User talk:SouthWriter/sandbox/An atheist's objections/@comment-1375165-20100810143641

Fegaxeyl, you seem to assume that we can decide who goes to heaven or hell, but that's an oft used fallacy. Even the Pope, who is only considered infallible in matters of dogma, cannot say "You are redeemed" and guarantee someone goes to heaven, by Christian belief only God can decide that and any attempt by ourselves to give our own opinion on the matter is mere speculation. So while you might believe that giving those stolen funds to the needy is for the better, in the grand scheme of things it may well be for the worse. Or maybe it is for the better and you'd be rewarded. As humans we just don't know.

As for Batmanary's question, its easier to answer from a Christian point of view. If the atheist in question is truly a virtuous man then as long as his non-belief isn't an outright rejection of God (as in he basically flips the bird to religion and God) then I speculate that he would be eligible to go heaven. The only thing which can outright stop someone is if they commit "unforgivable sin". Committing that kind of sin is pretty rare, you'd basically have to completely reject the mercy of God or ascribe miracles of God to coming from some evil force (as the Pharisees did).

The cruel religious man in your example would not go to heaven. Repenting means nothing unless the person is completely honest in doing it. It doesn't matter at all if anyone perceives him to be honest or not, just that he is truly honest. And "Oh shit I'm gonna die soon, I'm sorry" probably doesn't count.