Kaiser01 Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 When i was a child under Christianity i of course like everyone else, was taught that heaven was a place where everyone wanted to go. I however did not want to go to heaven because even as a small child it just seemed like another hell to me, a very boring conceded hell where i spend all my time on my knees and praise God for an eternity. I certainly did not want to go to hell but i didn't want to go to heaven because it seemed so boring and uneventful. I never asked anyone about this because to claim i didn't want heaven would of been blasphemy. Did you dislike the Idea of eternal worship? I also find it funny how Christians will use the idea of heaven to get people in the door almost claiming that they can do what ever they want in heaven but when you get into Christianity you learn your not free in heaven but all you will be doing is praying for an eternity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endemoniada Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I wouldn't say that I feared heaven, but I certainly didn't want to worship God for eternity. I just believed that heaven would be like earth with no evil or suffering, and I think that's what my church teaches too. Even so, that didn't seem very appealing when I thought about how there wouldn't be M rated video games in heaven, or that so many other things that I enjoy in this life either wouln't exist or would have no purpose in heaven. I actually wondered if hell would be better, if that means I get do some of the things I like that aren't necessarily 'sins' but probably wouldn't be in heaven either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I don't know where this idea came from -- probably from some obscure bible verse -- but I remember having discussions about whether we would recognize one another in heaven. The idea that we might not was appalling to me. What was the point of being reunited with those who have passed on if you're not even able to pick 'em out of the crowd? An eternity without being able to see my mom and dad? No thanks, I thought. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarfwearer Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 When i was a child under Christianity i of course like everyone else, was taught that heaven was a place where everyone wanted to go. I however did not want to go to heaven because even as a small child it just seemed like another hell to me, a very boring conceded hell where i spend all my time on my knees and praise God for an eternity. I certainly did not want to go to hell but i didn't want to go to heaven because it seemed so boring and uneventful. I never asked anyone about this because to claim i didn't want heaven would of been blasphemy. Did you dislike the Idea of eternal worship? I also find it funny how Christians will use the idea of heaven to get people in the door almost claiming that they can do what ever they want in heaven but when you get into Christianity you learn your not free in heaven but all you will be doing is praying for an eternity. This and so much this. This is so much an argument against eternal beings. Wouldn't they eventually get bored? I have actually had many times where I have had nightmares of realizations of eternity, the awful point when you know everything because you have been everywhere and seen everything and you have reached the end of it all and there is nothing new, but you know deep down inside that you will keep existing forever and ever and ever in eternal boredom. It's not a pleasant feeling. Wow. This brought back a lot. o.O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inorbit Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 My eschatology was quite different. As a kid, the idea of heaven kinda bored me. As I grew older as a Christian, my theology evolved. My view of "heaven" was much more concrete than the ethereal "harp on a cloud" popular view of heaven. I didn't believe God was all "fuck this planet, I want you all to float around in spirit bodies for eternity!" It was very tied in with my eschatology, but basically it's that "heaven" was meant to be here all along. You know, the old cheesy saying: "It starts with a Garden and ends with a City." The idea being that God's plan from the get-go was to dwell with man on the earth and have this place be the context for our relationship with him. Boy, was there some serious fuck-up-in-the-middle there. Anyway... Haha... It's still weird to explain Christian theology when you no longer believe it. Funny how I have more clarity on what I believed now that I no longer believe it. *snort* I can see the holes. But, anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneTarus Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I think the eternal worship thing bothered me the most. along with there being no sex in heaven and the very idea that god would make us forget anyone that was in hell (I heard people tell me this a lot) I never liked worship as a christian. and the thought of being in a church service that lasted forever made my skin crawl. and in the book of revelation where these people that had crowns even would get up every few minutes and throw their crowns at his feet forever and ever sure didn't sound like a great deal to me either. about the only thing that did sound nice was the 1000 year reign (of course God being the asshole that he is he fucks it all up for everybody at the end of those 1000 years...) so yeah I think I more feared God than loved him and honestly never felt I had enough of a 2 way relationship to really honestly say that I even liked him. I really tried to reach out though and never felt that he took time out to talk to me. (I know that sounds crazy now but I believed he was real and if he was real he should be able to talk to you directly. like other people around me claimed he did) I still feel something has gotten me through life so far though but whatever it is it doesn't look anything like biblegod. I've never encountered anything personal so far and I guess that is a good thing because I don't need to add schizophrenia to my long laundry list of problems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike D Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Heaven seemed so vague to me that I don't think I thought about it one way or the other, aside from I would rather go there than hell. All the Christians in my church seemed to talk about was their mansions and the streets paved of gold they would be living on in heaven. As if what they were looking forward to was the material wealth they didn't have here on earth.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivingLife Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I hated church services even wheniwazawoo so the idea of an eternal goddicksuckingeternalservice did not overly excite me. It is obvious folk have invented a heaven that meets their expectations. The idea also that everyone would be a thirtysomething negates the idea that you will be with grandma as she too would prefer to be a thirtysomething. Gee imagine if grandma now was hawt????? When you really think about it, eternal life will suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noumena Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Because I loved orgasms so much in my 20's..I used to hope that heaven was just like having orgasm after orgasm after orgasm. I even had dreams about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToonForever Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 The idea that we'd all be transformed into our spirit bodies and not relate the way we do on earth. Especially with my wife. That part bothered me the most - she's my best friend, my confidant, the only person I trust with absolutely everything. Our unique relationship is so different from every other. The idea we wouldn't have that was depressing. I'm 45. She's been by my side for 30 of those years. It would literally give me so much anxiety I'd feel a little ill. I'm sure that's an overreaction, but the idea that we would no longer have that unique relationship throughout eternity really got to me. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inqui Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 There were three things that bugged me: 1) Not much was said about it, so most of what I had was teachers talking about how customisably, magically amazing it would be. 2) Being created for an eternal church service sounded boring as batshit and kind of a dick move on God's part. 3) People I knew going to hell. I remember at school a girl breaking down in tears over this one. The teacher, being as supportive as they were, simply said heaven would be so awesome she wouldn't even notice. They bugged me, but as a god-bot I brushed them aside as I didn't want to offend the magic sky emperor. When I was beginning to deconvert I saw an argument about a dead baby going to heaven. The question of experiences was raised (does the baby have any? Are they simulated? Is there some kind of celestial preschool?) and heaven suddenly had some logistical questions to answer while still looking slightly overrated. If one's time in heaven does draw from their experiences, it's going to be worse than earth because we can't contrast the good experiences and the bad (if you already know imperfection, perfection is an impossibility), but if their soul in heaven doesn't draw from their experiences it makes the idea of choosing God rather redundant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam5 Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Did you dislike the Idea of eternal worship? Honestly say I never thought about it at the time. Now I look back and think, the idea of God in Revelation wanting constant worship is very silly. A continuous church service would of course be mind numbingly boring. Plus the Bible God must has a massive ego problem to crave worship and praise constantly God, if He exists, would not need anything from us, least of all require constant adulation and praise, the idea is very silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thought2Much Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 The view of heaven as eternal worship service seems to be prevalent within the Assemblies of God. And yes, this concept made me really dislike the idea of going to heaven, even if such a place exists. It bothered me that I had to put aside virtually all earthly pleasures while being alive, and then in heaven I would only be able to sing to God. For eternity. That all seemed like a rather raw deal to me, especially toward the end of my time of being a believer. I always hoped that if heaven was just an eternal worship service, that the music would be everything that the fundies were trained to hate their entire lives, with lots of driving beats and screaming guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenerGal Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 The idea that we'd all be transformed into our spirit bodies and not relate the way we do on earth. Especially with my wife. That part bothered me the most - she's my best friend, my confidant, the only person I trust with absolutely everything. Our unique relationship is so different from every other. The idea we wouldn't have that was depressing. I'm 45. She's been by my side for 30 of those years. It would literally give me so much anxiety I'd feel a little ill. I'm sure that's an overreaction, but the idea that we would no longer have that unique relationship throughout eternity really got to me. I'd think about this, too, ToonForever. I would imagine seeing my husband in heaven and being all like "hey, we knew each other once." I preferred imagining that we shared a mansion of endless exploration (like how it goes in my dreams -- secret doors and all that) and that we engaged in the exploration together, just like we do now in the country. Also, my dogs would be there. When people starting arguing about no animals in heaven, that was hard for me, too. I wanted so badly to be reunited with them. My version of Heaven was awesome, though. Me, my husband, my dogs, and endless exploration and love. Sounded pretty good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inorbit Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 So, am I the only one who didn't believe in the spirit-body version of heaven you all are talking about? Haha. I was a weird Christian then. I thought it was going to be here on Earth, after like this "EXTREME MAKEOVER: EARTH EDITION" and it was gonna be epic and badass and people would still eat and travel and work and whatever. The "harp on a cloud" heaven was just the dead's version of waiting for Jesus to come back. Then, you know, the resurrection and all that. Hearing myself say it now, it sounds crazy. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser01 Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 I always had a interesting thought. If we could learn in heaven for an eternity, would we eventually be just as smart as God? What would he do then? Simply by statistics we would know as much as him at some point depending on your inturpertation of time or eternity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chikirin Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I feared living for eternity. Whether in heaven or hell, what if I got tired of it? There'd be no escape! We are not eternal beings, we are mortal, and so I think on some level we hope in the eventual natural rest of death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToonForever Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 The idea that we'd all be transformed into our spirit bodies and not relate the way we do on earth. Especially with my wife. That part bothered me the most - she's my best friend, my confidant, the only person I trust with absolutely everything. Our unique relationship is so different from every other. The idea we wouldn't have that was depressing. I'm 45. She's been by my side for 30 of those years. It would literally give me so much anxiety I'd feel a little ill. I'm sure that's an overreaction, but the idea that we would no longer have that unique relationship throughout eternity really got to me. I'd think about this, too, ToonForever. I would imagine seeing my husband in heaven and being all like "hey, we knew each other once." I preferred imagining that we shared a mansion of endless exploration (like how it goes in my dreams -- secret doors and all that) and that we engaged in the exploration together, just like we do now in the country. Also, my dogs would be there. When people starting arguing about no animals in heaven, that was hard for me, too. I wanted so badly to be reunited with them. My version of Heaven was awesome, though. Me, my husband, my dogs, and endless exploration and love. Sounded pretty good. Well, if there ends up being a heaven, I hope it's more like yours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riddick Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Heaven?? who'd want to go to heaven??? all the drugs and hookers will be in hell. But in all seriousness, since according to Christianity my family will be going to hell, i'm happy to go to hell, beside i can't stand being around a Christian for too long and being surrounded by them in Heaven for eternity, seems like my idea of hell to me. Since i don't believe in their idea of Heaven or Hell, how can i fear something i don't believe in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rain Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Can anyone direct me to verses in the bible where heaven is described? Having never been religious, past the age of 10, my only concept of heaven was a place where I would be happy all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToonForever Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Heaven?? who'd want to go to heaven??? all the drugs and hookers will be in hell. But in all seriousness, since according to Christianity my family will be going to hell, i'm happy to go to hell, beside i can't stand being around a Christian for too long and being surrounded by them in Heaven for eternity, seems like my idea of hell to me. Since i don't believe in their idea of Heaven or Hell, how can i fear something i don't believe in. I think the OP meant when those of us who were Christians were still Christians, did we fear heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverAgainV Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I don't know where this idea came from -- probably from some obscure bible verse -- but I remember having discussions about whether we would recognize one another in heaven. The idea that we might not was appalling to me. What was the point of being reunited with those who have passed on if you're not even able to pick 'em out of the crowd? An eternity without being able to see my mom and dad? No thanks, I thought. I heard that too. No male or female in heaven made me think...boring!! no sexual dynamics...damn! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverAgainV Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 The idea that we'd all be transformed into our spirit bodies and not relate the way we do on earth. Especially with my wife. That part bothered me the most - she's my best friend, my confidant, the only person I trust with absolutely everything. Our unique relationship is so different from every other. The idea we wouldn't have that was depressing. I'm 45. She's been by my side for 30 of those years. It would literally give me so much anxiety I'd feel a little ill. I'm sure that's an overreaction, but the idea that we would no longer have that unique relationship throughout eternity really got to me. I was told that since there was no female or male in heaven we might not even recognize our nearest & dearest. (hubby, wife) That did not sit well with me. Heaven did seem strange, yes no sadness...but heaven seemed emotionless & the "worship of gawd, forever & ever & ever..." seemed mundane, like we would be robots. I never allowed myself to think too deeply this when I was in the cult...but once I got out....oh boy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzy Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 In the hindsight I can say the only grab Christianity had on me was the fear of hell. It wasn't because I so desired to be in heaven. Like many of you already said deep down I found the Christian concept of heaven boring. I got bored in church because we used to have worship for 1-1.5 hours before AND after every sermon. To do that for an eternity? What a horrible existence would that be! And even back then deep down I could not love this evil God of the Bible (even though as a Christian I lied to myself that he was not evil and I do love him as I should). To worship this jerk for an eternity? No thanks. I regret every minute of my life I spent worshipping him. All because they told me if I don't do that I will be tormented forever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thought2Much Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 In the hindsight I can say the only grab Christianity had on me was the fear of hell. It wasn't because I so desired to be in heaven. Like many of you already said deep down I found the Christian concept of heaven boring. I got bored in church because we used to have worship for 1-1.5 hours before AND after every sermon. To do that for an eternity? What a horrible existence would that be! I might have mentioned to a person or two that heaven sounded boring, and I think the response was something like "God will change us all so that we enjoy worshiping him for eternity." I'm sorry, but you would have to change my entire personality so much to make this possible, even before I deconverted, that I just wouldn't be me anymore. I'd be someone and something else. If I would be so different from what I am now, then what's the point? Why not just make a bunch of ass-kissing heavenly beings to start with, instead of screwing around with humans here on earth? Oh, wait, I forgot. <droning christian voice> Because God works in mysterious ways. </droning christian voice> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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