Coping: A Big Tool for Religions

[Rizen]

I don't see how believing in a place of eternal punishment is not depressing. And there are many theists who constantly fear that they will be forever tortured every hour of their lives. It is even more depressing than thinking there is no afterlife.

So it seems that saying how atheism is depressing is just another religious sound bite.

(Bold mine)

It's not depressing because very few believers in eternal damnation believe that they themselves will be one of the eternally damned.

Sartre said, 'Hell is other people.' The devout tend to think 'Hell is for other people.'

Boru

I was thinking this myself. What bothers me about religions like Christianity is people think they can avoid hell by following the scriptures as opposed to being a good person. Similarly, they think that other people are condemned to hell for not following the scriptures regardless of if they're a good person. 

"If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9"

Also the concept of penance: You're assigned to say a prayer after confession and that magically makes the sin better. But that's not actually fixing whatever problem you caused. Often times there is no fix to problems. It's a way for people to feel better about themselves without really addressing the issues.

[Angrboda]

Given the scripture is the recipe for being a good person, I don't see the problem. It sounds like you disagree with the morality described by scripture. But that is what being good is according to God.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

(Bold mine)

It's not depressing because very few believers in eternal damnation believe that they themselves will be one of the eternally damned.

Sartre said, 'Hell is other people.' The devout tend to think 'Hell is for other people.'

Boru

I was thinking this myself. What bothers me about religions like Christianity is people think they can avoid hell by following the scriptures as opposed to being a good person. Similarly, they think that other people are condemned to hell for not following the scriptures regardless of if they're a good person. 

"If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9"

Also the concept of penance: You're assigned to say a prayer after confession and that magically makes the sin better. But that's not actually fixing whatever problem you caused. Often times there is no fix to problems. It's a way for people to feel better about themselves without really addressing the issues.

Of course they can avoid hell by following the scriptures. While some bits of scripture indicate you should strive to be good (the beatitudes, for example), God is more concerned with compliance than with goodness. Criticizing Christianity for this is rather silly. It’s like criticizing a dog for barking.

Saying a prayer after confession isn’t what makes the sin forgiven. It’s an act of contrition meant to show that you’re serious about regretting what you’ve done (and penance doesn’t always take the form of a prayer). You’re actually forgiven the instant the priest says Te absolvo (‘I absolve you’), before you perform the assigned penance.

Boru

[Angrboda]

I was thinking this myself. What bothers me about religions like Christianity is people think they can avoid hell by following the scriptures as opposed to being a good person. Similarly, they think that other people are condemned to hell for not following the scriptures regardless of if they're a good person. 

"If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9"

Also the concept of penance: You're assigned to say a prayer after confession and that magically makes the sin better. But that's not actually fixing whatever problem you caused. Often times there is no fix to problems. It's a way for people to feel better about themselves without really addressing the issues.

Of course they can avoid hell by following the scriptures. While some bits of scripture indicate you should strive to be good (the beatitudes, for example), God is more concerned with compliance than with goodness. Criticizing Christianity for this is rather silly. It’s like criticizing a dog for barking.

Saying a prayer after confession isn’t what makes the sin forgiven. It’s an act of contrition meant to show that you’re serious about regretting what you’ve done (and penance doesn’t always take the form of a prayer). You’re actually forgiven the instant the priest says Te absolvo (‘I absolve you’), before you perform the assigned penance.

Boru

I wasn't aware there was a problem with this.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Of course they can avoid hell by following the scriptures. While some bits of scripture indicate you should strive to be good (the beatitudes, for example), God is more concerned with compliance than with goodness. Criticizing Christianity for this is rather silly. It’s like criticizing a dog for barking.

Saying a prayer after confession isn’t what makes the sin forgiven. It’s an act of contrition meant to show that you’re serious about regretting what you’ve done (and penance doesn’t always take the form of a prayer). You’re actually forgiven the instant the priest says Te absolvo (‘I absolve you’), before you perform the assigned penance.

Boru

I wasn't aware there was a problem with this.

It’s in the nature of a dog to bark. It’s in the nature of Christians to emphasize adherence over goodness (although I admit the some overlap).

Boru

[Paleophyte]

Given the scripture is the recipe for being a good person, I don't see the problem.  It sounds like you disagree with the morality described by scripture.  But that is what being good is according to God.

Scripture isn't the recipe for being a good person. It's the recipe for being a pretty atrocious person, which, after being filtered through a lot of modern social constructs that prohibit things like stoning your neighbor, results in something that might be mistaken for a passably tolerable person, on average.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Given the scripture is the recipe for being a good person, I don't see the problem.  It sounds like you disagree with the morality described by scripture.  But that is what being good is according to God.

Scripture isn't the recipe for being a good person. It's the recipe for being a pretty atrocious person, which, after being filtered through a lot of modern social constructs that prohibit things like stoning your neighbor, results in something that might be mistaken for a passably tolerable person, on average.

I suspect she's making her point from the Christian perspective, rather than adopting it.