Reply To: Can a Non-Religious Jew be a Tzadik?

Being executed by the government by is an atonement even without teshuva (Baba Batra 10b). As for their status in life, if someone it is very complicated. Rav Dessler says in Kuntras Nekudat HaBechira that the weights for mitzvot and aveirot are different for each individual according to each one’s spiritual level. It could be that if someone from a secular background only refrains from pork and shellfish Hashem considers him better than someone from a yeshivish background who relies on various leniencies. Moreover, one act can get a person into Olam HaBa (Avoda Zara 17a).