I hear many people say that you go to hell if you don't believe in Christianity. That includes other religions out there who would make the same claim. I cannot make myself believe no matter what and I have researched all I could into everything I could possibly read into, and I just have to remain undecided. My undecided mindset is the result of a truly honest open mind and open heart. Will I go to hell since I could not believe? Furthermore, do I need to dedicate and serve my life to a God who I don't even believe in the first place in order to be saved from hell?
Please take note that I have tried everything I possibly could and I still cannot believe. There are many other people out there who have tried as well with a truly open mind and heart (for many years, btw) and they cannot believe either. As for those who did believe who claimed they finally realized the truth, I have no way of knowing if they did not keep an open mind like me and that it was their close mindedness that lead them to believe or not.
As for me, there is no way to convince me and I am officially done trying to seek out the Lord. I have no further interest and I am not going to waste my life for what might be years and years over something that might not even be true in the first place. So, why am I here then if nothing can convince me? It is because I am simply wondering if I would go to hell anyway (providing Christianity or other religions are real) over a disbelief that I was genuine and honest about.
I am a kind and respectful person, but I only live for my own good feelings. I have no interest in helping others. So, is that a good enough heart that would earn my way into heaven or not?
I understand the whole "tried everything but still can't believe" thing. The funny thing is my mother and father both never forced me to believe in anything, rather my grandparents (on my mom's side) tried to convince me I was Christian. And my grandma (on my dad's side) liked to take me to church when if she got the chance to invite me. And it didn't help I was home-schooled in a predominately Christian environment. I was born an atheist, and I never found God, not through prayer, not by reading the Holy Bible, not by sitting in the forest, never by some "awakening".... nothing. I eventually accepted I had no belief in God, but I was confused as to why for many years until I read the Satanic Bible, which matched my atheistic perspective and I concluded I was born a natural Satanist. And I needed to be very, very open-minded and brave to finally buy the book and allow the philosophy to influence me.
That aside, it would seem a little strange to have a predetermined fate that you can't believe in. It's not impossible, but having no proof of it makes it harder to believe. Instead of concerning yourself about whether or not your final destination is such a place, it's easier just to say "I don't believe". It's fine to do that. We don't know our purpose other than life, but each one will have their own idea of what a life should look like. If you don't believe in God, but you believe in heaven and hell (which is unusual but not entirely impossible), then just be a good person. And if God does exist, would it be cruel of Him to not even acknowledge you tried? And if He can't see that in you, do you really need to spend time looking for a father figure who claims to love all "his children", but only those who follow such close-minded guidelines? This is one of many reasons why God never made sense to me in the form many Christians claim him to be.
In all honesty however, most of those people haven't read the Holy Bible in full and use the religion to justify their own opinions. My father, who has studied the Bible with hopes of being a minister, also disagrees such a God as they describe exists, and claims God created the world as a system. It's a logical argument but still doesn't prove existence. Religion is always personal, and only you can know what is true to yourself. It's going to take time, and courage, and meditation to discover what the truth is to you, and some people are on that road a lifetime, but that's okay, as long as you are happy.
