People who think they are going to Heaven - what do you think of this?

[Jimmy]

I believe in God and I believe that there is life beyond this life that we cannot even begin to imagine

However I think the whole Heaven vs. Hell thing is a pretty transparent system of scare tactics that has been in operation in one way or another for a great many centuries

Well, it doesn't scare me

Not one bit

Heaven, can very easily be imagined imo.

 

[Kathryn]

What’s this heaven like?

It's a place where you run across interesting people, maybe you met them before, maybe not, but they interested you for some reason. Like for instance three different scenarios come into my mind immediately. One is when she is with her grandfather, who is appropriately aged because that's how she knew him on earth. She runs across him and is thrilled to see him again. Then they stumble upon a girl she met in a park once, just once but she really liked her. At some point, her grandfather is no longer with her but she will see him again so she's not very disturbed by it. The third scenario that comes to my mind when I think of that book is when, well, this happens at the very beginning so you should know it, the girl in the story is murdered, and she is trying so hard to communicate with her sister, who is devastated by her murder. She tries and tries to communicate with her but all she can do is move a leaf across her sister's path, and her sister says to herself, " That leaf is the same color as my sister's eyes" and she follows the leaf which indirectly leads her to solve the murder of her sister, not for her sister but for herself. It's a fantastic book! I read it right after my grandmother died and it really put her death into perspective for me. But don't watch the movie first, read the book.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

To those who confidently imagine they are going to end up going to Heaven.....

What do you think of this picture?

I'd never really considered it before but come to think of it I think that's a very good point

I personally would not enjoy being in Heaven if I knew that other people were in Hell - especially for trivial things like not accepting Christ as your lord and saviour (which really means allowing the religious authorities to dictate how you think and what you do)

And I think it would be a bit morally suspect to go ahead and enjoy Heaven whilst others suffer - and not just for a bit, but for all eternity!

View attachment 96896

That's only one interpretation of hell and a very shallow one. So I don't think much about it, really. Neither the Catholic or Orthodox churches or mainstream Protestants teach that view of hell, that God just damns you for petty reasons. The concept is bit mature than that.

 

[JustGeorge]

That's only one interpretation of hell and a very shallow one. So don't think much about it, really. Neither the Catholic or Orthodox churches or mainstream Protestants teach that view of hell, that God just damns you for petty reasons. The concept is bit mature than that.

Why does God damn a person in those views?

 

[Jimmy]

It's a place where you run across interesting people, maybe you met them before, maybe not, but they interested you for some reason. Like for instance three different scenarios come into my mind immediately. One is when she is with her grandfather, who is appropriately aged because that's how she knew him on earth. She runs across him and is thrilled to see him again. Then they stumble upon a girl she met in a park once, just once but she really liked her. At some point, her grandfather is no longer with her but she will see him again so she's not very disturbed by it. The third scenario that comes to my mind when I think of that book is when, well, this happens at the very beginning so you should know it, the girl in the story is murdered, and she is trying so hard to communicate with her sister, who is devastated by her murder. She tries and tries to communicate with her but all she can do is move a leaf across her sister's path, and her sister says to herself, " That leaf is the same color as my sister's eyes" and she follows the leaf which indirectly leads her to solve the murder of her sister, not for her sister but for herself. It's a fantastic book! I read it right after my grandmother died and it really put her death into perspective for me. But don't watch the movie first, read the book.

So like another realm. I don’t believe in other realms.

 

[Kathryn]

Why does God damn a person in those views?

I can't speak for all three but I can speak for the Catholic perspective. This seems to sum things up well:

Are Most Catholics in America Going to Hell?

When you look around society today, it doesn’t look good. Even in the Church, people are committing abortion and contraception. They are sleeping togeth...

www.ncregister.com

So like another realm. I don’t believe in other realms.

OK you do you.

 

[Jimmy]

I can't speak for all three but I can speak for the Catholic perspective.

OK you do you.

I am doing me by sharing that I don’t believe in other realms.

 

[Kathryn]

I am doing me by sharing that I don’t believe in other realms.

That's fine. I am doing me by sharing that I do believe in other realities. "Realms" was your word, not mine.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

What do you think of this picture?

I think you're mocking a strawman. It's petty.

 

[Eddi]

I think you're mocking a strawman. It's petty.

I've been outright told by believers that I'm going to Hell and they took great delight in the idea of that happening

There are people out there who actually believe that

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I've been outright told by believers that I'm going to Hell and they took great delight in the idea of that happening

There are people out there who actually believe that

There are people who believe in vampires. Therefore?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

However I think the whole Heaven vs. Hell thing is a pretty transparent system of scare tactics that has been in operation in one way or another for a great many centuries

(For some, it's always some sinister conspiracy.)

 

[Eddi]

There are people who believe in vampires. Therefore?

No person who identifies as a vampire has ever taken delight in the thought of watching me burn in Hell from the comfort of a cloud

There's a word for that: Sadistic

And another one: Smug

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

... I don't believe that denying the Christ is something trivial.

For the unbeliever it is.

Denying Christ may be trivial. Taunting Christians with that denial is another matter.

 

[Eddi]

(For some, it's always some sinister conspiracy.)

There is no sinister conspiracy

There doesn't need to be

It all happens organically

If you can't comprehend that then that's sad

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

No person who identifies as a vampire has ever taken delight in the thought of watching me burn in Hell from the comfort of a cloud

 

[Madsaac]

They came up with this heaven & hell idea so people might follow God more or whatever. Who cares if there are certain people who thinks this is what happens after you die, it's ridiculous.

People believe in this sort of stuff because it makes them feel better and that's good.

As an atheist I'm a little annoyed that I can't believe in this sort of stuff when I die, it would be quite good actually.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Why does God damn a person in those views?

As I understood it, it wasn't really God damnng the soul but the soul making the decision not to cooperate with the grace of God, rejecting salvation. Hell isn't some torture dungeon as popularly imagined, but a state of the soul.

 

[Eliana]

Jews don't believe in hell, so take that!

 

[RestlessSoul]

No person who identifies as a vampire has ever taken delight in the thought of watching me burn in Hell from the comfort of a cloud

There's a word for that: Sadistic

And another one: Smug

No person who identifies as Christian has ever told me I’m going to hell, much less taken delight in the thought of seeing me burn. That would be an extraordinarily un-Christian thing to do imo. Where on earth do you meet these people?