Hell: Lets Talk About It

[Guest VBiz]

So I was thinking the other day (it's something I tend to do when I am alone and nobody is watching )...what about Hell?

 

It seems like every religion has their version of hell, whether it's fire and brimstone, roaming the forgotten realms alone, or some other ghastly method for torturing our undead souls for eternity. They've all got one and, dammit I think that it might be a pretty neat place. Think about it, most churchies think that things such as gambling, drinking, sex, envy, swearing, not believing, etc etc....will land you in hell. Logically, the guy in charge of hell would only accept people who engage in such behavior. That stands to reason that he or she is fairly tolerant of such behavior and supports / promotes it. So really, what we're saying here is that hell must be a huge frat party full of sex, swearing, and and general debauchery. Okay, so maybe it's not for everyone...

 

My main point here is that churchies think hell is bad and also think that the guy who runs it is bad. So someone who is more educated on the subject needs to explain to me why a guy who loves evil would punish people who engage in evil? It seems completely illogical. Wouldn't it make more sense if hell was actually run by god or one of his minions? THAT is who wants to punish evil people!

 

Either way, its another fun discussion item which points out ANOTHER contradiction in church philosophy.

 

Did I mention that I am new here and I love this site with every fiber of my being? Thanks for existing.

[hereticzero]

Welcome VBiz.

I do not believe hell exists. It is a concept of the church that requires special punishments, as if being alive weren't punishment enough. I believe punishment and reward is for the living, dead do not need plaques and trophies for what they did in life and neither do they need hell or some other punishment, as listening to the xtian yarns are punishments enough. I would rather go to hell with the people I know than sit in heaven with those who made my life a living hell.

[Grandpa Harley]

Sorry for this but

 

Let's talk about HELL, baby

Let's talk about you and me.

Let's talkbout all the bad thing

And the worse things

That may be

Let's talk abou-out Hell!!!

[Trev]

Sorry for this but

 

Let's talk about HELL, baby

Let's talk about you and me.

Let's talkbout all the bad thing

And the worse things

That may be

Let's talk abou-out Hell!!!

 

lol coffee on screen moment.

 

I don't believe there is a hell either, but I like your theory VBiz. And to put a slightly different spin on it, I have heard a lot of preachers here describe hell as 'the lonliest place you could think of' - and assuming hell even exists could that be any worse than a time here on earth when you're lonely?

[mwc]

My main point here is that churchies think hell is bad and also think that the guy who runs it is bad. So someone who is more educated on the subject needs to explain to me why a guy who loves evil would punish people who engage in evil? It seems completely illogical. Wouldn't it make more sense if hell was actually run by god or one of his minions? THAT is who wants to punish evil people!

Do you want the less fun answer now? It's the carrot and stick.

 

You see. The "devil" doesn't like you. He doesn't like "god." He just doesn't like much of anything. He's got all this anger inside. Poor guy. He's jealous too. Jealous of you, me, "god," whatever. So, what he doesn't want is for anyone or anything else to be happy since he can't be happy. Or can he? There's one thing that motivates him. Making others unhappy. That gives him a little chuckle. What he does then is he holds out a carrot. You want that carrot so off you go. This carrot is all those things you mentioned. The usual debauchery types of things. Things "god" doesn't like. This gives the devil a little chuckle. But now you're thinking "Well, this 'hell' place must be more of this type of thing. I'll like it there." But the devil knows better. That's the stick. He knows once you're there that it's just him taking away all your fun and games then heaping on what makes you miserable (oddly enough for us apostates I guess that means we may have to go to church). So you're expecting a party but that party is never to come for you.

 

So the carrot and the stick does it's job and the devil gets a little chuckle at the expense of both us and "god."

 

See how it all works? So, of course, you'll now want to walk that narrow path so you can go to "heaven" where it's guaranteed to be gloriously bland.

 

mwc

[BigVaden]

I, personally, don't believe hell exists.

 

A good comparison is the idea of time. Time is a man-made concept. This is why you have these dreams that seem go to on forever and a day but when you wake up you've only been asleep for ten minutes, the area of your brain where dreams come from does not recognize time - but pretty much everything we do in life dictated by this concept.

 

Very similar is the idea of hell. Hell stems from the idea of religion, primarily Christianity, and the entire basis for this religion is a book written by men - that's just one example, obviously there are countless others. Basically if you are going to have a good place to reward the people that stay in line and follow your ideas after they die, there must be a counterpart for the less holy individuals - if for no other reason than to scare them into following.

[Jincks013]

Hell is an interesting concept.

It has fire, people fear fire.

It has demons, people fear demons.

It has darkness, people fear darkness.

It has lonliness, people fear being alone.

It has noxioius smells; some usually associated to volcanic activity.

It has torture, people fear torture.

 

Hell is composed primarily though of deep seated psychological fears. Early xtians took a serious look at what people feared, pain, lonliness, fire and death then created a place where you will spend eternity enduring unimaginable torture under the guidence of the ultimate sadist if you don't conform, give the church all your goods and play according to their rules.

I believe I've pointed out before that the whole 'saved' thing is the best get rich quick scheme I've ever heard of?

Create a problem: sin.

Create a solution: saving.

Create a punishment: hell

Create a reward: heaven.

 

Those early churchies really had a grasp on being successful con men.

 

lets look at 'heaven'.

Why does heaven have things filled with material value on earth? Pearly gates, gold streets, abundance? Why does it have things we crave? Plenty, peace, prosperity, equality? It provides an answer to our most deep seated fear; death. heaven has enternal life.. no one dies! Ever.

Must be one crowded joint by now.

"heaven" was the early con men's way of sucking in the gullible and tis been doing it for a few thousand years.

[MathGeek]

Hell is a garbage pit outside Jerusalem, need more be said.

[Vomit Comet]

I was taught that Satan and his demons were still smarting over having been cast out of heaven. Some even speculated that Satan regretted what happened, but that there wasn't shit he could do, which is one reason why he's so vicious. Also, I was taught that they were terribly jealous that we get to be forgiven and granted entry into heaven and reign above the angels. He hated humans in general because any human could get this, whereas he and his demons could not.

 

So all that anger and hatred and resentment for humans would be taken out on any who wound up at the BBQ.

[Shion]

Personally I do not believe in hell. We create our own 'hells' during our lifetime by our own choices. We can cause great suffering to ourselves and the world around us, but again, I believe it is a human choice. I was taught that hell was a place where 'god' was not present, and that you would never be united with him ever again. You would be cast into darkness surrounded by billions of others mourning this tremendous loss. There would be anarchy. I always thought, 'well, if God wants to send me there, fine. Fine! I will teach those people to deal with it as it is! I will make my own path." Besides I would take this earth, with all of its beauty and all of its problems over kissing some tyrant's butt.

[Guest kiwi888]

I've spent time pondering this before. I have a fun (but exhausting) inner world with lots of visuals/movies running much of the time.

 

Pretty much I saw it like this. I don't enjoy hot weather. I like it to be about 60-75 degrees. So say I'm thrown into a hot lava hell. I figure after a few weeks, I'd adjust and get used to it. Then God could turn it up a notch, and I 'd get used to that, and on and on! Or it could be like a Hellraiser movie or Freddie Krueger where god gets you with your deepest fears......having to watch your infant being skinned alive over and over...fun stuff from a bored god..........I mean he's creative in that story book with pillars of salt and all.....

 

When thinking about the movie Frailty and what many of us have lived through, Christianity doesn't exactly promote mental health lol !!! Glad I woke up.

 

Realistically though, the only hell that exists is right here on earth...... where people do horrible things to each other (often in an invisible being's name) where people fail to use simple reasoning and force "ill logic" into young children, living with and using fear to make it stick. Hell is the zombification of millions, impeding real progress on this planet.

[Amethyst]

Hell is a threat used to control people by fear, and an unethical belief that promotes bigotry.

 

Whether you take the hell=fire and brimstone version or the hell=death version, either way people are either being tortured for all of eternity for their beliefs, or murdered for their beliefs, while all the Christians supposedly get paradise. I cannot and will not support a religion with a core belief like that. It's immoral.