I'm Scared Of Going To Hell

[Guest Ask21771]

for years I've been battling the fear of going to hell for not being Christian I need to know that can't possibly happen what evidence exists that disproves the Christian idea of hell

[Ellinas]

How to prove that something does not exist.

 

Proving a negative.  That's a difficult one.

 

What  can tell you is this:

1. Christianity has only one idea amongst others as to what might be the nature of any afterlife.  It is no more credible than Valhalla, the Elysian Fields, the Summerlands or any other variant.
2. Christianity postulates that an omniscient, omnipotent god of so called love has created us mere mortals knowing full well that he would throw away the majority of us to burn in hell forever.  That is so self evidently nonsense that it beggars any sort of belief.  Either the Christian god is a power crazed psychopath or the whole Christian idea of hell is rubbish.
3. Plain, straight forward evolutionary science tells us conclusively that the creation account of Genesis is a mere myth.  If that part of the so called word of god is make believe, why regard any part of it as any less so?  If there was no creation in the terms of Genesis, neither was there a fall.  No fall, no doctrine of original sin, no need for "redemption" by a saviour, no judgement to eternal hellfire.  Without the foundation, the edifice collapses.

I cannot prove that there is or is not an afterlife.  If there is, I cannot prove its' nature.  But I can say, with absolute certainty, that Christianity and its' doctrines - along with those of other judgemental, monotheist, abrahamic religions - is unalloyed shite.

[Travi]

I seen a picture once that someone had put together that many of the great minds of our past and present with the caption that says: "Fear not Hell, for it exists, you will find yourself in very good company."

 

One thing you had to look at when you think about hell is why would a God, claiming to be pure love and forgiveness, cast someone into such a terrible place just because you don't believe in him? This leads you to the basic problem of looking at the situation and seeing the hypocrisy of it: A loving God, that loves you more than you could ever love him, and more than you'll ever love anyone else - will throw a temper tantrum if you lose your faith in him and throw you to the wolves? Wouldn't this loving God, if he truly was, offer a lesser paradise because he loves you?

The problem with your inquiry is that no one really knows what happens when we die. No one has lived to tell the tale. When our brains stop and our heart cease to function, there is no telling what happens. I've always told people that ask me "What are you gonna do if it is true then?!" I tell them that I'll look St. Peter right in the eye and say: "Whoops, guess I f*cked up." Then probably cuss out Jesus and God for being jerks, then hop on the escalator. The idea that despite being a good person, you are still condemned to hell just defies all logic. You can be an absolute saint in your life, donating to the needy, doing good by everyone you come across, being an ideal citizen of the world - but if you're an atheist, according to this logic, you're burning anyhow. Just think for a minute about how twisted that is, and how illogical it sounds.

 

It's pointless to really speculate about it, because no one truly knows. You have a very short time on this earth, and all you can do is live it to its fullest. Once we die, we'll find out.

[mymistake]

for years I've been battling the fear of going to hell for not being Christian I need to know that can't possibly happen what evidence exists that disproves the Christian idea of hell

 

 

I know the fear is powerful; I experienced it myself not that long ago.  Do you ever wonder why it is the people who don't believe in Hell who have to

 

prove there is no Hell?  Meanwhile all the people who say there is a Hell can continue to proclaim it without ever offering a shred of empirical evidence?

 

Anyway does it help if the Hebrews during the Old Testament era never believed in Hell (or even Heaven)?  Heaven is from the Egyptian religion.  Hell

 

is from Greek polytheism.  You know: Zeus, Apollo, Athena, Poseidon . . . Hades.  The New Testament is the result of the Egyptian Empire taking over

 

Palestine followed by the Greeks conquering it under Alexander the Great.  And where did Greeks get the idea of Hell from?  They had volcanos but

 

didn't know what they were.  They had no theory of plate tectonics.  They had no idea what was happening in Earth's interior.  Hades was the primitive

 

peoples' way of explaining volcanos.  Thunder is a dramatic and awesome phenomenon but you don't think Zeus is throwing thunderbolts.

 

 

 

 

[GraphicsGuy]

There's no evidence for Heaven.

 

And if the Christian version of god is actually real and if he would actually send you to hell, he's a bastard not worth serving.

[florduh]

It has been proven many times here and elsewhere that the Bible is false and the religions it spawned are false. Therefore, the doctrines of said religions are just made up. Regarding the Hell doctrine, even Christians argue with each other about that one. The threat of Hell is still one of their most effective tools, though, because it strikes an emotional chord and that is very useful to them since nobody comes to the religion through intellectual proofs.

[disillusioned]

The fear of hell is very powerful. But it is also an irrational fear. We have never had any real reason to think that hell exists, other than that we were told that it exists. The people who told us are, by all accounts, just as clueless as we are. So why should we fear it? We don't similarly lose sleep over the prospect of being sent to the Muslim hell. This is simply because we haven't been indoctrinated by Islam.

[qadeshet]

I would prefer to burn in Hell than serve the cruel and vengeful god that would send me there. At the Last Judgement I would tell Him to kiss my ass and jump into the fire. Screw the monstrous tyrant.

 

Robert G Ingersoll had this to say:

 

http://www.theingersolltimes.com/hell/

[Llwellyn]

Anything is possible.  If you're going to be debilitated until you are certain that Yahweh's curses "can't possibly happen" then that's the condition in which you'll remain.  Your joy is your free choice, and it will always remain a choice to you, regardless of your exterior conditions or opposition to you by gods or humans.  This world may already be hell, and the Bible says that it is, insofar as nonbelievers suffer under the "Curse of Adam" imposed by God.   But that has never prevented us non-Christians from being in a joyful paradise in our own hearts.  There are worse things that being in hell -- worse yet is having hell in our hearts.  I hope Yahweh does have a hell, and I hope he brings it -- to the utmost.

 

[bornagainathiest]

Ask21771,

 

The very purpose of this forum is to be a resource for those leaving Christianity behind.

Part of that remit is helping folks like yourself to overcome their fear of hell.  We've helped many hurt, anxious and frightened people in this regard.  It's my hope that we can help you too. 

 

To do this we will need to know more about just what is scaring you so deeply.

Therefore, it's necessary to ask you some questions and for you to respond to them as honestly, clearly and directly as possible.  Just as a doctor can better help a patient who gives them helpful information, so we will be better able to help you if we can better understanding the nature of your anxiety.

 

Please indicate if this is ok and if you'd like to go down this road.

If this course of action is something you'd prefer to keep confidential, then there's always the possibility of using the Private Messaging facility to engage in strictly private dialog on a person-to-person basis.

 

Thanks,

 

BAA.

 

 

 

 

[Guest Ask21771]

My main problem is there seems to be no absolute proof against Christianity

[florduh]

My main problem is there seems to be no absolute proof against Christianity

There's no absolute proof against lots of silly things; Santa, fairies, Xenu. The question is, is there any actual proof for it?

[mymistake]

My main problem is there seems to be no absolute proof against Christianity

 

Sure there is.  It is called the Problem of Evil.  It demonstrates that the God of Christian theology cannot exist.

 

 

Here is an informal version:

 

Children are raped every year.

 

If God chooses to watch and do nothing then God is not good.  (And Christianity is wrong)

 

If God does not know it happens then God is ignorant.  (And Christianity is also wrong)

 

If God knows but can do nothing to stop it then God is not powerful.  (And Christianity is wrong)

 

Thus there cannot be an all powerful, all knowing and all good (or loving) God.  It cannot exist.

 

 

 

Now Christians will tell you that God is a God of justice so he will allow the child rape to go on but God will send the rapist to hell to burn forever and ever.

 

But that isn't justice.  Preventing the rape would help the victim while allowing it to happen so that God can punish afterwards helps nobody.  Furthermore

 

as horrible as rape is this doesn't deserve eternal punishment.  And besides if the rapist says the magic words he gets out of punishment.  So God is not a

 

God of justice.

 

 

 

Now if Christians don't know anything about God's nature then why would they know anything spiritual at all?

[sdelsolray]

for years I've been battling the fear of going to hell for not being Christian I need to know that can't possibly happen what evidence exists that disproves the Christian idea of hell

You've got it backwards and you are cheating.  Those making an assertive claim have the burden of proof.  Accordingly, those claiming hell exists have the burden of proof.

 

Do you claim hell exists?  If so, then please provide relevant empirical evidence.  Are others claiming hell exists?  If so, they need to provide that evidence, not you.

 

Lack of belief in hell is not an assertive claim.  Therefore, there is no need to provide evidence of it.

 

You are cheating because you ask from those that lack belief in hell to give you evidence of the non-existence of hell.

 

In order to work through your fear of hell, you have to do some hard work.  I would suggest you gather the "evidence" presented by hell-believers yourself, evaluate it yourself and reach your own conclusions yourself.  That's the only way to do it.  I suspect you will find that the "evidence" provided by hell-believers is not evidence at all, but merely more unsupported claims and other nonsense.

 

Do the hard work.

[RenaissanceWoman]

Sorry to say, but sdelsolray is correct; you are going to have to look for proof that hell does exist / Christianity is real, and then evaluate those claims -- not the other way around.

 

I am having a similar discussion with my nine-year-old daughter about the existence of mermaids. Little girls seem to love mermaid stories, but they are just that -- stories. A couple of really old legends/stories are interesting and popular, so contemporary people write more of the same. It's kind of fun, and it sells. Books, movies, dolls, video games... lots of money to be made. I even made the mistake (innocently) a couple years ago of sending her to Girl Scout camp that had a mermaid theme, since she was so interested in that lore. There was a counsellor who dressed as a mermaid and the girls got to meet her down at the dock and ask questions. So every time I try to tell my daughter that mermaids are not real, she reminds me of "Pixie" that she met at camp. Ugh. It's similar to a mall Santa -- I met him, so he must be real!

 

Instead of trying to prove the negative (that they don't exist), I have asked her to research that they do exist -- and we'll go from there. She actually did find some interesting links, which were on the surface convincing, but easily debunked in the end (with a little more digging). One was CGI, and another was a much-decayed abnormal fish of some kind. (That one was a little disturbing, actually.) Those were easy to debunk because the links online had comments sections that pointed out all the flaws. Everything else she found was eye witness accounts, which are problematic on so many levels.

 

(By the way, have you read the original "Little Mermaid" story? Much more disturbing than the Disney version. The mermaid gave up her whole world and family for an outsider man who loved and married someone else, and the mermaid died. Ick.)

 

You can do the same thing with proving that hell exists and that Christianity is real. Search for proof, then look closely, consider the sources, or search for other opinions to refute it. There is a lot out there on this subject. You can do the same for unicorns and leprechauns and any other mythical stories. Just because a few people say they saw something or because people keep referring back to old sources (which must be true since they've been around so long, right? not necessarily), does not make it real.

 

So instead of asking us to prove something that we do not believe exists, you should start with those who do believe it exists, and get them to prove it. On the subject of hell, much has been written and refuted, so it all depends on how much time you are willing to invest.

 

I know how you feel. I've been deconverted for a couple years now, but every once in a while I think "what if?" about hell. It was drilled in to me from a very young age, and very hard to dislodge. But the research I already did a few years back is easy to bring back to mind, or to find again online.

 

It will take a little work and a lot of time to dislodge this lingering thought pattern in your brain, but you can do it. In the meantime, do not be afraid, and soldier on. It gets better. I hope you find peace.

[Llwellyn]

My main problem is there seems to be no absolute proof against Christianity

 

There is no "absolute proof" for or against anything.  This is what the scientists are telling us.  This is why the law charges a jury to make findings only to a practical (rather than absolute) level of confidence.  A proof is whatever a person accepts as a proof and thereby employs to stabilize a belief.  Nothing can count as a reason for holding a belief except another belief.  All that counts as evidence or justification for a belief comes from the same totality of belief to which it belongs.  Justification depends on awareness, which is just another belief.  You can literally just drop your worries about Yahweh's curses for no other reason than because daffodils are yellow.-- no other fact is more or less relevant in the inquiry of whether hell exists or doesn't exist.  In short, no fact or argument makes you cling to your anxiety about Yahweh's hell except your own tenacity.  Since you are that tenacious, then you have the ability to tenaciously cling to joy even if Yahweh blasts you with hellfire.  With the kind of tenacity you demonstrate, you would never know one way or the other if you actually were in hell.  The relevance of Yahweh's hell, even if real, would vanish.

 

[GraphicsGuy]

My main problem is there seems to be no absolute proof against Christianity

If every person on Earth were a Christian it wouldn't change the fact that life is chaotic and death is imminent.

 

My personal experience is that Christianity is false.

 

According to everything that I was taught and/or believed while a Christian, my life should have been exemplary and full of joy.

 

I was miserable, severely depressed, suicidal, had bi-polar tendencies, I found life extremely difficult to bear and understand, and didn't have any real friends because most Christians are afraid to talk about all the "dark" things going on within their minds.

 

I was a hollow mess of a man.

 

As far as I am concerned, Christianity completely ruined an entire 18+ years of my life. For me, that makes it false and completely unworthy of my continued patronage.

 

I am far happier now as an unbeliever. I am honest with myself and with others. I am not depressed. I am not suicidal.

 

So, Ask21771, just do what makes you happy. If Christianity makes you happy, believe it. If it doesn't, find something that does.

[Brother Jeff]

for years I've been battling the fear of going to hell for not being Christian I need to know that can't possibly happen what evidence exists that disproves the Christian idea of hell

 

You cannot possibly go to hell because hell does not exist. Hell is a morally reprehensible concept, and it's nothing more than an evil, fear-based myth. 

 

I hope these writings from me and others will help you get over your fear of hell. It's baseless and there is no need for you to be plagued by it for another second.

 

http://religionisbullshit.me/hell-established-500-d/

 

http://religionisbullshit.me/to-end-fear-of-hell/

 

http://religionisbullshit.me/christianity-a-clear-and-present-danger/

 

http://religionisbullshit.me/two-adams-two-myths/

 

http://religionisbullshit.me/letter-hell/

 

If you had been born in a Muslim country, you would not be worried about going to the Christian hell. You would be worried about going to the Muslim hell. Think about that. Also, Christianity is easy to disprove. I mean, come on. According to Christianity, the world is as it is because a talking snake convinced two obviously mythical people to eat magic fruit from a magic tree. It's laughably ridiculous and if it wasn't so ingrained in your psyche, you would see that there is absolutely nothing to fear. The same book that seriously suggests the talking snake/magic fruit theory is the same book that claims that hell exists. If you can't take the story about the talking snake and the magic fruit from the magic tree seriously, then why should you take the morally reprehensible concept of hell seriously? It's all just ancient mythology, and there is absolutely nothing to fear.

 

I wish you peace and FREEDOM! Glory!

[Brother Jeff]

Are you worried about going to the Klingon prison asteroid Rura Penthe? Probably not, right? Because you know it’s fictional. Same thing totally applies to the Christian hell and the hells of all other religions. Fictional places and no rational reason to fear going to any of them…

 

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Rura_Penthe

[RoodAwakening]

If the fear of hell has been with you since childhood, it will "feel" like truth without necessarily being true because you would have believed what you were told as a child without exercising your rational mind (only available to more physically mature humans). This is the reason that indoctrinating children with such horrifying fairy tales is child abuse. It's going to be tough, but getting your rational mind to overcome that "gut feeling" is the only way to get through this. We're here for you if you need help getting through this.

[Llwellyn]

There are equivalents of the Christian Hell which are verifiably true.  Kim Jung Un imprisons people in work camps;  there are neighborhoods terrorized by bullies;  there are families where women and children are oppressed by a man.  Every person lives, to some degree, under the malign influence of some other person.  These are different perhaps only in degree than in kind with the Christian description of Yahweh's maledictory effect on non-Christians:  "The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed."  Deuteronomy 28:20.  Hell does exist, or conditions very nearly like it -- factually equivalent to it.  So, there's no use in "proving" to yourself that hell does not exist when it certainly does exist.  The task at hand is to prepare yourself for burning, to react best under those circumstances, which are even now presently existing.  Do you burn with debilitating misery like the Christians describe your burning?  Or do you burn like the Phoenix rising as you would describe it?  These are your choices.

 

[Guest Ask21771]

The way I understand christian thinking is this

 

1. Because Adam ate the fruit and defied God mankinds nature became sinful

 

2. We have to accept christianity because it is the only way to get rid of our sinful nature without violating our free will

[mymistake]

The way I understand christian thinking is this

 

1. Because Adam ate the fruit and defied God mankinds nature became sinful

 

2. We have to accept christianity because it is the only way to get rid of our sinful nature without violating our free will

 

 

Correct.  And yet Adam is a myth.  There was never any forbidden fruit.  It's a fairy tale.

[Guest Furball]

The real question is why did god, (who is all loving and wants nothing but the best for his creatures) put the tree there in the first place? If adam hadn't eaten the fruit, but eve did, would that still have put humanity in peril? If adam and eve didn't eat the fruit that day (let's call it a thursday), how much longer would god have kept the tree in the garden to tempt them, 2 more weeks, another month??

 

If god really wanted a special chosen people for himself, you would have thought jesus would have told his dad to just make some followers instead of killing his own son to bring the lost followers back.

[Guest Ask21771]

http://www.gotquestions.org/tree-knowledge-good-evil.html here's an answer but it is flawed