How do I not fear hell?

[Mr. Moncrieff]

I'm confident I can win this battle, but fear that my son will have to deal with the years of self doubt and fear I struggled with. Is there a way to prevent that?

That's quite a quandary, my friend. I would not like to be in your position and you have my sympathies and best wishes in equal measure.

I can't believe there isn't a legal precedent established for this...

[SteelCurtain]

Wow, lots of flippant answers to a very serious question.

You'd get that impression if this was your first post. Look at the other 5-6 threads this guy's started, from "I'm not leaving until I convert someone" or "One last attempt to get through to you guys." We think this guy's either a kid or a poe, either way his answer to everything is "how can my parents and everyone be wrong/lying to me." At some point we get bored...

....Is there a way to prevent that?

Nope. There is no way to ensure that your son doesn't fear the everlasting torment designed to keep him in fear for his lifetime. There is only one recourse. Teach him to always question. Everything. Even you. This will backfire on you a couple of times, but will help him to be skeptical and inquisitive. He's going to be exposed to the fairy tale, but you can expose him to rational, intellectual honesty. One thing I know from a friend of mine who was in a similar situation, you have to have a conversation with him about how to deal with the dichotomy. My friend had a daughter that would go to her mother and say "Well dad said..." and he lost custody of his daughter on the weekend. (This was in FL, though, so...) If you teach him to explore these things he's being exposed to, and not just trust whoever tells him something crazy, he'll be fine. Even if he ends up believing in god.

[Faith No More]

Wow, lots of flippant answers to a very serious question. I was raised a christian, gave it up when I was a teenager, was a 'must be some kind of god' type for years, and became a 'strong atheist' 10 years latter. Here I am 30 years latter, and still occasionally (although very rarely) think about it.

Now, I struggle with a more realistic problem. My ex-wife is a Christian who has insisted on taking our 10yo son to Church. 6 years ago, right after our divorce, I discovered she planned to indoctrinate him, despite my objections. When I voiced my objections, informed her that I had 50% custody (both legal and physical), her response was that 'no judge is going to side with you' on this issue.

And boy, was she right - no need to waist any time finding out, so I rolled over.

Now I'm trying to figure out a way to prevent my son from having to go through years of self doubt and fear ala the 'will I go to hell?' question.

We live in a society where my son is being indoctrinated into a cult that worships a symbol of execution, practices symbolic cannibalism, tells children they are worthless and sinners, teaches children that people who don't think the same deserve to be tortured forever, says we should kill gay people, says slavery is okay, ect ect ect. Here we are, and a judge would side with my wife, despite our divorce contract saying otherwise. I have no recourse except to teach my son critical thinking. I'm confident I can win this battle, but fear that my son will have to deal with the years of self doubt and fear I struggled with. Is there a way to prevent that?

Firstly, welcome to the forum.

Secondly, why don't you create a new thread, as that is somewhat of a separate topic from this one?

[Mr. Moncrieff]

Wow, lots of flippant answers to a very serious question. I was raised a christian, gave it up when I was a teenager, was a 'must be some kind of god' type for years, and became a 'strong atheist' 10 years latter. Here I am 30 years latter, and still occasionally (although very rarely) think about it.

Now, I struggle with a more realistic problem. My ex-wife is a Christian who has insisted on taking our 10yo son to Church. 6 years ago, right after our divorce, I discovered she planned to indoctrinate him, despite my objections. When I voiced my objections, informed her that I had 50% custody (both legal and physical), her response was that 'no judge is going to side with you' on this issue.

And boy, was she right - no need to waist any time finding out, so I rolled over.

Now I'm trying to figure out a way to prevent my son from having to go through years of self doubt and fear ala the 'will I go to hell?' question.

We live in a society where my son is being indoctrinated into a cult that worships a symbol of execution, practices symbolic cannibalism, tells children they are worthless and sinners, teaches children that people who don't think the same deserve to be tortured forever, says we should kill gay people, says slavery is okay, ect ect ect. Here we are, and a judge would side with my wife, despite our divorce contract saying otherwise. I have no recourse except to teach my son critical thinking. I'm confident I can win this battle, but fear that my son will have to deal with the years of self doubt and fear I struggled with. Is there a way to prevent that?

Firstly, welcome to the forum.

Secondly, why don't you create a new thread, as that is somewhat of a separate topic from this one?

I concur. It's certainly worthy of its own thread.

[KichigaiNeko]

Wow, lots of flippant answers to a very serious question. I was raised a christian, gave it up when I was a teenager, was a 'must be some kind of god' type for years, and became a 'strong atheist' 10 years latter. Here I am 30 years latter, and still occasionally (although very rarely) think about it.

Now, I struggle with a more realistic problem. My ex-wife is a Christian who has insisted on taking our 10yo son to Church. 6 years ago, right after our divorce, I discovered she planned to indoctrinate him, despite my objections. When I voiced my objections, informed her that I had 50% custody (both legal and physical), her response was that 'no judge is going to side with you' on this issue.

And boy, was she right - no need to waist any time finding out, so I rolled over.

Now I'm trying to figure out a way to prevent my son from having to go through years of self doubt and fear ala the 'will I go to hell?' question.

We live in a society where my son is being indoctrinated into a cult that worships a symbol of execution, practices symbolic cannibalism, tells children they are worthless and sinners, teaches children that people who don't think the same deserve to be tortured forever, says we should kill gay people, says slavery is okay, ect ect ect. Here we are, and a judge would side with my wife, despite our divorce contract saying otherwise. I have no recourse except to teach my son critical thinking. I'm confident I can win this battle, but fear that my son will have to deal with the years of self doubt and fear I struggled with. Is there a way to prevent that?

Looking forward to your intro thread and an interesting discussion of the above issue

[shep]

Without just saying it doesn't exist, how can I reason with myself not to fear any religion's eternal damnation in the afterlife? Help please.

Knowing you are a good person, or, as I do, try your utmost to be a good person.

[pocaracas]

Damn your ballooning threads, LV1!

If there is no god, there can't be any heaven... so how could there be a hell?
If there is a hell, then your best bet is to be the best person you can... considering all the possible hells and reasons to get in there, it's best to keep in mind all the ways to keep out of it and they all boil down to: be a good person. Do no harm to others; breed no animosity between fellow humans...