Hell

[Ashoka]

Years ago the soviets accidently drilled a hole so deep they penetrated hell. There is even a audio of screams coming from the hole.
http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?53516-sounds-from-hell-a-very-scary-story-(audio-file-included)

No. Just no.

snopes.com: The Well to Hell

 

[Breathe]

Would that be considered anthropomorphizing God?

I'm so sorry my friend, I didn't see this question. :sorry1:

I think considering the idea of God sending to people for Hell, especially for eternity is a form of anthromorphism in itself.

Eternity is a long, long time. If you took Mt. Everest, and every million years wiped it down with a piece of toilet paper, when one million Mt. Everests had been destroyed, you have not even blinked into eternity. And if you are in Hell, you are still being tortured.

If you took every grain of sand from the earth, and counted one grain every billion years, and counted as many worlds' grains of sand as there are grains of sand in this world... when you've done all that, you're still barely into eternity. And if you are in Hell, you are still being tortured.

The idea of giving God such a personality is projecting human attributes onto God. It's projecting the attitude of humans who live in a barren world who have to struggle to survive.

The Bedouin saying of "I against my brother, my brothers and I against my cousins, then my cousins and I against strangers." is valid for Bedouin nomads who struggle to survive in harsh conditions and is valid for those who struggle to survive, but there is no competition for God.

To me, the idea of eternal Hell is a projection of human ego as a way of opposing those who can't come round to your way of thinking and so are a threat.
God would gain absolutely nothing from having people be tortured for an eternity unless it was some sort of sadistic glee, which I do not believe is accurate for God.

Now, the dead being dead, or Hell as punishment to burn away sins, I can understand. Even, to some extent, the idea of Hell as punishment to burn away sins and then another death.

But eternity... no.

 

[crossfire]

For those of us here (especially those who believe in a God/Higher Power/A Source) who do not believe in a physical Hell, do you ever think if this is because you genuinely don't, or because you don't want to, because the thought of going to such a place for a long time or eternity is too frightening and too much to bear?

One property of a physical place (space/time) is impermanence. An eternal physical place would violate what we know about the physical. Something eternal would have to be devoid of space/time, hence, devoid of physicality, imo.

 

[Sand Dancer]

I don't believe in it because it doesn't seem right. It doesn't fit with the idea of the deity being loving, kind and merciful... More than humans! I would never torture anyone, so why would the deity do so?

If something like Hell exists, imo, it's not literal. It might be a state of being or purification... Certainly not eternal.

You took the words out of my mouth, er, fingers.

 

[captainbryce]

A god who uses fear to coerce obedience is at war with love. If hell exists, god is evil.

Exactly! :yes:

 

[gilligan8914]

For those of us here (especially those who believe in a God/Higher Power/A Source) who do not believe in a physical Hell, do you ever think if this is because you genuinely don't, or because you don't want to, because the thought of going to such a place for a long time or eternity is too frightening and too much to bear?

If there is a physical hell why don't you show it to us or give us directions to it. I would like to see it. Since it is a physical hell then it must exist in this world just like a rock exists. Just show it to me and I'll believe. Thats all I ask.

 

[Erebus]

I've been told that my view of the afterlife is pretty Hellish in itself, so I guess I do believe in Hell in a way. I don't view it as a place of intense physical punishment though, I see it as the Underworld we all end up in regardless of how we lived our lives.

The reason I don't believe in a fire and brimstone Hell used to punish the disobedient is because the concept is very... human. Plenty of cultures have dreamed up one or more afterlives of punishment or reward and I view this as an entirely human creation. At best it displays people's need for some sort of justice, punishment for the wicked and reward for the good. At worst I see it as a means of control, "obey or burn!"