Peter Rhodes on devils, hellfire and the enduring power of the bogeyman
The social commentator Dominic Lawson suggests that losing our belief in hell has a “profound effect” on public order. Discuss, using one side of the pitchfork.
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As a child, I certainly lived in mortal dread of going to hell for all sorts of crimes and misdemeanours: fighting, breaking windows, painting next door's Rover with creosote, etc. A dread of Hades was also a spur for personal athletic achievements (if I can't jump up to the third stair today, I will definitely go to hell).
The curious thing is that while going to hell haunted my early days, I cannot remember anyone, whether at school, chapel, Sunday school or within the family, ever mentioning hell in any sort of threatening way. In the same way that you didn't need telling what a bogeyman was, it was assumed that all little boys were born hard-wired with a working knowledge of diabolical retribution for earthly sins.
