RE: Help me not fear heaven/hell
June 4, 2019 at 8:28 pm
(This post was last modified: June 4, 2019 at 8:32 pm by Rahn127.)
Fearing heaven or hell.
First, let's create a fear of something real, but also extremely and I mean extremely unlikely.
I am going to pick two places on Earth that are quite harsh.
1. The south pole
2. El Azizia, Libya - A place with a record high temperature of 58 C (136 F)
In the middle of the night while you are asleep, masked men and women (don't want to be sexist), enter your home quietly and drug you. You are taken to either location (some place remote near El Azizia, Libya) and left there to die from the bitter cold or burning heat.
Now both of these situations involve real places, real people and real drugs that can knock you out and keep you that way until you reach the desired location.
Does this REAL (extremely unlikely) situation cause you any amount of FEAR ?
Do you fear each night you fall asleep that this might happen ?
Do you stay awake for as long as you possibly can because of the fear of this happening ?
My guess is that you answered NO.
You don't fear this.
Now let's contrast that with the imaginary places of heaven & hell.
The places themselves probably don't cause you any fear, in much the same way, the places of the South Pole and El Azizia, Libya don't cause you any fear.
The fear might come as a result of being taken to those places and not having any say about it.
In other words, something is being forced upon you.
In order to have this fear of heaven and hell, you must now believe the following.
1. That after you die, there is some kind of YOU that hasn't died.
2. This other you exists as something in some other place, some other space.
3. You are now powerless in this other space.
4. Something else exists in this other place.
5. That something other than you is more powerful than you.
6. That this other you can feel and sense this other place. (Not sure how)
In other words, you fear being powerless and unable to do anything about it.
You fear your torturer is more powerful than you.
Your religion has created this fear.
It has created the idea within you that you are powerless.
The only way someone has power over you is by making you think you are powerless.
Making you think you are worthless and not worthy.
The only way to battle fear is to create courage and realize that imaginary things are just imaginary.
There is no monster under the bed.
First, let's create a fear of something real, but also extremely and I mean extremely unlikely.
I am going to pick two places on Earth that are quite harsh.
1. The south pole
2. El Azizia, Libya - A place with a record high temperature of 58 C (136 F)
In the middle of the night while you are asleep, masked men and women (don't want to be sexist), enter your home quietly and drug you. You are taken to either location (some place remote near El Azizia, Libya) and left there to die from the bitter cold or burning heat.
Now both of these situations involve real places, real people and real drugs that can knock you out and keep you that way until you reach the desired location.
Does this REAL (extremely unlikely) situation cause you any amount of FEAR ?
Do you fear each night you fall asleep that this might happen ?
Do you stay awake for as long as you possibly can because of the fear of this happening ?
My guess is that you answered NO.
You don't fear this.
Now let's contrast that with the imaginary places of heaven & hell.
The places themselves probably don't cause you any fear, in much the same way, the places of the South Pole and El Azizia, Libya don't cause you any fear.
The fear might come as a result of being taken to those places and not having any say about it.
In other words, something is being forced upon you.
In order to have this fear of heaven and hell, you must now believe the following.
1. That after you die, there is some kind of YOU that hasn't died.
2. This other you exists as something in some other place, some other space.
3. You are now powerless in this other space.
4. Something else exists in this other place.
5. That something other than you is more powerful than you.
6. That this other you can feel and sense this other place. (Not sure how)
In other words, you fear being powerless and unable to do anything about it.
You fear your torturer is more powerful than you.
Your religion has created this fear.
It has created the idea within you that you are powerless.
The only way someone has power over you is by making you think you are powerless.
Making you think you are worthless and not worthy.
The only way to battle fear is to create courage and realize that imaginary things are just imaginary.
There is no monster under the bed.
Insanity - Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result
