Why would Michael be stuck on the island but Ben gets to be in Sideways? Ben's list of sins is enormous; Michael misguidedly shot a couple people in a frantic effort to, he thought, rescue his son.
If Richard was Jacob's right hand man, why did he lead the slaughter of the people in the Dharma initiative?

I think it was because Ben not only learned a better way but he had time to ask forgiveness and receive it. Michael didn't or couldn't forgive himself and I think that's one of the things that kept his spirit on the Island as a whisperer.

Perhaps Michael isn't being kept against his will . . . he hasn't forgiven himself yet, so he believes the Island is where he is SUPPOSED to be. It may be where he feels most comfortable right now.

Why would Michael be stuck on the island but Ben gets to be in Sideways? Ben's list of sins is enormous; Michael misguidedly shot a couple people in a frantic effort to, he thought, rescue his son.
If Richard was Jacob's right hand man, why did he lead the slaughter of the people in the Dharma initiative?
Ben leads the slaughter.

Christian said that they all created the sideways because the most important times of their lives had been with each other. This wasn't "purgatory" where they were there to atone for their sins, it was a place that they created so they could find each other. The ones that were there in the church had connected with each other in a way that Michael, Richard and the others didn't do. Ben connected with Hurley and Locke; that's why they were the ones that saw him sitting outside and talked with him.

Just my take on the whole thing :biggrin:

Why would Michael be stuck on the island but Ben gets to be in Sideways?
Do we know that Michael is stuck on the island. One of the whispers we heard was Boone's. Boone was not stuck on the island.

Michael said he was stuck on the island.

Ben gets a pass for reasons stated, and because many of his horrific actions were in defense of the island, at least from his point of view. But in the end, he seemingly saw the errors of his ways and repented. Went to be judged, etc.

Michael / Richard??? Didn't he play Kramer on Seinfeld? What's he doing on the island?




Sorry, couldn't resist....
100%
... This wasn't "purgatory" where they were there to atone for their sins, it was a place that they created so they could find each other.

You make an excellent point. Everyone has started to call the sideways world "purgatory" but that is in fact an incorrect use of the term, particularly in light of Christian's explanation of it as a place they created so they could find each other. There are a variety of understandings of "purgatory", but they all focus around the notion of it being a place where one is purged of sin and impurity through punishment and atonement. Purgatory is a place a sinner is sent to, not a place the sinner creates to get comfortable. That to me sounds like quite a different function than Christian outlined for the sideways world. Given that TPTB basically made up the concept out of whole cloth, there really isn't a word that precisely covers it. I don't think "limbo" works, either, for similar reasons. I've just been thinking of it as a kind of readyroom for the afterlife.