“Welcome to the real world, pal,” he said. “People going around saying that God is all just and good, but answer me this: how can God be just when according to almost every religion he damns sinners to an eternity of punishment for something that happens in a finite amount of time? It’s not a proportionate response. It’s not just and it’s certainly not good.”

I couldn’t answer him.

“Look at it this way. Let’s say a kid goes to a store where he sees a candy bar. He has no money, but he really wants that candy. So when he thinks no one is looking, he takes it. He’s broken the law. Of course he should pay—I don’t disagree with that. But what that poor kid doesn’t know is that the store owner has cameras everywhere and all he does is sit back in his office all day waiting to catch someone. So the store owner drags the kid out back behind the store, pours gasoline on him, and lights him on fire. That’s your eternal damnation. That’s your God. That’s your religion.”

“That’s not my religion,” I said. “I don’t believe in a God who created us to condemn us. I don’t believe that God is fear.”

“All religions teach God is fear,” Israel said. “Then they dress him up as the good shepherd. A wolf in shepherd’s clothing.”

“Sometimes good parents use fear,” I said. “To protect their children. It’s like a mother telling her child not to play in the road, because he might get hit by a car.”

“The difference,” Israel said, “is that God is the one driving the car.”

I nodded. “You’re right. That is the difference. You either believe in a God of grace and love or a God of damnation and condemnation, but you can’t believe in both, because he can’t be the same Being.”

“There is no God of grace,” Israel said. “You should know. He killed your wife.”

“He didn’t kill my wife. A horse did.”

“He could have stopped her from dying.”

“You mean he could have postponed her from dying. Because, in the end, everything in this world dies. Everything. That’s why people look to God for the next.”

Israel looked at me darkly.

“Look,” I said. “I don’t care what you believe about God. I’m not even sure what I believe. The truth is, much smarter men than us have discussed this question for millennia, and still haven’t come to a consensus.