You're Going to Hell

[breadprincess]

To be fair, Hell does exist. It's my hometown in rural Michigan, and it would be a pretty awesome place to be damned for all eternity seeing as it's on a lake and surrounded by state owned forests. :) And Hell, MI is only a few hours away from Paradise, MI, so if you got bored and wanted to switch it up...

In all seriousness, when I was an atheist and I heard the "YOU'RE GOING TO HELL" speech, I was just like, so? You're condemning me to a place that doesn't exist? Okay, well then YOU'RE GOING TO CANDYLAND!!!!11ONE

[LilMissMetaphor]

Actually, what I don't understand is, if a person really and truly believes that other people are going to burn in a lake of fire for all eternity, how is it possible for them to just cheerfully go about their daily business, perhaps occasionally trying to evangelize someone? Shouldn't they be frantically trying to save people from this impending doom?

Well, even though I know for a fact there are starving children in the world (and not just in Africa, in my neighborhood, statistically), it doesn't make me enjoy my Big Mac any less.

If I knew a building was going to blow up or something and I saw people going into the building, I would be doing everything in my power to stop them from going in.

Really? Because I would be doing everything in my power to get my own ass away from the building.

I guess I am a bad candidate for evangelism.

[wtfrenchtoast]

My aunt always held the opinion that the world we currently live in is Hell, and that after the second coming the righteous would ascend up to Heaven while the wicked stayed here. As a kid, I always secretly thought I would rather just stay here than have to go to Heaven, where, according to the church I went to, there was no TV, no books, and nothing else fun to do. :( Just nothing but Jesus praising all day, every day.

My question is why God/Jesus even wants to be praised for all eternity. I mean, I imagine it's like a puppy or a really clingy friend. They follow you around everywhere, telling you how awesome you are, worshiping the ground you walk on, always looking for your approval. I would get sick of that really, really fast.

[celestial]

Well, even though I know for a fact there are starving children in the world (and not just in Africa, in my neighborhood, statistically), it doesn't make me enjoy my Big Mac any less.

Good point. In order to function, we all have to tune out unpleasant realities at times. But I wouldn't exactly say I'm able to go about my business without the fucked-up state of affairs in the world bothering me; it bothers me a great deal on a daily basis and I try to do something to help someone when I can. Some Christians I know of could care less whether everyone outside their clique burns in hell; in fact, they seem glad about it. I would think it should be at least a little depressing to think of many of their acquaintances burning in hell.

[Black Aliss]

I don't believe in the Christian version of heaven and hell - but even if there is a heaven - based on what I have read about it in fundie blogs - I don't want to go there. Spending eternity with a bunch of fundies and worshiping a god who has such low self esteem that he needs constant praise makes me sick AND according to some fundie stuff I have read - there are no animals in heaven which is a deal breaker in and of itself for me.

This. If heaven and a hell actually did exist they would be the same place, because my idea of hell is to spend eternity with all the people who say they're going to heaven but I'm going to hell. So there.

[JesusFightClub]

I have this theory, right. If God made heaven and hell, and he decided to put some people into Hell, that is the worst act of all time. Human torturers can only harm their victim for a fixed period. Not eternity.

So it would actually be the duty of people who ended up in Heaven to rebel. Refuse cooperation with such a being. The afterlife equivalent of strikes, direct action and revolution, with Hell being emptied and all let free.

I was told as a kid people in Heaven can see Hell, with all the people burning and worms and whatnot. When I said "How terrible, what if their mum's in there?" I was told they won't think about that but only God's justice.

So let me get this straight, every day you see your mum in a fire with the worm doing whatever it does (which I have always been fairly unclear on) and not only do you not try to help her, you're actually pleased? This seems utterly morally wrong and would surely mean everyone in Heaven was a sinner for not trying to stop it.

(As a small Christian I decided it was all a mistake and God would save everyone by taking the sin bit off them when they died so they wouldn't have to go to Hell.)

[celestial]

So let me get this straight, every day you see your mum in a fire with the worm doing whatever it does (which I have always been fairly unclear on)

Oh god, there are supposed to be worms there, too? I thought it was just the fire. This just keeps getting worse!

(As a small Christian I decided it was all a mistake and God would save everyone by taking the sin bit off them when they died so they wouldn't have to go to Hell.)

Smart kid! Good theory, too.

[JesusFightClub]

Yeah, there is apparently a worm, though no clue what it's up to. Everyone gets their own one, in the description of people in hell in the Bible it says "And their worm dieth not".

I have heard a. this is a metaphor for sins and b. it is,a real worm, sort of like a snake. Don't know which one theologians would think is right. If the second I can't think it would be much fun for an immortal worm in a lake of fire, so maybe it is being punished too?

[bellicosebroad]

I never even thought of it that way, not to mention most of them don't proselytize just for the purpose of saving a soul, they do it so they can pat themselves on the back and feel superior.

I used to try to "counter-proselytize" with, "I don't believe in God, but since he's apparently perfect (doesn't have an ego), he wouldn't care that I don't believe in him. If I'm just a good person and don't worry about the rest, I'll be saved anyway if heaven exists." Drove 'em nuts but didn't change a thing.

[formergothardite]

This concept makes my brain hurt, because all I can think of is heinous murderers and criminals, who by simple luck of the draw or whatever are going to heaven no matter what they did. That isn't an afterlife I'd want to hang out in.

The Calvinist thread in the Ask Me Anything forum made my brain hurt. Especially since Calvinists also claim that it is loving to create the majority of the people in the world so that they are incapable of getting into heaven and instead have to suffer for all of eternity.

[nokidsmom]

To be fair, Hell does exist. It's my hometown in rural Michigan, and it would be a pretty awesome place to be damned for all eternity seeing as it's on a lake and surrounded by state owned forests. :) And Hell, MI is only a few hours away from Paradise, MI, so if you got bored and wanted to switch it up...

And Purgatory does exist too. It's a ski area in Colorado amid gorgeous mountain scenery.

[bellicosebroad]

My question is why God/Jesus even wants to be praised for all eternity. I mean, I imagine it's like a puppy or a really clingy friend. They follow you around everywhere, telling you how awesome you are, worshiping the ground you walk on, always looking for your approval. I would get sick of that really, really fast.

Because God/Jesus has narcissistic personality disorder?