Hell...

[nailit]

Justify it?

[nailit]

Pick your scripture and reveal your psyche (soul)

[vulcan42]

So, unless you're Jewish Theland, the Bible doesn't apply to you. Why are you living your life according to a book that was written to rule the lives of others?

[nailit]

According to Jesus he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.
After they rejected him he went for the Gentiles.

Saved Gentiles are better than no sheep at all...
So much for God so loved the world!

Again, depends on which author you read, they all had different agendas, theologies etc,

[nailit]

Sheep is the right word after all.
They all get fleeced and then slaughtered (according to Jewish custom)

[Theland]

Correction, he was sent first to the Jews.

[DTCwordfan]

Ten Catholic priests all die in a bus accident. When they arrive at the pearly gates, St. Peter acknowledges them. He sees that they’re all priests and immediately says "If any of you are pedophiles, there’s no point waiting here. You might as well eff off straight to hell right now!” Nine of the priests turn around and begin to walk away. St. Peter calls after them, "AND TAKE THE DEAF BAssSTARD WITH YOU TOO!”

[Theland]

:-)

[andy-hughes]

I start from a position that no-one knows beyond reasonable doubt that God exists.

The fervents on here are convinced that it's all in the bible, which really doesn't cut it since that was written by people who put their trousers on one leg at a time, exactly the same as I do.

But let's assume, for the sake of argument, that God exists, and Hell is the punishment for rejecting him.

When I die, if I come up before God, then I am going to say "I didn't believe in you, but of course I do now, so I hope you will forgive me for not believing, and I atone for any sins I have committed, and I would like to come in to heaven please."

Now if, as the fervents have it, God is compassionate and loves me, then surely he is not going to turn me away is he?

And equally surely, no-one in their right mind is going to do anything other than what i am doing - are they.

Unless of course a Islamist fanatic rolls up and categorically denies God to his face, then God may have a problem, but hey, that's for God to sort out, it's way above my pay grade.

That means, as far as i concerned I am fire-proof - literally!

I got it wrong God, I am sorry, but I do repent, so I am sure you can let me off.

And I expect he will.

Now if I die and I come up before Allah, or Zeus, or any one of the millions of other nameless deities that people worship, then of course I an royally stuffed, but then we all are, so what happens to me happens to everyone else.

And if, as I believe, absolutely nothing will happen, and I will simply cease to exist, then it won't matter anyway.

That allows me to live my atheist life, utterly unbothered by the constant fretting and handwringing that the fervents put themselves through every waking moment - so I am fine with that.

[naomi24]

AH, my principles wouldn’t allow me to do what you say you would do. I’m more likely to tell the monstrous creature to stuff it - and that’s putting it mildly.

[andy-hughes]

naomi - // AH, my principles wouldn’t allow me to do what you say you would do. I’m more likely to tell the monstrous creature to stuff it - and that’s putting it mildly. //

I admire your stance, but it's not something I could follow personally.

I have lived by a motto that I conceived when I first started working for a bureaucracy, and I has stood me in good stead, and I have taught it to my children and grandchildren -

Never upset someone whose co-operation you need, and that goes
double if they don't need your co-operation.

Since I've spent my life on earth living by that simple rule, I see no reason to change it after I'm dead.

[mibn2cweus]

But what if it's all been a test to see if you would cave to a despicable tyrant, right up to the last opportunity?

[brainiac]

L'enfer, c'est les autres

[Theland]

He is anything but a despicable tyrant. He is pure love.

[Peter Pedant]

which fearless ABer was railing about mindless unending cant on AB ? Bring him on here for chrissakes !

L'enfer, c'est les autres
does anyone remember Huis Clos ( sartre ) on black and white tel
in the sixties?
I thought it was Armpit theatre but I find it Wed Play
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432894/

[vulcan42]

\\ He is anything but a despicable tyrant. He is pure love.//
And demonstrated this pure love by drowning nearly everybody.

[Hopkirk]

If he is pure love, he's got some very strange ways of showing it!

[Theland]

He sacrificed His only Son to take the punishment for our sin, in our place. That is pure love.

[andy-hughes]

Since Jesus and God both knew the outcome in advance, I fail to see any 'sacrifice'.

Ask any of the parents whose children have died in Afghanistan what they think 'sacrifice ' actually means.

None of their children are popping back to see them after three days.

[vulcan42]

Theland you have a twisted mind if you think killing your only child is an act of love.

[tonyav]

Hell to me is Aston Villa losing to Birmingham City in any football competition.