HELL

[Whateverist]

That is the best dancing banana I've ever seen.  Oh to be a young banana again.

[Whateverist]

And we see what happened.

GC

What happened, GC?

He is being snarky funny.  I wonder where a good xtian boy like him ever learned such a nasty habit?  

[Whateverist]

For one thing the low opinion a child had for it's parents.

GC

Jesus fucking Christ.  Tell me this judgemental bullshit is just a typo, a badly worded sentence.

You're actually saying rexbecca has a low opinion of her parents?

How can you even justify making a blanket statement like that about someone you only know from an online community?

It isn't fair but apparently Jesus slips him the answers to stuff.  At least he isn't putting out armageddon updates like some of our other staff theists.

[Whateverist]

How very.... Christian. Anything the buy-bull says that the church authority doesn't like, well that's just allegorical.

I await the day they decide all of it is allegorical.

Such an easy concession but a bridge too far for many.  If xtians were the least bit humble about what they were sure of they'd do so much better.

[Whateverist]

My wife has taken to wearing bathing suits that would have been considered modest in the Victorian era. Three kids has ruined her body according to her, (it hasn't).

Make sure you let her know that!  I have twins and triplets, and afterward I lost the weight pretty fast.  A lot of people were like "Oh my god, you are so lucky you can lose the weight so quick!"  But for a long time I still felt like I hadn't lost any weight at all.  It took a lot of reassuring before I felt like myself again.

Back on the subject of Hell, though.  I stopped believing in god when it started interfering with my enjoyment of life. The fear of hell can be so restricting.  You follow the laws of god, and are worried every time you step out of line.  Once i let go of that fear, I was able to enjoy myself much more.

I think I know this one.  Were the triplets' names Mat, Kat and Nat?  I can see how Mat and Kat might make out okay but what do you do with no tit for Tat?

[GrandizerII]

Hi yall. Let me start off by saying I don't think it's healthy to focus too much on this subject, regardless of whether you believe in it or not. 

However, what prompted me to write this post was all the talk and questions I see in regards to the belief in Hell. I've explained my views a little bit, by saying that 1. I don't believe Hell is a physical place, 2. I don't believe God "throws" people into Hell, and 3. I believe Hell is the state of being by an individual who has rejected goodness and love, thus rejecting God Himself (since I believe God is those things).

Another belief I have that has been speculated by a few theologians but is not mentioned in the article, is that upon dying, every person gets a final chance to "meet" with God, if you will. And from there they make a conscious and informed decision to either reject or accept Him. (And by accepting or rejecting Him, they are accepting or rejecting love and goodness. So the state of rejection is Hell, the state of acceptance is Heaven.)   

I figured it might be useful to me to lay it all out here so everyone understands where I stand, and so I can refer people back to this post when I get questions or comments regarding Hell. 

Here is a snippet from the article:

By their account, hell is best understood as the condition of total alienation from all that is good, hopeful and loving in the world. What's more, this condition is chosen by the damned themselves, the ultimate exercise of free will, not a punishment engineered by God.

Hell ''is not a 'place' but a 'state,' a person's 'state of being,' in which a person suffers from the deprivation of God,'' declared La Civilta Cattolica, an influential Jesuit magazine based in Rome and closely tied to the Vatican, in a long editorial in July.

The magazine also stated that it is not God who inflicts pain ''through angels or demons as is illustrated in many paintings or is read in the 'Divine Comedy,' '' but the sinner who triggers his own punishment by deliberately rejecting God's grace, thereby entering a great state of pain.

For those interested in reading more: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/18/arts/h...gewanted=1

(The silly part is that the title calls this view a "makeover" but the article goes on to say this view is nothing new in the Church lol)

So you adhere to a relatively recently evolved view of hell, which sounds nicer than the traditional notion of hell but isn't necessarily more likely to be true as a result. But even your notion of hell is not that nice anyway. Why should I enter a great state of pain just because I lack belief in God or refuse to bow down to him?

[Whateverist]

Hi yall. Let me start off by saying I don't think it's healthy to focus too much on this subject, regardless of whether you believe in it or not. 

However, what prompted me to write this post was all the talk and questions I see in regards to the belief in Hell. I've explained my views a little bit, by saying that 1. I don't believe Hell is a physical place, 2. I don't believe God "throws" people into Hell, and 3. I believe Hell is the state of being by an individual who has rejected goodness and love, thus rejecting God Himself (since I believe God is those things).

Another belief I have that has been speculated by a few theologians but is not mentioned in the article, is that upon dying, every person gets a final chance to "meet" with God, if you will. And from there they make a conscious and informed decision to either reject or accept Him. (And by accepting or rejecting Him, they are accepting or rejecting love and goodness. So the state of rejection is Hell, the state of acceptance is Heaven.)   

I figured it might be useful to me to lay it all out here so everyone understands where I stand, and so I can refer people back to this post when I get questions or comments regarding Hell. 

Here is a snippet from the article:

By their account, hell is best understood as the condition of total alienation from all that is good, hopeful and loving in the world. What's more, this condition is chosen by the damned themselves, the ultimate exercise of free will, not a punishment engineered by God.

Hell ''is not a 'place' but a 'state,' a person's 'state of being,' in which a person suffers from the deprivation of God,'' declared La Civilta Cattolica, an influential Jesuit magazine based in Rome and closely tied to the Vatican, in a long editorial in July.

The magazine also stated that it is not God who inflicts pain ''through angels or demons as is illustrated in many paintings or is read in the 'Divine Comedy,' '' but the sinner who triggers his own punishment by deliberately rejecting God's grace, thereby entering a great state of pain.

For those interested in reading more: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/18/arts/h...gewanted=1

(The silly part is that the title calls this view a "makeover" but the article goes on to say this view is nothing new in the Church lol)

You know I have no problem with this connotation for hell, and there is a sense in which we choose it ourselves.  But I don't think everyone has an equally easy choice to make, do you?  Those born to addicted mothers in poverty and brought up in a life of crime and violence will probably have a tougher choice to make than you or I.

[robvalue]

I assume most Christians think all Muslims are going to hell, no matter how strong their faith and devotion to their religion. Considering the strong correlation between the country of birth and religion in most places, you could say the Muslims are born into hell from the start.

God expects those born in Christian countries to just agree with everyone around them. But he expects those burn in Muslim countries to not believe anyone around them, refuse indoctrination that began before the age of reason, defy all their family and somehow instead conclude a religion in a whole other country is the correct one.

And of course, Muslims will say exactly the same thing with the names reversed. Either way, doesn't sound like a fair or even sensible system. Considering neither have any proof they are right, how exactly is anyone meant to know what choice to make?

They can't all be right, but they can all be wrong. (Matt D)

[Longhorn]

This talk about choosing hell is unnerving. God is all 'look what you made me do'.

It's sickening. Reminds me of this:

https://youtu.be/E15IC3YKv8g

[Longhorn]

Besides, a state without god sounds more like heaven. No one watching you, spying on your thoughts like an eternal dictator demanding obedience. Imma have lots of gay sex to make sure I get there