[Serious] What God's justification for eternal torment?

[Confused-by-christianity]

You're more than welcome to share your view. Not that it would hold much water for us atheists.

I think I have a lot to learn.

I believe in God.  First I was born into religion (a very basic introduction).  

Then I was fortunate enough to be raised in a loving home (mother religious father never talked about it).  The style of religion my mother taught me about was big on the kindness, compassion, forgiveness, love aspects.  Not so focused on hell or eternal torment.

Abandoned my faith.  Life went to "hell", in part due to religious fundamentalists being very unpleasant as I saw it, but also lots of things I could have done better and other circumstances.

Came back to faith.  Had what I think are experiences of God (dreams mainly) where He communicated with me a little.

One occasion;
Jesus came to me in a dream (My take on the matter).  
He was kinder than anyone really imagines.  There was a tremendous peace and love that accompanied Him - that I felt.  He was very patient - unbelievably so.  He knew all my bad bits but didn't smack me down for them.  He just wasn't any of the things people say about Him when they talk about cruel, petty, mean etc etc  He also wasn't like the fundamentalists I spent time with - full of wrath, anger or hatred.  

If I had to describe in few words what He was like - I'd say:  Love, peace, Kindness.  Patient, understanding, calm, well spoken.  He was also strong.  Not in a material / physical sense, more like - He said something and reality knit itself around those words and subsequently became the truth. 

The above makes me wonder if people have misunderstood God and are perhaps mistaken about Him.

What about you?  What is your view?

---

---

1.  Fear ?  (of a worse tomorrow)  
2.  Hope ? (for a better tomorrow) 
3.  Culture ?  (that's just the way we do it around here)  
4.  An experience ?  (Think I really had an experience from divine)  
5.  Superiority/inferiority complex?  (Make a system that favours me and put everyone else down?) 

So the experience of the divine is the bedrock of a persons faith?

My bad. I counted ‘What is my faith based on?’ as #1.

Oops.

Boru
[/quote]

haha I was wondering if you meant 3.  Culture.  I could have made it clearer.