But necromancer, you shouldn't question someones belief, they have a right to it.
I believe if the Christian God was real and could save all, he wouldn't send people to the likes of hell. However, i'm not christian and therefore don't believe. Estel made a very good point at the start of the thread though.
@Jefferysinspiration- I have a right to free speech, not to mention that criticism is an important part of discourse. I've heard of cults where they actually use venomous snakes in their rituals and people die from it, if someone questioned their beliefs they might stop. If people don't stop and question things, then what will happen to the world?
Yes, a right to free speech, but to an extent of that it cannot contradict with other person's rights. I have a right to believe in the Bible, and you cannot use free speech to question me why. You can use free speech to disagree, but you cannot question me why.
You have a right to your own opinion as I have a right to mine. However, if we weren't allowed to question others where would that put us? We would have a tyrannical government that prevents us opposing it.
No. And here's why. If "God" loves you so much, why would it create a place to send you for damnation just for not following it. That would be like a mother disowing her child just because they don't see eye to eye. But, it is a good way to scare people into having a sense of right and wrong.
I think the concept of Heaven and Hell, personally, is something that was mainly created to ease the worries people have of death. Aside from that, at the time these concepts were created, we did not have the scientific proof to show either. Now that we can resuscitate people, and have testimonies of near death experiences, there is *some* proof, however vague, that there is some sort of life after death.
As of Heaven and Hell literally, I think the concept is a bit skewed. In my opinion, heaven wouldn't be heaven without dogs, and I have heard that animals do not go to heaven. Also, I do not know if I would go to heaven (in my opinion of 'heaven' I and my family/friends all would, but who knows?) but if I did and say, my husband did not, it would not be heaven because I would want him there for me to be happy and blissful.
@DragonMistress- When you have a near death experience that brings on the "visions" of heaven and hell, your body is fighting to survive. As such, it will release a torrent of chemicals like epinephrine to survive, the "visions" are a combination of these and the brain lacking oxygen as one can't breathe when in that state. However, I would like Strop to verify this.
Apart from whether heaven and hell have an independent metaphysical reality, I'd leave for your consideration the possibility that they can exist right here and now, manifested as our current mindset. That means that you could be in hell while I could be in heaven. If people believed that heaven and hell were more symbolic than real, it would certainly put an interesting spin on certain religions, wouldn't it? Both feeling and causing misery in *this* life could no longer be considered necessary sacrifices that one has to bear to get into a better afterlife. Nope, if the highest bliss, the greatest suffering you can experience is no greater than the one you can experience in the here and now then the life-denying axiology would seem to crumble in the interest of something new...something life-affirming.
If people believed that heaven and hell were more symbolic than real, it would certainly put an interesting spin on certain religions, wouldn't it?
One might be tempted to think that it would be more amenable to unitarian/universalist readings where religions are made equivalent rather than exclusive.
To add to Strat's post: I'll reiterate (as I am fond of doing) that one of the major criticisms of the direction of modern Christianity is directed against the outlook that ialwayswin has taken- the living of life in preparation for the afterlife...which runs a significant risk of being irrelevant, given the emphasis placed on the afterlife.
As such, it will release a torrent of chemicals like epinephrine to survive, the "visions" are a combination of these and the brain lacking oxygen as one can't breathe when in that state. However, I would like Strop to verify this.
Far as I remember that's about right. In particular, scientists have noticed that the temporal lobes (...I think) are host to a frenzy of neuronal activity during this period...I'll have to check this out, haha.
