I think the "
savage" question is the most interesting. I was talking to a
Christian about that, mentioning all of the
Native Americans who were living in
America before any
Christians got there. I asked if they could get to heaven if they were basically
good people. Some of his comments:
- they would've had to follow the
Bible to the 't'. I pointed out that
some of the Bible's rules seem strange and arbitrary, and how would such a person ever know what actions were
sinful
- the person would have to accept Jesus Christ as his personal lord/savior/favorite soft drink. I asked how the person could possibly know, and he said that Jesus would appear to him(i.e. a one-on-one with God). I asked him if he, or anyone else he knew, had become a Christian in this fashion - nope.
- I also asked how such a person could ever do something like get married and have sex morally, since no Christian minister would be there to do a proper marriage. he had no answer for this
My guess is that on questions like this, and like what happens to an aborted fetus, or a baby that dies stillborn, is that the real, original belief was that they go to hell. However, at some point the people in charge realized that to most normal people such a belief is revolting, and makes God look like a real jerk, so now the religion has been dressed up to look nicer.