same for all of them. Shut them naked in empty, silent, featureless rooms for eternity. They literally never see or hear anything from outside that room again. Since they are already dead, they won’t even need fed. Hitler et. al. get to be alone with their thoughts forever. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/3 "2015-03-28T12:50:13Z")
I have a cold right now. They’ll have to drink gallons of cherry flavored cough syrup with nothing to take away the taste. No spitting allowed! ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/4 "2015-03-28T13:51:30Z")
I would make Hitler view the entire life of each victim of the Holocaust, from birth to death, in real time, from a first-person perspective. Perhaps after living through 11 million lifetimes and murders, he might learn some compassion. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/5 "2015-03-28T13:59:06Z")
I’ve missed the edit window, but just to add to the above post: - Those 11 million lifetimes would be enough. I couldn’t put anyone, no matter how evil, through an eternity of consciousness. No one deserves such unimaginable cruelty. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/6 "2015-03-28T14:03:29Z")
If I ran hell it would be a kinder, gentler sorta hell. More of a heck, really. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/7 "2015-03-28T14:21:52Z")
make John Wayne get up early. everyone else, ‘Having My Baby’ on an endless audio loop. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/8 "2015-03-28T14:22:33Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > If I ran hell it would be a kinder, gentler sorta hell. More of a heck, really. Like _every time_ Hitler got up at night to go to the bathroom he’d stub his toe? And when he got into the office in the morning the coffee pot would _always_ be empty and he’d have to make a new pot? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/9 "2015-03-28T14:26:26Z")
Wait, if I’m the devil, I _like_ that people did evil things. So wouldn’t I reward them for their accomplishments? Like letting a mass murderer kill demons as much as he wants. Or let someone else participate in non-stop orgies. Heaven’s going to be boring by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/10 "2015-03-28T14:26:52Z")
Punishment at this point would be pointless. They would just have minimum access to all the good things spirits may have access to. Thats actually just as stupid but it would be nice to have some kind reward for the above avarage good folks. Maybe I would just keep on reassigning them physical boddies until they got it right. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/11 "2015-03-28T15:34:52Z")
They’ll be surrounded by those they hated and persecuted. That way heaven and hell could be the same place. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/12 "2015-03-28T15:47:09Z")
No one deserves an eternity in hell. Generally, making them relive their victims experiences would probably be sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/13 "2015-03-28T16:00:44Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wait, if I’m the devil, I _like_ that people did evil things. So wouldn’t I reward them for their accomplishments? If you’re the devil, you like that people did evil things, so that they go to hell _and you can torture them for those evil deeds_. (At least, that’s what I’m assuming is true for the purpose of this thread.) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Know\_Nothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f04885/32.png) [@I\_Know\_Nothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Nothing)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/14 "2015-03-28T16:09:22Z")
Every grocery store in hell would only have shopping carts with bad wheels. That’ll teach 'em. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Know\_Nothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f04885/32.png) [@I\_Know\_Nothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Nothing)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/15 "2015-03-28T16:10:34Z")
oh, and hangnails. Lots of hangnails. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/16 "2015-03-28T16:16:14Z")
> [@I\_Know\_Nothing](#): > > Every grocery store in hell would only have shopping carts with bad wheels. That’ll teach 'em. And when you drive to the store, guess who’s in the fast lane? ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/17 "2015-03-28T16:57:23Z")
If I ran Hell, I think I’d start with the Hell described in Steven R. Boyett’s [_Mortality Bridge_](http://www.amazon.com/Mortality-Bridge-Steven-R-Boyett/dp/1497637244/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427561270&sr=8-1&keywords=mortality+bridge), then go from there. Do be advised the descriptions of the punishments can be tough to take. As for the infamous dead, specifically, I’ll have to ruminate on that. I do agree that eternal punishment for evil deeds committed during the span of a single human lifetime is way unbalanced. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/18 "2015-03-28T18:29:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If you’re the devil, you like that people did evil things, so that they go to hell _and you can torture them for those evil deeds_. (At least, that’s what I’m assuming is true for the purpose of this thread.) Well, if you’re the devil you are also among the damned. You may be said to run the place in the sense that you are the biggest, baddest, meanest gang leader among the inmates, your fellow fallen angels are your blood-brothers and homeboys, and everyone else is your bitches and they had better know it. Every now and then someone really evil beyond the usual everyday humdrum shows up as Fresh Meat and you want to make it perfectly clear to them who is boss. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/19 "2015-03-28T19:07:35Z")
If I were to run Hell, my objective would be to get the damned to recognise and truly repent of their sins and thereby be Saved. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197/20 "2015-03-28T19:18:14Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > If I were to run Hell, my objective would be to get the damned to recognise and truly repent of their sins and thereby be Saved. Well let’s hope you never get the opportunity, cause I’d be more up for hangnails. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ran-hell-what-punishments-would-you-set-for-the-infamous-dead/716197.md?page=2)