Hell for christians? Hell for all?
By Anne R Keye ~
Every religion is going to hell according to every other religion and denomination. When your church says that you and only your denomination are going to be saved, be aware that the church around the corner from yours will say that your church has it all wrong! Your church is probably [Definitely] damned to hell and only their church and their chosen denomination has it right and is going to be saved. It is both amazing and laughable viewing the bizarre world of christianity at war with itself.
In reality
In a recent argument with a lady who was my best friend a few years ago I found myself in a similar situation where even as a non believer in any religion I found myself employing this. She asked me why I just couldn't try to believe anymore. She stood on her pedestal and was quite arrogant in her manner and she was snidely trying to hell wish me. She then tried the old “Pascal's Wager” trick. I in turn replied, "Well, what if you are wrong and what if Allah is the one true God and what if you are worshipping the wrong prophet? Remember making Jesus equal to God is serious blasphemy and you will be sent to hell until Allah decides to have mercy on you. So what if you are wrong about Jesus when you should really be worshiping Mohammed"?
As you can imagine she was very shocked and upset. This was not because of what I had said so much, but because she was of the opinion that only she could hell wish and that I would be helpless to answer back and defend myself. But, I had answered back and she was suddenly left empty and speechless. Someone had the audacity to answer her back and put her in the same predicament that she had wished upon someone else [and their family]. And this is how easy and nasty and silly it all gets and it happens very quickly. This is because it is a mirror. It is a mirror reflecting ignorance. Your church versus my church, your religion versus my religion. If you are the perpetrator then I have to mirror your seeming ignorance back with mine. The mirror is set in motion and the war begins. Hell is wished and traded back and forth from both sides.
The non believer might ask why I didn't just quote Dawkins or Peter Bohossian etc.The sad truth is that I felt humiliated and sickened that my old friend would hell wish me and my grandchildren. It just seemed so nasty. Only by passing the hell wishing back to her could I depart from her countenance in peace. I hope that in the future I will have the dignity and the anger management necessary to reply to hell wishers with intellect, honesty, credibility and a very cool head indeed. But even as a non believer I shamefully employed this repulsive tool.
Mine’s better than yours?
Do the 7th Day Adventists really believe that the RC Church are a better church than they? Does a protestant believe that a Buddhist will be saved? Does a Muslim believe that an anti Islamist christian will be saved? Does a Muslim believe that a christian evangelist will be saved by placing trust in Jesus. Do the JW's think that the Mormons are a better church than they? Are the Quakers crackers?
This ignorance is a very good tool for the churches, cults, denominations and different religions [they are all cults really] because it means that you and I will become defensive and fearful and we will more than likely pay into these institutions financially and with blind obedience. They all have a “Do as we say or else” policy. Hell is a very good concept if it instills fear in an individual. But, in the modern world this is starting to wane with the advent of google and access to credible information [especially in Europe]. To any educated mind this is neither frightening nor logical.
The whole truth and nothing but the truth!
The truth is we are all going to hell. All of us according to the stupidity and ignorance on display by the many denominations, cultural differences and different religions themselves. We are all doomed, damned and scammed by this elusive phantom called hell. But in reality nobody gets saved because there is nothing to get saved from and nowhere to go to to get saved [or to be not saved]. There is nothing to fear, nothing to worry about and nothing to get paranoid about. It is time to put this naughty phantom to sleep methinks!
In reality
In a recent argument with a lady who was my best friend a few years ago I found myself in a similar situation where even as a non believer in any religion I found myself employing this. She asked me why I just couldn't try to believe anymore. She stood on her pedestal and was quite arrogant in her manner and she was snidely trying to hell wish me. She then tried the old “Pascal's Wager” trick. I in turn replied, "Well, what if you are wrong and what if Allah is the one true God and what if you are worshipping the wrong prophet? Remember making Jesus equal to God is serious blasphemy and you will be sent to hell until Allah decides to have mercy on you. So what if you are wrong about Jesus when you should really be worshiping Mohammed"?
As you can imagine she was very shocked and upset. This was not because of what I had said so much, but because she was of the opinion that only she could hell wish and that I would be helpless to answer back and defend myself. But, I had answered back and she was suddenly left empty and speechless. Someone had the audacity to answer her back and put her in the same predicament that she had wished upon someone else [and their family]. And this is how easy and nasty and silly it all gets and it happens very quickly. This is because it is a mirror. It is a mirror reflecting ignorance. Your church versus my church, your religion versus my religion. If you are the perpetrator then I have to mirror your seeming ignorance back with mine. The mirror is set in motion and the war begins. Hell is wished and traded back and forth from both sides.
The non believer might ask why I didn't just quote Dawkins or Peter Bohossian etc.The sad truth is that I felt humiliated and sickened that my old friend would hell wish me and my grandchildren. It just seemed so nasty. Only by passing the hell wishing back to her could I depart from her countenance in peace. I hope that in the future I will have the dignity and the anger management necessary to reply to hell wishers with intellect, honesty, credibility and a very cool head indeed. But even as a non believer I shamefully employed this repulsive tool.
Mine’s better than yours?
Do the 7th Day Adventists really believe that the RC Church are a better church than they? Does a protestant believe that a Buddhist will be saved? Does a Muslim believe that an anti Islamist christian will be saved? Does a Muslim believe that a christian evangelist will be saved by placing trust in Jesus. Do the JW's think that the Mormons are a better church than they? Are the Quakers crackers?
This ignorance is a very good tool for the churches, cults, denominations and different religions [they are all cults really] because it means that you and I will become defensive and fearful and we will more than likely pay into these institutions financially and with blind obedience. They all have a “Do as we say or else” policy. Hell is a very good concept if it instills fear in an individual. But, in the modern world this is starting to wane with the advent of google and access to credible information [especially in Europe]. To any educated mind this is neither frightening nor logical.
The whole truth and nothing but the truth!
The truth is we are all going to hell. All of us according to the stupidity and ignorance on display by the many denominations, cultural differences and different religions themselves. We are all doomed, damned and scammed by this elusive phantom called hell. But in reality nobody gets saved because there is nothing to get saved from and nowhere to go to to get saved [or to be not saved]. There is nothing to fear, nothing to worry about and nothing to get paranoid about. It is time to put this naughty phantom to sleep methinks!