Having read the Bible and, at least the funny parts of Dante's Inferno, I make a sharp distinction between what "Christians" and Christians believe about "hell".  The several Scriptural words translated as "hell" refer to the grave, the Jerusalem city dump, and to some Greek concept, this last no doubt being understood at the time as one of the non-literal statements of Jesus.

 

Like so much else in religion, though, Dante's witty malediction has gone from satire to creed as it was passed from generation to generation.  He didn't really believe there was a place under the earth where Mohammed walked around in a circle getting whacked from the top of his head to his asshole with each circuit.  It was a joke---like Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Lib, you're the first person I've ever heard of who finds Dante funny. What a felicitous idea!

Oh, wow, Xer! Please don't apologize for telling me about it. I wanted to know about it. Isn't it surprising that although you were unconscious, you remember what happened? It's as if your unconscious mind is communicating with your conscious mind directly.