Let's just guess that anything a person can imagine is possible. Imagine that believing in something can make it real. If they think they are doing good to imagine hell, then they should be there. Correct?
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God said it, not me...
- Thread starter allfoak
- Start date
I agree with you there.
"If your eye causes you to sin pluck it out and cast it from you, better to go to heaven with one eye then spend eternity in hell" Lets see how close I got on the quote
Matt 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
Some respond to one way, and others respond to the other way, I think God puts them both out there to save as many as possible.
Matt 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
Some respond to one way, and others respond to the other way, I think God puts them both out there to save as many as possible.
If they do crimes in the name of religion they should still do the time. If they are spewing hatred in the name of god then they paint their god as a monster.
lostwanderingsoul
Well-Known Member
do you even understand the meaning of hell. There are actually two "hells" in the Bible. The first hell simply means the grave where everyone goes at death. The second hell is the total destruction of those people who will not accept God's rules.Everyone will have a chance to understand the rules and follow them or not.Those who choose not to follow the rules will be burned up, not sit in firey torment for eternity.
psychoslice
Veteran Member
If you don't believe in god then there is no need to be frightened of hell or heaven, it just doesn't exist.
There are many religions who teach a fiery end for the wicked...although for them it is conscious and the fire and suffering are eternal. I find it difficult to equate a spiteful and sadistic God with his cardinal quality of "love". But if this is a god who says its OK to torture people and make them suffer forever, and to kill even innocents, then we have to wonder if they all believe in the same "god" under different names?
IMO any religion that teaches that it is OK to take innocent life is worshipping a god not worthy of obedience.
This assumes that the God of the Bible is an uncaring despot. I could not worship a god like that. I am surprised that others can.
I think using the idea of eternal damnation as a tool to force obedience is an awful abuse of power.
I agree that people should be free to choose their own beliefs, but what if this teaching about "hell" is nothing but a wicked concoction designed to keep the ignorant masses in check?
I worried for years about my father, who was raised in the High Church of England, because in his later life he gave up going to church. He died without making peace with God...or so I thought. Was he burning in hell?
Upon studying the Bible, I discovered that the Bible's "hell" is nothing more sinister than the grave. (Ecclesiastes 9:5-10) He was just peacefully sleeping. There was no torment.
There are a few words translated as "hell" in the Bible....(Hebrew) "sheol" (Greek) "hades" and (Greek) "gehenna".
"Sheol" and "hades" mean the same thing.....in the Hebrew, it was simply the place where all the dead end up.....'six feet under'. There was no conscious existence there. The dead go down into silence. (Psalm 115:17)
"Gehenna" is where it gets sticky. Jesus use of this word was in reference to "Geh Hin·nomʹ or the “Valley of Hinnom"
This was Jerusalem's garbage dump just outside the city walls. Fires were kept burning day and night in order to consume the refuse. But along with the garbage, were the carcasses of dead animals as well as the bodies of executed criminals not considered worthy of a decent burial, were disposed of. What the flames missed, the maggots finished off.
The Jewish belief in a resurrection meant being remember by God when Messiah's kingdom finally ruled the earth, so their burial places were often elaborate tombs with their family name and lineage inscribed on them. For a Jew not to have a "memorial tomb" was tantamount to not being remembered by God and so remaining forever dead.
Gehenna then, was symbolic of eternal death, not eternal suffering. It simply meant that God would not remember them.
It is the misunderstanding of the word "hell" that appears to be the problem.
So the OP......"You are going to hell because that is what God says happens to people like you.
Should Christians bear no responsibility for the awful things they say in the name of their vengeful God?".....if you apply the Bible's true meaning to "hell", takes on a whole different perspective. Christians have been duped for centuries as to the true meaning of their own scriptures. Christians should first of all take responsibility for what they accept as truth.
Research everything. They might be surprised about a lot of things. 
Aštra’el
Aštara, Blade of Aštoreth
I absolutely encourage their devotion to God(s)... be they Christian, Muslim, Jew, or something else.
If one's commitment to God(s) outweighs whatever misconceptions one may have about God(s), or any questionable behavior one may engage in out of devotion to God(s), one will maintain my respect for one's spiritual-religious practices.
One should, however, be mindful of the potential benefits and potential consequences of saying what one says and doing what does.
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As long as that person has absolutely no power over anyone else.
There are a huge number of oppressive laws based on what lawmakers think their god disapproves of. A huge chunk of youth homelessness is caused by parents throwing their kids out because the parents' religion thinks the kid's homosexuality is worthy of Hell.
These sorts of views have real-world consequences.
The issue isn't the threat of Hell itself (usually... though even that can cause problems); the problem is when the people who have power over you think you're so evil or worthless that you deserve to be tortured forever... and then act on that belief.
Such as every anti-gay law ever written.
I wasn't aware that any of those were still in force.
Homosexuality itself is no longer criminal in many places, but it's still often very common for gay people to be refused employment, services, housing, etc.
Edit: I'm talking about the West, of course. Worldwide, there are still many countries with religiously-based laws criminalizing homosexuality. In some cases, homosexuality is a capital crime.
I think using the idea of eternal damnation as a tool to force obedience is an awful abuse of power.
Say what?
Maybe you meant to say this.
I think using the idea of eternal damnation as a tool to force obedience is an awesome use of power.
I think using the idea of eternal damnation as a tool to force obedience is an awesome use of power.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
Where is the love in that? Even a human parent wouldnt destroy their child because their child made an honest and informed decision to do things on his own.
Love and obedience should not be made by fear of death, coersion, and ultimatum.
How do you love a god that does that?