Why hell exists and has to exist
A man who was a believer was visited by a friend who always pointed his finger against the existence of hell. After long theological explanations that his friend didn't want to understand or accept, the believer told his friend: "Look, I am going to tell you a story, after which your are going to justify the existence of hell".
Once upon a time, an Arab sheik who was exceedingly rich, thought of taking a trip all around the world with all his sons, daughters, relatives and servants. He bought the best and biggest sailboat that could be purchased at that time. He then put all his wealth in it, hired the best sailors he could get, brought his wives, children, nephews, nieces, relatives, and all his servants to the ship and set sail as soon as possible.
They visited many places. Every time they reached a port, the sheik acted with great generosity towards his people and the sailors. After a while, the sailors concluded that the sheik had enormous wealth with him in the ship, and so, they conspired to take hold of it by force. Some of them suggested to steal all the weapons the sheik had in one of the ship's cabins, and kill him and his family; but others, who were grateful for the good demeanor the sheik had toward them, suggested that they should only leave them in an uninhabited island. When all of them accepted this suggestion, they took hold of the weapons, put the sheik and his people in several boats, and abandoned them near two paradisiacal small islands, in the Pacific Ocean.
Some of the criminals, who were somewhat grateful, provided food for them for a month, put all the tools in the boats, and then, in the sheik's boat, they put some weapons. After that, they warned him that if he dared to shoot at them, they would shoot back and kill all of them.
The sheik, seeing himself deprived of his wealth, but with his family alive and unscathed, concluded that the wisest thing was to start rowing toward the bigger island. Once there, he gave the few weapons he had, to his most loyal servants, and he kept for himself the only two pistols they had given him.
At first everything seemed fine. Everyone started to work in order to survive. They first looked for water then, for wild food. Later, they started to use the fishing gear they were given, and made traps to catch animals for meat. A while later, they used the tools they had to build huts and to start plowing and sowing. Not many weeks after they had assured their survival, the sheik assigned jobs to each person, in order to better everyone's quality of life.
But things had changed. Not everyone was the same as before. There were those who did not do their chores and others who began to steal from their relatives and neighbors, what they had acquired with hard work. Still, others started to slander and malign the sheik, thinking about displacing him and taking his authoritative position. They would have succeeded if it were not that the sheik kept the main weapons for himself, and had six or eight of his most loyal servants armed. Even some of his many children started talking against their father. They also refused to work. A few of them even raped some of their relatives, and stole from their neighbors.
Considering what was going on, the sheik talked to the heart of all of them, telling them that in order to live a happy life, they had to obey some rules, and perform some tasks. Then he established some laws to avoid crime and wrongdoings, but almost nobody followed them. Due to the fact that wrongdoers tried to live off of the efforts of the others, everyone became discouraged about working and fulfilling their chores.
For a short time the sheik took note of who were the worst people. One night, with the help of his loyal servants and two of his unspoiled children they armed themselves and took the six or eight most perverted people, tied them up, and in the morning sent them in a boat to the other island, which was also paradisiacal, but smaller. This island was several miles away, surrounded by a sea teeming with sharks. When they arrived, the loyal servants untied the outcasts, and left them with some food and tools.
Then the sheik gathered the rest and warned them that anyone who would behave as those outcasts, would go to the same place. For a short time, the fear kept them obedient, but after a while many of them returned to their dire tendencies. Some wounded their family members, or even killed them; others stole their neighbor's properties. Some of the sheik's sons killed one of their half brothers.
The sheik cast out again some of the worst, sending them to the other paradisiacal island. This happened repeatedly, 'till at last, after having cast out some of his sons and daughters, several relatives, and many servants, he had expelled from his island all those who didn't behave. It was painful for the sheik to banish some of his own sons, daughters, and relatives. It was even more painful to him to see those bad people crushing, and even killing his good children, relatives, and servants. Everything he tried would not make them change their behavior.
Each time the sheik sent a new group to the other island, his loyal people informed him of the horrifying way of life there. None of them wanted to work, they fought each other for almost any reason, they suffered scarcity, but nobody felt like working, because the others would steal what they would earn.
After some time, the big island was prosperous, its inhabitants had security, abundance, and happiness. In the other island people lived in a hell. Some time later, one of the sheik's good sons, who felt sorry for the other ones, asked him: "Father, have you realized that you have sent our brethren and relatives to live in a hell?" His father lovingly answered him: "No, my son. The only thing I did was to separate the good ones from the bad ones. I sent them to a paradisiacal island, it was they who transformed it into a hell. If I had not sent them to that island, then all my servants, relatives, daughters, and sons, including you, would be living in a hell. We would be suffering unjustly, and unnecessarily."