Could be, Ebbie. If by "God" we mean: every good thing that there is....then separation from God would indeed be hell, wouldn't it?

I've been somewhat puzzled by the traditional notion of Jesus' "sacrifice" too, but not because he died in an ordinary way. That's neither here nor there. It doesn't matter which way he died. All that matters is, what was his own personal nature? What was he doing? And why? The degree of his sacrifice would depend on those factors.

For a comparison to explain what I mean: If the English army in the early 1400s had siezed a young French girl who had never done anything of particular note and burned her at the stake in Rouen...would we be hearing about it till today? No, we wouldn't. Actually, the English troops killed a great many young women, men, children, whoever they wanted to kill all across about half of France in those days, and they did burn some of them, but we don't know the names of most of those people.

But when they burnt Joan of Arc in Rouen, they did something that will not be forgotten! Why? Because Joan was a remarkable individual who had done extraordinary things to help many people. That made her innocent sacrifice an enormous event with reverberations that are still being felt today.

The thing that is significant about Jesus being innocently sacrificed is likewise that he was a remarkable individual who had done extraordinary things to help many people. How he died (on the cross) is not the point. What he had done before he died, his character, and what he died FOR is the point. That made the event extraordinary, and that's why he is still remembered, while thousands of other people who died similarly on the cross are not.

People long remember those whom they care deeply about.