Ah! This Idea!

This to us you long taught:

That this life we have got

Is for God to put us to test,

And if we come out the best,

We’ll gain a great reward

From the Almighty Lord,

But if in the test we fail,

God will have Satan flail

Us in Hell, where He’ll send

Us to burn up without end.

Based on our test score,

We'll face forever more,

Life in Heaven or in Hell:

This is what us you tell.

I once felt this may be right

For then I lacked all insight.

But now I feel it can't be so.

This I somehow feel I know.

Which sane man, I ask you,

Would such a vile thing do

As to give birth to a child,

A tiny infant, gentle, mild,

Just so that he could see

How it turned out to be,

And then would declare,

Based on how it would fare,

If it deserved to receive

Punishment or reprieve,

Or some grand reward

That for it he has stored?

Would a man in right mind

Ever do a thing so unkind?

If never so far have I heard

Anything that’s so absurd

Done to a child by mere men,

I boldly ask you this then:

Do you think it could be

That God made you and me,

And also all of the vast rest,

Just for the sake of a test,

And then, grim and grave,

In Heaven some He'll save,

And all the rest He’ll expel

To burn for all time in Hell?

Ah this idea of life as a test

How I now viscerally detest!