I think the point is with Robert's thing is that infinite punishment for finite crime seems ridiculous because, well, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and not have a chance to reconcile anything with God. How is that fair? I'm very young, not even legally an adult, not mentally and emotionally mature. Judging me on just this very short lifetime, through ages where one is very likely to be thoughtless, just seems... well... unfair.
OK, OK, I've only read this page and I'm not going back through the entire thread, so please dont think I'm targetting your post in particular I'm just going to use it as representative of a particular point of view.
OK, please, please, please can we dispense with the anthropmorphism? God is not a bearded old conservative who sits in the clouds dispensing rough justice capraciously for the most minor of offenses. This perspective is ancient, its existence is a legacy of the development of humankind, culture and psyche (perhaps of God too if you believe Jung's reckoning about reciprocity between God, his creation and humankind).
Its only popular now with the adversaries of religion who find it easier to argue with a non-existent worst possible or degenerate variety than what is really there.
There is no infinite punishment for finite crimes, God is a perfect paragon of proportionality, how do I know because its repeatedly indicated that God is Just and that is what it is to be Just. When humanity was made up of warring tribes capable of no proportionality in their vengence God's law was discerned to be an eye for an eye, now in more civil times we can tell that would leave everyone blind but it sure beats the lives of an entire village for an eye, you know? Later when God put in an appearence as Jesus he outlined his own practice of unmitigated forgiveness, generosity and love. That's the norm.
There's no one condemned to hell who has not done it to themselves!! Imagine you have a hatred for a specific sort of person would you really want to spend any time with them? No, hell is the abscence of God, the abscence of God's love or any love and for whatever reason the people in hell want it that way, either its not enough or its not what they want for one reason or another but they condemn themselves to their condition.
Its the same as were a prisoner to seriously reflect upon their actions and consequences they could be rehabilitated and have their freedom, most of them find excuses or just prefer the way of life that results in their incarceration and its simple as that.
So far as punishment for sin goes, the crimes of a life time, those, in my faith which my reason and revelation I know to be correct, are dealt with by the purifying process of purgatory.