Crime (or lack thereof) and Punishment

Before you go on, I tell you: they did not sin;
If they have merit, it can't suffice without
Babtism, portal to the faith you maintain

Some lived before the Christian faith, so that
they did not worship God aright-- and I
Am one of those. Through this, and no other fault

We are lost, afflicted only this one way:
That having no hope, we live in longing." I heard
These words with heartfelt grief that seized on me.

---Pages 36-37


THROUGH ME YOU ENTER THE CITY OF WOES,
THROUGH ME YOU ENTER THE ETERNAL PAIN,
THROUGH ME YOU ENTER THE POPULATION OF LOSS.

JUSTICE MOVED MY HIGH MAKER, IN POWER DIVINE,
WISDOM SUPREME, LOVE PRIMORDAL. NO THINGS WERE
BEFORE ME NOT ETERNAL; ETERNAL I REMAIN

ABANDON ALL HOPE, YOU WHO ENTER HERE

---Page 25

We live in a world of political correctness. No belief is to be not respected. Whether you are Hindi, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Pagan, or Bhuddist, you are (supposed to be) treated equally under the law. Through our politically correct lenses, we are supposed to view everyone equally, give everyone respect.
Compare this modern liberal viewpoint to the passage above from pages 36 and 37. People are being punished for simply living at the wrong time and not being Christian. They have no other sin. There is a part of me that says, "What the hell," to that idea. That part of me is channeling the modern viewpoint of equality. There was no way for these poor to make it to heaven. This seems profoundly unjust, but at the same time, it is the way that Dante looked at the world. There are no second chances, there is a eternity of longing waiting for you if you don't do enough. That is the most interesting thing about looking at this work to me. I enjoy trying to figure out the way that Dante looked at the world. It was a whole different world back then, with entirely different ideas about religion.
For example, most churchgoers today would say that they are going to heaven simply for showing up to church. Compare this the Dante. Canto III is all about the people whose lives neither honor nor bad fame, as well as angels who are neither rebellious nor faithful to God. The souls in purgatory were judged simply upon merit, not simply upon faithfulness. In fact, it is only angels which are judged upon faithfulness. Today, we think we are judged for showing up. To Dante, you were judged upon what work you did upon the earth; you were judged upon what action you took. Heaven was not a guarantee. It was something to be earned. Something which many people don't earn. Perhaps this is why people are less involved in religion nowadays? Who knows. Theres been a lot of... evolution since the 1500s.
Another thing which I found profoundly interesting was the way which Dante used characters. As in, many of the people he mentions (such as the lovers in Canto V) are not real. They are fictional characters. Perhaps he did this so that the story would have impact which everyone could recognize (everyone had heard of the stories?)
I also thought that Dante was pretty full of himself. This thought goes along with the idea of getting inside Dante's head. I mean, Dante puts himself in pretty elite company. He becomes buddy buddy with Virgil and Homer. He "makes the sixth." That seems pretty arrogant to me. I'm interested to see if this arrogance will come out later in the book.
The second quote I selected was really just selected for its quotability. "Abandon all hope, you who enter here." How great is that line?
However, the quote as a whole raises some interesting questions about hell, and Dante's ideas of hell. Specifically, it raises questions about the Devil. I have this modern conception of the devil, a red dude with a pitchfork. He is supposed to be God's eternal enemy, doing eternal battle over our hearts and minds. However, God created hell/death (the door). And God can apparently come down and snatch some people out of purgatory. It feels like God is in control throughout the entire play. The devil just does his dirty work. I mean, why would the devil care how bad you were or how much your sinned? He's the freaking devil! Wouldn't he just punish everyone? The entire idea of punishing people by standards God sets seems to go against the idea of the Devil battling God. If the Devil does use God's standards for punishment, it just makes him God's hitman, does it not. This too is supported by the fact that Dante can apparently walk through hell and somehow end up in heaven. If the Devil had a pair, would he really allow that to happen? I mean, give a good soul to God? Do God's bidding? It just seems a bit wrong to me. I want to figure out who the Devil is to Dante. I mean, the entire underworld seems more pagan than Christian to me, with Cerberus and the River. Seems to take a lot from other mythologies.