Absurdity Of Hell

[nailit]

Some religions ( and some R&S posters) postulate that hell is a just and final destination for unbelievers.
Apart from the obvious (eternal punishment for finite sins is unjust) can anyone conceive of a more sick doctrine in religion than that unbelievers will be tortured beyond belief...for eternity...for simply believing something different?

All religions have their own ideas of hell but even the Christians that I know have a hard time with this and struggle to cope with it.
(I actually know one Christian who lost his son to drug OD and cracked up after, with the thought that his son was burning in hell)
This idea that people will be tortured/burned for all eternity for the sin of not believing in the right God is one sick doctrine.

Anyone comfortable with the idea of eternal torture?

[nailit]

//Nailit. Really. Why do you bother?//
I know Theland. Its a bummer eh? But my passion for truth, reality and facts keep me going.

[Mamyalynne]

Keep searching but keep it pleasant.

[nailit]

//Keep searching but keep it pleasant//
Always searching, researching, reading, collecting knowledge, collating data, challenging ideas, re-eveluating etc.
But cant always promise to keep it pleasant when faced with a bigot who thinks that the eternal torture of others who disbelieve his own ideology is acceptable..

[Theland]

Where do you get your crazy accusing ideas from?
Again, why do you bother?
You are an atheist, so why bother?
I just don't get it.
You search, you don't find, then you get angry and insulting. No need.
Try investigating unicorns.

[Mamyalynne]

Thought it worth a try, I see I failed.

[kvalidir]

Yes Mamy, futile it is :/

[Mamyalynne]

Tis my love.

[Theland]

I wondered lonely shouting loud,
Walking past hell and all life's ills,
When all at once I came upon,
A great big bottle of sleeping pills.

[Mamyalynne]

Poor show Theland, sorry.

[nailit]

Theland, calm down dear, you are making yourself ill carrying on like this. (I know, Ive been there)
You worry about little things like a god of love eternally torturing people (especially your loved ones) for eternity and somehow having to defend this monstrosity. This produces all kinds of psychological phenomena such as projection, confirmation bias etc.
Just chill and accept that there are things about which we are ignorant, mankind hasn't yet fathomed everything out. Its ok, we don't have to believe in a bronze age deity, written about by desert goat herders, thousands of years ago with no knowledge of science.
We can be happy (and honest) to say that we don't know everything.
Its not me who is tortured Theland... its you.

[Theland]

I do try.

[Theland]

For now - "Touchez!"

[Mamyalynne]

[nailit]

//I wondered lonely shouting loud,
Walking past hell and all life's ills,
When all at once I came upon,
A great big bottle of sleeping pills.//

Been there, got the shirt.
But Im tormented (apparently) and you have God.
??????

[Theland]

Take a chill pill Nailit.
Your obsession is disturbing!

[vascop]

To everybody
It seems to me that when people are expressing their strongly held ideas on this particular forum, that it is inevitable that opinions will be expressed which "offend" some of the participants, and this has to be tolerated otherwise the whole debate is a waste of time.
Obviously calling people names just for the sake of it is not acceptable, but if participants make their strong views public then they must accept other participants to respond in an equally strong manner.
To throw up your hands in horror when someone responds to your strongly expressed opinions with something equally strongly expressed seems to me to be a cop-out.
So-called "unpleasant" reactions to views expressed are often judged as unpleasant only by the person who expressed the original opinion and it seems to me to be a very underhanded way of avoiding criticism.
I think people's views should be respected, but that doesn't mean that they can't be criticised, and if the criticism "offends" them then that's part of the process - very healthy - bring it on!

[naomi24]

^Quite right. The victim mentality of crying ‘offence’ at every opportunity is simply an attempt to silence the opposition - as is quoting 'the rules'.

[beso]

At the risk of pushing nailit right over the edge, perhaps I could remind readers that God punishes "up to the third and fourth generation" for the "sins of the fathers".

Consequently my grandchildren will be punished for the indiscretions of my grandfather, a man my children never knew.

Such is the judgement of "the creator of morality".

[nailit]

//At the risk of pushing nailit right over the edge//
Certainly wont push ME over the edge with biblical quotes beso :-)
but ur reminding Theland about what his Bible actually teaches might push HIM over the edge.
How much sicker can you get than punishing the kids, grandkids, great grandkids etc for your own misdemeanours?
Vile and evil.
If your own kids or grandkids are suffering then it must be your own fault...the bible says so!

[kvalidir]

It's the same MO that all dictatorships control the masses with. People knew if they opposed them not only would the Nazi's ( insert any nasty dictator thug of choice if you fancy) torture and kill them but also their children and whole families. Nice to see where they got their ideas from. The Bible is like a manual for control of all and any insurrection.