Am I going to hell?

[finalfrogo]

The whole notion of Hell is complete foolishness. If God is compassionate, he simply would not send people who don't find his existence evident to a place of agonizing pain and torture! He's not some egotistical prick who commands: "Worship me or I throw you into the gutter!"

Some people would consider it "a choice", but this is ridiculous. Say a man points a gun at your head and asks you to hop in his car or he will shoot you. Is that a choice?

Don't give into this threat of Hell. It's just another method for organized religion to persuade you to join-- a "scare tactic". There always has to be a terrible outcome for not joining... same thing for nearly every other major religion. It's just a persuasion method. Besides, there are a few excerpts in the Bible that support the nonexistence of Hell.

 

[finalfrogo]

Well, despite what many born-again Christians might think on the issue, it's not for me or them to judge you. Where you go after you die is between you and God.

That's pretty much the only absolute truth there is on this issue. I'd like to think one way or the other... but none of us will really find out until the end. :sarcastic

 

[dawny0826]

And why is that do you suppose? Don't you think if you gave someone two choices and one was as horrible as an eternal pit of fire that you would at least have the decency to get the instructions to them straight, so the message was clear, easy to understand, and everyone agreed upon what it said?

Again. Sounds like a really nice guy.

And you can't be forced to believe.

 

[d.]

He's just nasty. I don't worship that god anymore. Of course, in the heathen faith, everyone goes to stay with "Hel" after they die - until the fall of the gods and the destruction of the universe. There is no lust for immortality in most pagan ranks.

except for those that bravely die in battle, right?

and i never get why you people talk about norse mythology. pre-christian scandinavian would be more like it, or viking lore.

 

[Squirt]

Greetings

This is something that has bothered me for a while now: In a lot of conversations with (mostly) reborn again Christian friends of mine, yes FRIENDS, I have asked the question of them regarding what is going to happen to me when I die. Since I've spent just about my entire conscious life trying to find something to believe in and they on the most part profess to have found a belief that they can centre their entire lives around, it seems sensible to get to grips with their viewpoint. One of the main things I have been completely unable to wrap my head around is that a lot of them are quite looking forward to their eternity in heaven and yet when pressed will happily describe to me visions of my eternal suffering. What's an eternal bliss when your best friend is roasting in a fiery pit?

Thanks for listening.

Cheers.

Wow! With friends like that, you don't need enemies!

Well, just for the record, not all Christians believe as your "friends" do. I, for one, believe it quite likely that you will have the privilege of going up behind one of them in heaven, covering his eyes with your hands, and saying, "Guess who!"

 

[Buttercup]

Heck, I'm a Christian and sometimes I wonder if I blew it. I got a divorce and it wasn't for infidelity which is supposed to be a legal reason for divorce in God's eyes. I remarried so supposedly I am commiting adultery constantly. Am I going to hell?.....I think that Jesus came to forgive sin. I hope he forgives me for being stupid and marrying the wrong person the first time around!

 

[dawny0826]

Heck, I'm a Christian and sometimes I wonder if I blew it. I got a divorce and it wasn't for infidelity which is supposed to be a legal reason for divorce in God's eyes. I remarried so supposedly I am commiting adultery constantly. Am I going to hell?.....I think that Jesus came to forgive sin. I hope he forgives me for being stupid and marrying the wrong person the first time around!

He does forgive...when we seek his forgiveness.

I agree with you whole heartedly...he came to forgive us our sins, to die for us and to be the ultimate atonement.

I just feel that an individual must seek that forgiveness and repent for their shortcomings. (Not that I'm saying that directly to you, of course, Buttercup)

 

[Ody]

God simply presented us with a choice. In a very real sense...WE control our spiritual fate.

More like a get out of jail free card.. After all it kinda makes the good deeds of men like ghandiji come to nothing

 

[dawny0826]

More like a get out of jail free card.. After all it kinda makes the good deeds of men like ghandiji come to nothing

Can you expound a bit on this?

 

[Ody]

Can you expound a bit on this?

You mean the part where the acts of non christians like Ghandiji (Ghandi, or as i have seen his name spelt Gandi (good old typos) amount to a pile of dust in G-ds THINKING mind?

 

[dawny0826]

You mean the part where the acts of non christians like Ghandiji (Ghandi, or as i have seen his name spelt Gandi (good old typos) amount to a pile of dust in G-ds THINKING mind?

I don't think the acts of non-Christians amount to a pile of dust is God's mind.

 

[Ody]

I don't think the acts of non-Christians amount to a pile of dust is God's mind.

DOES IT GET THEM OUT OF HELL?

 

[dawny0826]

DOES IT GET THEM OUT OF HELL?

I'm a Christian, Alan. So, you probably already know my answer to this and our views are going to differ.

I accept both the OT and NT of the Bible to be the Word of God, and according to the Bible, the only way to the Father is through Christ.

 

[Revasser]

The whole notion of Hell is complete foolishness. If God is compassionate, he simply would not send people who don't find his existence evident to a place of agonizing pain and torture! He's not some egotistical prick who commands: "Worship me or I throw you into the gutter!"

Some people would consider it "a choice", but this is ridiculous. Say a man points a gun at your head and asks you to hop in his car or he will shoot you. Is that a choice?

Don't give into this threat of Hell. It's just another method for organized religion to persuade you to join-- a "scare tactic". There always has to be a terrible outcome for not joining... same thing for nearly every other major religion. It's just a persuasion method. Besides, there are a few excerpts in the Bible that support the nonexistence of Hell.

But this is how most major religions become major religions in the first place. By frightening the vulnerable and ignorant into joining them either with here-and-now threats of violence and hardship or with dire warnings of eternal punishment if you refuse, you create a compelling case for conversion for someone who doesn't really know any better (or who cannot defend themselves.) This is traditionally how it was done in years gone past; conversion at the tip of a sword or with a lick of hellfire and, as you can see by world's current religious landscape, it worked very well.

If you look at most religions that do not seek and have not actively sought converts, or have done so without threats, they are generally much smaller and less powerful than those that do.

If you give people a real option instead of de facto "gun to the head" kind of "choice", then there's the very real possibility that will they simply decline your offer of "salvation". If your religion compels you to bring people into the fold, then I imagine the dirty tricks suddenly seem a great deal more reasonable and can be rationalised by believing that you're "doing them a favour" by letting people know about the danger they face if they don't join you.

To me, it always seemed like what amounted to a large-scale mafia protection racket.

 

[Quiddity]

Beats me. I don't even know if I am. I hope I don't.

 

[Hacker]

you will not go to hell for being an atheist, thats just silly (in my oppinion)

if everyone who did not believe in the christian God went to hell, then a lot of generally good people would be suffering at the hands of a creature not worthy of the title of God (in my oppinion)

hope that makes sense

WELL said!

 

[Hacker]

The whole notion of Hell is complete foolishness. If God is compassionate, he simply would not send people who don't find his existence evident to a place of agonizing pain and torture! He's not some egotistical prick who commands: "Worship me or I throw you into the gutter!"

Some people would consider it "a choice", but this is ridiculous. Say a man points a gun at your head and asks you to hop in his car or he will shoot you. Is that a choice?

Don't give into this threat of Hell. It's just another method for organized religion to persuade you to join-- a "scare tactic". There always has to be a terrible outcome for not joining... same thing for nearly every other major religion. It's just a persuasion method. Besides, there are a few excerpts in the Bible that support the nonexistence of Hell.

THANK you! Well put!

 

[Darkdale]

except for those that bravely die in battle, right?

Correct - but they still don't live forever. They die again at the end of the universe.

and i never get why you people talk about norse mythology. pre-christian scandinavian would be more like it, or viking lore.

Well, I don't know why they use Norse either. The religion is Germanic, and it spread into Northern Europe and the British Islands, to Iceland and Greenland. But it is Germanic in origin.

 

[d.]

Well, I don't know why they use Norse either. The religion is Germanic, and it spread into Northern Europe and the British Islands, to Iceland and Greenland. But it is Germanic in origin.

i agree, northern european mythology would be most correct. although the germanic version to me is different - though they share a lot of the same gods, with slightly different names. wotan/odin, donner/thunor/thor, tiwaz/tyr etc.

 

[Darkdale]

i agree, northern european mythology would be most correct. although the germanic version to me is different - though they share a lot of the same gods, with slightly different names. wotan/odin, donner/thunor/thor, tiwaz/tyr etc.

True, but the changes in religious beliefs varied even within various "states". Referring to them as Germanic simply shows where they came from, in their most common form. You could just call them indo-european, but that would also include Hinduism and Zoroastrianism - which is a bit too broad.

But yeah, do you know why they, whoever they are, use "Norse"? I guess it comes from Nordic?