A thought about going to hell

[Laststop]

I've known some asshole hypocrites in my time who profess to be really good Christians. I mean, they fain being sorry unworthy sinners thankful of God's forgiveness and mercy... but I digress. One good thing about the ones I've known is getting an education of what's in the Bible that I otherwise wouldn't know, and the way the average American Christian interprets it. The closer you get to the fundamentalists version of how the Bible is interpreted the more screwed most people are. In the North I've heard many times, "well, all you have to do is, in your last moment ask for forgiveness, and to be let in Heaven, and Bob's your uncle." But, I asked a Southern Bible Belter, "so let me ask you this. You spend your whole life serving The Lord. No mistakes, no sins. You plead with him to use you to do his will, and you work yourself to the ground doing what he's asked in your heart. And say you put in a good 95 years of this. And you're on your death bed, and about to die...and in your last couple seconds the nurse leans over your bed for something, and the very last thing you see is down her uniform to a luscious set of 19 year old hooters...and you like it. In your last moment you sin. 95 years of being stronger than any man could possibly be, avoiding sin, and working himself to death, and that last moment of unrepentant sin is enough to lose Heaven? That guy is going to Hell for that?" Yes. Yup. So think about this. Before you worry about going to Hell for killing yourself, are you 100% sure you were going to Heaven anyway? It's the same Hell. If you buy the strict judgement that you're going to Hell for ending your suffering, that same level of strictness was probably going to get you sent there anyway. I mean, you can avoid it for longer. It'll mean something to you on this side, but won't matter much in an eternity on the other.

 

[Luchs]

I've known some asshole hypocrites in my time who profess to be really good Christians. I mean, they fain being sorry unworthy sinners thankful of God's forgiveness and mercy... but I digress. One good thing about the ones I've known is getting an education of what's in the Bible that I otherwise wouldn't know, and the way the average American Christian interprets it. The closer you get to the fundamentalists version of how the Bible is interpreted the more screwed most people are. In the North I've heard many times, "well, all you have to do is, in your last moment ask for forgiveness, and to be let in Heaven, and Bob's your uncle." But, I asked a Southern Bible Belter, "so let me ask you this. You spend your whole life serving The Lord. No mistakes, no sins. You plead with him to use you to do his will, and you work yourself to the ground doing what he's asked in your heart. And say you put in a good 95 years of this. And you're on your death bed, and about to die...and in your last couple seconds the nurse leans over your bed for something, and the very last thing you see is down her uniform to a luscious set of 19 year old hooters...and you like it. In your last moment you sin. 95 years of being stronger than any man could possibly be, avoiding sin, and working himself to death, and that last moment of unrepentant sin is enough to lose Heaven? That guy is going to Hell for that?" Yes. Yup. So think about this. Before you worry about going to Hell for killing yourself, are you 100% sure you were going to Heaven anyway? It's the same Hell. If you buy the strict judgement that you're going to Hell for ending your suffering, that same level of strictness was probably going to get you sent there anyway. I mean, you can avoid it for longer. It'll mean something to you on this side, but won't matter much in an eternity on the other.

I'm a practicing christian, and honestly I've come to terms with it. I'm a sh*tty human being and deserve nothing other than to go to hell.

 

[vonvonwantpeace]

it's only a fairytale.

 

[Laststop]

I'm a practicing christian, and honestly I've come to terms with it. I'm a sh*tty human being and deserve nothing other than to go to hell.

I don't feel I have the right to tell you you're wrong, or right, about this. In the end, if there's a price to be paid, we pay it. Alone. If you're wrong, we'll never know it.

 

[ThriveOrDie]

Christians claim God is merciful but they don't seem to believe it. I personally believe God is merciful...if there is a god.

 

[teemo]

your example isn't even the worst part. by their own logic, living your entire life ted bundy style then going to prison and repenting and accepting the J man into your heart and all that and BAM! Heaven is your oyster.

sounds about right, no?

Christians claim God is merciful but they don't seem to believe it. I personally believe God is merciful...if there is a god.

god can aither be merciful or just. he can't be both at the same time because mercy undermines justice by definition

 

[Lookingforabus]

god can aither be merciful or just. he can't be both at the same time because mercy undermines justice by definition

A sad commentary on humanity in general, that there's a widespread belief that mercy and justice are competing interests.

 

[ThriveOrDie]

your example isn't even the worst part. by their own logic, living your entire life ted bundy style then going to prison and repenting and accepting the J man into your heart and all that and BAM! Heaven is your oyster.

sounds about right, no?



god can aither be merciful or just. he can't be both at the same time because mercy undermines justice by definition

Maybe justice only matters in this life. I don't care if people who have hurt me are punished in the afterlife.

 

[ish]

I've known some asshole hypocrites in my time who profess to be really good Christians. I mean, they fain being sorry unworthy sinners thankful of God's forgiveness and mercy... but I digress. One good thing about the ones I've known is getting an education of what's in the Bible that I otherwise wouldn't know, and the way the average American Christian interprets it. The closer you get to the fundamentalists version of how the Bible is interpreted the more screwed most people are. In the North I've heard many times, "well, all you have to do is, in your last moment ask for forgiveness, and to be let in Heaven, and Bob's your uncle." But, I asked a Southern Bible Belter, "so let me ask you this. You spend your whole life serving The Lord. No mistakes, no sins. You plead with him to use you to do his will, and you work yourself to the ground doing what he's asked in your heart. And say you put in a good 95 years of this. And you're on your death bed, and about to die...and in your last couple seconds the nurse leans over your bed for something, and the very last thing you see is down her uniform to a luscious set of 19 year old hooters...and you like it. In your last moment you sin. 95 years of being stronger than any man could possibly be, avoiding sin, and working himself to death, and that last moment of unrepentant sin is enough to lose Heaven? That guy is going to Hell for that?" Yes. Yup. So think about this. Before you worry about going to Hell for killing yourself, are you 100% sure you were going to Heaven anyway? It's the same Hell. If you buy the strict judgement that you're going to Hell for ending your suffering, that same level of strictness was probably going to get you sent there anyway. I mean, you can avoid it for longer. It'll mean something to you on this side, but won't matter much in an eternity on the other.

Christians humanized God and tried him
assign human qualities, which I believe is a mistake.
The human likeness of god lies in "consciousness"
(thinking), not "image and likeness" - corporeality and
thinking. Hence the idea of hell to interact
on living bodily. Paradise and hell are among the living
people. Heaven is nothingness (non-existence), everyone goes there their own way
death.

 

[Misanthrope]

The history of hell in scripture is an interesting one. But I am not in any way concerned about it. For the same reason, I am not worried about a giant cosmic Yak, digesting me in its belly for all eternity on dying. All because I failed to grasp its mandates delivered in the complicated form of hard to distinguish cow pats, that I should have been able to interpret correctly. All of which will condemn me for not offering up enough salt lick to the Cosmic Yak. I should have known better, so being digested for eternity is my just fate...

Hell just seems to provoke much-unjustified fear instead of launching into a diatribe. I will simply point you down various avenues of thought that can help you dismantle this fear if you have it, or maybe even cast doubt on it enough it does not hold your psyche to ransom.

Firstly is the word hell itself. It is pretty interesting to look into its origin and history, how it evolved to suit various agendas and was shaped by mixing cultures. Some of it comes down to language issues and convenient translation errors. It is also interesting to look at the shift in what hell actually consisted of and how other cultures influenced those changes.

Here are a few resources to get you started. The last is drawn from a religious site just to demonstrate they are not even in agreement and recognise the corruption within scripture.

http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/vocabulary_definitions_hell.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/hell

https://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/death/origin-of-hell-fire.php#.XCpPulz7SUl

You can also come at it from a psychological stance. Realising as a species we naturally see patterns where there are none and then apply associations to those patterns. The neurological side of faith is also pretty fascinating.

There is a good exploration of it here.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/brain-religion.htm

https://www.magiscenter.com/hard-wired-for-faith-the-religious-experience-and-the-brain/

Lastly, you could look into the variability of afterlives across cultures. Notice how they are all different and generally reflect the ethos of the culture in question. There is no universal afterlife that can even be observed. What is punished in one doctrine is rewarded in another. How many equivalents of hell are you willing to keep in mind and be afraid of? Which is the right one? Could well be the cosmic Yak for all we know.

There are parallels with near-death experiences as well. Often they reflect the dominant culture in what they consist of. The brain does some pretty interesting things in response to the trauma of dying.

https://theconversation.com/are-nea...cience-behind-this-puzzling-phenomenon-106286

https://www.skeptic.org.uk/magazine/onlinearticles/braithwaite-dying-brain/

I hope that has been informative.

 

[Codieb1]

It's all a man-made concept. I mean really think about it. Who really has any evidence that heaven or hell exists at all? The Bible was written by man and edited by man over the many years. Still to this day, no one has any definitive proof of either's existence, therefore it's nothing but a baseless, illogical theory.

I feel like I'm always commenting on these religious posts. But man they piss me off. Religion was created to control the gullible through fear. Start thinking for yourselves instead of following a cult started by, and edited by humankind.

 

[charlie_z]

Heaven. Hell. Purgatory. I was raised in a fairly strict, orthodox Catholic household. Attended private parochial Catholic schools. And as a young teenager, I even briefly visited a seminary for a week to see if being a priest was the right fit for me. Fortunately for me, the seminary overlooked an all girl's school; that killed the whole celibate thing quick.

Four years at a liberal arts school, and I left a confirmed, nearly militant atheist. Can't tell you the number of arguments I had with my folks, especially my mom:
"But honey, if you don't believe in Jesus, you're going to hell."
"Jesus, mom! Your God, your religion, it's all a f***ing construct, put in place to appease the masses fear of an empty universe and to keep the coffers flowing with coin."

But here's the tragic irony; the closer I get to finally settling my earthly debts, the more I start worrying about all the stuff that was indoctrinated into my vulnerable child's mind: Maybe there is a God. And maybe this God is the vengeful God of the old Testament. And as this God considers us to be his property, and as such, the only One permitted to decide our fate, then my taking my life is tantamount to the worst of mortal sins – you don't get to call 'takesies backsies' without first taking confession. So it'd be a straight ride to Hades for yours truly.

In my heart, I know there is no such God. I know that once I've crossed the threshold, that's it. One can't even say there's darkness, because in order to make that observation, you'd have to possess sentience, and once your brain is gone, so's your mind. Still, maybe an Art Father and a few Hail Marys' before I close the curtains wouldn't be such a bad idea.