Okay, bare with me here. I wasn't sure whether this should go into the Religion forum or the Philosophy forum, so I thought it'd be best to put it here. Seeing as it's dealing with a religious concept such as Hell.
I do believe in Hell, but not exactly the kind of fire and brimstone Hell that some proclaim God will smite you to when you die, if you were bad in life. I believe Hell, liek pretty much anything else real, is a state of mind which one can achieve both before and after death. The only difference between Hell in lfie and Hell in death is that after death, there is no changing it. You chose your fate(as you chose your state of mind), and are stuck with the responsibility of that decision for the rest of your (after)life.
Why do I believe this? Well, personal accountability is the way the world has and always will work, I'd say. You are accountable for no one's actions and decisions but your own, to think otherwise seems foolish. You cannot control what people do, only what they know.(thanks for having that in your sig so long, tackattack!)
I don't necessarilly want to focus on the 'why' God works that way part, so much as the 'how.' I'm sure it will eventually boil down to both, but for now I'd like to pose a question.
Is non-existance a form of Hell?
Think about this for a moment. I hear a lot of atheists say "Well I wasn't aware I didn't exist before I was born, why would I care after I am dead?" Well, how do you know there is no such thing as conscious non-existance? Is it possible to have a conscious awareness of your own non-existance, or no?
Another factor here is that existance, ultimately, is the best and brightest example of free will. So long as you exist, you have the opportunity to change, to learn, to grow and to d owhat you believe is right. So long as you exist, you can change your fate and your circumstances. Even if it's only your perception of said circumstances, you can thoroughly control your own outlook while still existing.
Not so while not exitsing. There is no possible way to change your 'outlook' on non-existance, because you have no outlook. You have no perception! There is nothing which can be changed, nothing which can be viewed differently. Free will is essentially obliteated.
Maybe this would be better for a theism based forum, but...I think it's interesting, nonetheless. What do y'all think, regardless of belief in Hell or not?
I do believe in Hell, but not exactly the kind of fire and brimstone Hell that some proclaim God will smite you to when you die, if you were bad in life. I believe Hell, liek pretty much anything else real, is a state of mind which one can achieve both before and after death. The only difference between Hell in lfie and Hell in death is that after death, there is no changing it. You chose your fate(as you chose your state of mind), and are stuck with the responsibility of that decision for the rest of your (after)life.
Why do I believe this? Well, personal accountability is the way the world has and always will work, I'd say. You are accountable for no one's actions and decisions but your own, to think otherwise seems foolish. You cannot control what people do, only what they know.(thanks for having that in your sig so long, tackattack!)
I don't necessarilly want to focus on the 'why' God works that way part, so much as the 'how.' I'm sure it will eventually boil down to both, but for now I'd like to pose a question.
Is non-existance a form of Hell?
Think about this for a moment. I hear a lot of atheists say "Well I wasn't aware I didn't exist before I was born, why would I care after I am dead?" Well, how do you know there is no such thing as conscious non-existance? Is it possible to have a conscious awareness of your own non-existance, or no?
Another factor here is that existance, ultimately, is the best and brightest example of free will. So long as you exist, you have the opportunity to change, to learn, to grow and to d owhat you believe is right. So long as you exist, you can change your fate and your circumstances. Even if it's only your perception of said circumstances, you can thoroughly control your own outlook while still existing.
Not so while not exitsing. There is no possible way to change your 'outlook' on non-existance, because you have no outlook. You have no perception! There is nothing which can be changed, nothing which can be viewed differently. Free will is essentially obliteated.
Maybe this would be better for a theism based forum, but...I think it's interesting, nonetheless. What do y'all think, regardless of belief in Hell or not?
