Do people still believe in Hell?

[Jayson1]

I know some people still believe in a God and a afterlife. Granted I think their beliefs are riddled with doubt which means a lot of time they have to almost lie to themselves to maintain that belief because they can't accept the possibility of being wrong but it seems weird that anyone would want to hold on so strong to the concept of Hell.

Maybe I m wrong but I think most people have accepted the idea of a loving God, creating a imortal torture chamber is not something that makes a lot of sense. For starter it's hard to justify torture here on earth, much less in a infinite afterlife. Even if people to deserve it still raises questions why God would create people he knows is going to go to Hell and even the world needs evil people for some kind of balance or even as a means of helping people understand the difference between good and evil it still doesn't explain why he can't just fix these people when they die so they can spend the afterlife as decent souls.

I think most people only believe in Hell when they see bad people do bad things. It's kind of a revenge fantasy things. We like the idea that a horrible person like Hitler is going to pay some price for what they have done. Since humans are incapable to making them suffer in the way we feel they deserve to, we like to think God will have our back and do it for us.

Jason

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I know some people still believe in a God and a afterlife.

Yes.

Granted I think their beliefs are riddled with doubt

Everybody has doubts. Anyone who says they NEVER doubt their beliefs (whatever they may be) is not being truthful.

I take great comfort in my Christian faith, but of course I have my doubts sometimes. I just have to learn to live with them and move on. That's true for absolutely everyone.

it still doesn't explain why he can't just fix these people when they die so they can spend the afterlife as decent souls.

Because people still have free will.

 

[Jayson1]

Yes.



Everybody has doubts. Anyone says they NEVER doubt their beliefs (whatever they may be) is not being truthful.

I take great comfort in my faith, but of course I have my doubts sometimes. I just have to learn to live with them and move on. That's true for absolutely everyone.



Because people still have free will.

But do we have free will? If God knows what we are going to do then that means we all have a destiny and we just aren't aware of it. Even if without a God are options are limited by society,the money we have,our mental health are physical health. Even our natural thoughts can stop us by simply not giving us the proper answer in time to deal with a problem. For example what if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. You think about what to do. You can go for a walk and get help or wait for someone to drive by. Let's say 10 hours later the problem has been solved. Someone drove by and helped you, but then you have a thought. In your car you have a cell phone you simply didn't think about at the time in which you could have called for help. All because your brain simply didn't provide you with needed information at the right time you were given one less option which means you didn't have a choice to call for help even though you could have if you simply knew about it. Since choice is a key thing with free will then that means there are limits to free will which makes it not such a great thing to totally judge a human being on.

Jason

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

But do we have free will?

Yes. Every last one of us.

 

[Relayer1]

Hell ?

No, I'm not superstitious or a believer in the supernatural, but I am surprised at how many religious people don't seem to believe in it.

Isn't it all kind of integral to the whole thing ?

 

[Kemaiku]

No, but they'll milk people who do for everything they can.

 

[auntiehill]

Of course, choosing an action only based on a simple reward/punishment basis (if I did this, I'll be rewarded; I'll only not do it because I'll be punished!) is functioning at the moral level of a preschooler. One would hope that an adult would develop empathy and sympathy at some point, and do the right thing simply and only because it is the right thing to do, not because of some imaginary punishment in the "afterlife."

One would hope.

 

[Tenacity]

God knows what we are going to do

God know what we're going to decide to do, but doesn't make the decision for us.

Yes on hell.

Not all religions have hell.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

God know what we're going to decide to do, but doesn't make the decision for us.

No he couldn't make that decision for us. But the choice is still an illusion.
The "choice" is already fixed and known.
At no point could we decide differently without proving that knowledge wrong.
Thus no choice exists.
Merely the illusion of choice.
The same would be true of god. Except he didn't even have the illusion of choice.
With the knowledge of every outcome of ever event ever, he could never influence anything to be different without rendering himself wrong.
That is a contradiction.

 

[urbandefault]

I've heard hell described as "the absence of God." There are many other descriptions and ideas, but that's not the point.

Admission into heaven is not gained by good deeds. It's explained several times in the New Testament.

 

[Amaris]

Oh, sure, plenty of people still believe in hell. In fundamentalist Christian circles, it's still fire and brimstone, wailing and gnashing of teeth forever and ever.
For me, it's just Tuesday.

 

[Leviathan]

It's in New Jersey.

 

[Awesome Possum]

Hell is a scare tactic to keep people in line and sticking to a delusional belief structure that's milking them for 10 percent of their income.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Hell (and heaven for that matter) are such childish and vapid black/white views of morality that I can't even think of anything clever to say about them. It's just so clearly bullshit.

 

[Awesome Possum]

How can fire hurt you when you don't have a body anymore? If a soul can burn, can we burn ghosts?

Heaven is pretty stupid too. It's seems impressive to poor people living in the desert thousands of years ago. It's full of mansions and golden roads. But we have CG and can create far more impressive worlds. The Grid from Tron Legacy is cooler than Heaven. It has Light Cycles, a club run by a digital Bowie clone and the Dude is God.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

The Grid from Tron Legacy is cooler than Heaven. It has Light Cycles, a club run by a digital Bowie clone and the Dude is God.

Ok, now that does sound awesome. I will follow any religion/cult that promises an afterlife of Light Cycles.

 

[Jayson1]

The allure of heaven is that it's place you get to stay at forever. Plus all your problems go away. People forget though that to live in such a manner it means you will have to be altered in such away that you might no longer be you anymore. Spending forever as some Stefford Wife version of me doesn't sound so great IMO. To quote KIrk "I need my pain" because that is part of what makes me who I am. Plus if everthing is great and wonderful were does all the new art come from. Think Roddenberry's vision was hard to deal with when writing for "TNG" imagine how hard it would be for someone to come up with stuff in heaven

Jason.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I'd be bored after a day in Christian Heaven and you have to be there for eternity. Even if you loved it, you'd get used to it after a while and then you have all of forever to stay there. I like roller coasters, but I don't want to ride one forever. I need a break from shows I love every now and then. Eternity is pretty horrifying concept if you actually think about it. Plus you have to be there with a bunch of religious people forever which is even worse.

 

[Jayson1]

I'd be bored after a day in Christian Heaven and you have to be there for eternity. Even if you loved it, you'd get used to it after a while and then you have all of forever to stay there. I like roller coasters, but I don't want to ride one forever. I need a break from shows I love every now and then. Eternity is pretty horrifying concept if you actually think about it. Plus you have to be there with a bunch of religious people forever which is even worse.

To be fair I think I can think of some afterlife concepts that don't sound so bad. Maybe if Heaven is like the world's greatest holodeck were you can do and experience anything and maybe even alter yourself as well if you want to. I think it would be fun for example to take a turn at being a women after a lifetime of being a man.
I also think it would be important if you could end your life if you get tired of living, forever. Maybe the reward shouldn't be eternal life but extra life.

Jason

 

[Balok's Decoy]

To be fair I think I can think of some afterlife concepts that don't sound so bad. Maybe if Heaven is like the world's greatest holodeck were you can do and experience anything and maybe even alter yourself as well if you want to. I think it would be fun for example to take a turn at being a women after a lifetime of being a man.
I also think it would be important if you could end your life if you get tired of living, forever. Maybe the reward shouldn't be eternal life but extra life.

Jason

A holodeck heaven wouldn't be so bad. But most of the descriptions I've heard (in my churchgoing past and in passing) describe heaven as "worshipping God forever," which sounds like hell.