How hard is it to watch people heading for hell

[Man of Faith]

Don't worry. Non-existence after death will erase all fear - for all of us.

Shocking.

 

[Man of Faith]

That's just it. I don't know what anyone truly believes in his or her heart; and it isn't me who makes that determination.

If someone says, I live with my girlfriend and do you want to come over and have some beers, you don't know what they believe?

 

[Storm]

I think you are mistaken on this. I don't condemn them to hell, I just notice they are going there. Every person I meet or see I want to know their spiritual status so I can know how to witness to them.

Does "judge not" ring any bells?

P1) Christianity teaches that judgment is God's job.
P2) You judge everyone you meet, by your own admission.
Conclusion: You presume to do God's job, which is basically elevating yourself to His place.

AKA "hubris." Of the highest order.

 

[no-body]

If someone says, I live with my girlfriend and do you want to come over and have some beers, you don't know what they believe?

It sounds like they believe in being neighborly

 

[ChristineES]

If someone says, I live with my girlfriend and do you want to come over and have some beers, you don't know what they believe?

1. I don't think drinking a couple of beers will send somebody to "hell"
2. Heaven knows what the roommate and the friend are doing- it could be sex or they could just be talking. You just never know.

Committing sins is not what would separate someone from God anyway- if that were true, everyone, including you and me, would be separated from God right now. Don't forget the bible says that God will save "whom he chooses", too.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Shocking.

I'm sure, for people like you who spend their lives in fear, it will be more of a relief than a shock.

 

[PolyHedral]

If there were any emotions at all, which there aren't.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Can you not tell if someone is going to hell by what they believe?

Of course not.
It does not matter what people believe in detail.
That they follow Jesus teachings, will ensure a Christian life. Faith alone will never save anyone.
Calvins teachings and similar works, have done more harm to Christian lives than any work of Jesus enemies.

 

[Reptillian]

This is the scary part, everybody that is headed to hell is a mere fragile heartbeat away from an eternity in a fiery pit.

"Fiery pit! Fiery pit! Ye insult me, man; past all natural bearing ye insult me. It's an all-fired outrage to tell any human creature that he's bound to hell. Flukes and flames!" - Captain Peleg from Moby-Dick

 

[Kilgore Trout]

If there were any emotions at all, which there aren't.

You're not one for the occassional use of non-literalness as a rhetorical device, are you?

 

[Alceste]

One of the most difficult things about being an atheist is watching fundamentalists twist themselves in knots and become hysterical over a bunch of superstitious nonsense, then watching them humiliate themselves by broadcasting their transparently childish internal torments to anyone who will listen.

Don't worry about keeping me from going to hell. Worry about getting yourself out.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

One of the most difficult things about being an atheist is watching fundamentalists twist themselves in knots and become hysterical over a bunch of superstitious nonsense, then watching them humiliate themselves by broadcasting their transparently childish internal torments to anyone who will listen.

Don't worry about keeping me from going to hell. Worry about getting yourself out.

No chance of Hell for You...
You have shown your heart is in the right place in many posts.
Un like many Christians who have a craving to hate....

 

[Kilgore Trout]

How hard is it to watch people heading for hell?

Not as hilarious as it is to watch people rationalize their fear, hate, and judgment as worry for someone else.

 

[Erebus]

Personally I'm looking forward to Hell, sounds far more interesting than heaven.

 

[linwood]

As a Christian it is very hard to watch people headed to hell. I want to grab them and shake them and tell them to wake up, you don't have to go there.

If Christian heaven/hell theology is indeed correct many of us find hell preferable to heaven for obvious reasons.

 

[Autodidact]

As a thinking person it is very hard to watch people choose superstition. I want to grab them and shake them and tell them to wake up, you don't have to go there. That is one of the toughest things about being a rational person. I consider how Bertrand Russell had to do it, how Richard Dawkins has to do it, how Robert Ingersoll had to do it. That keeps me moving, keeps me knocking on doors, keeps me asking, prodding, urging, teaching, instructing, arguing, helping, giving, visiting. Within the first 5 minutes of meeting someone I can usually tell if they are able to think and I think to myself, what is the point of living without reason?

 

[linwood]

Wait, I'm confused. You're a Christian and you are again witnessing? What about going into the world teaching and preaching the gospel?

I am an atheist.
A strong positive atheist.

Angellous and his "kind" of Christianity has had far more success in getting me to consider the truth in the gospels than any amount of arrogant witnessing you or your "kind" of Christianity ever attempted.

Think about it, your methods directly weaken your ability to meet your objective.

You are actually an adversary to yourself.

What is the Hebrew word for "adversary" again?

 

[Tristesse]

As a Christian it is very hard to watch people headed to hell. I want to grab them and shake them and tell them to wake up, you don't have to go there. That is one of the toughest things about being a Christian. I consider how C.S. Lewis had to do it, how Billy Graham has to do it, how John Wesley had to do it. That keeps me moving, keeps me knocking on doors, keeps me asking, prodding, urging, teaching, instructing, preaching, helping, giving, visiting. Within the first 5 minutes of meeting someone I can usually tell if they are headed to hell and I think to myself, what is the point of living for the devil?

Why would you worship a god who creates a place to torture his creations for eternity? Especially, if you also believe this god is loving.

 

[Kerr]

Can you not tell if someone is going to hell by what they believe?

So... going to hell is not a matter of who you are or what kind of a person you are, but a matter of faith?

 

[Kerr]

As a Christian it is very hard to watch people headed to hell. I want to grab them and shake them and tell them to wake up, you don't have to go there. That is one of the toughest things about being a Christian. I consider how C.S. Lewis had to do it, how Billy Graham has to do it, how John Wesley had to do it. That keeps me moving, keeps me knocking on doors, keeps me asking, prodding, urging, teaching, instructing, preaching, helping, giving, visiting. Within the first 5 minutes of meeting someone I can usually tell if they are headed to hell and I think to myself, what is the point of living for the devil?

You would have to ask that to someone who is actually living for the devil. Most of us doesn´t.