Hell: A burning contradiction
Hi! I'm Raithie; an Irish teenage atheist. Since this is my introductory post to the Think Atheist community - I suppose I'll give a brief outline of myself and why I'm here in the first place.
I love to surf, read, play guitar and debate. However, you'll catch me doing anything - I love life and all that comes with it. That sums me up!
I recently decided to bring my atheism online and started to join atheist and theist discussion forums and blogs, and this inspired me to create my own blog. Anyway, below is my latest post outlining the contradictory nature of God and Hell according to the Bible. The original (along with the comments) can be viewed at: http://www.teenageatheist.com/2010/06/hell-burning-contradiction.html
"I recently entered a conversation about Hell with a Christian, and quite frankly I am absolutely appalled.
The Hell that I am talking about is the Hell according to the Bible:
That sounds outrageously evil. In fact, the only thing that's more horrific and sickening than Hell itself is the being that supposedly created it and allows for its existence. According to the Bible, that being is God. And yet, somehow, he still manages to get away with "benevolent" attached to his name and character.
I cannot even begin to fathom how anyone could justify perpetual misery and torture with a finite crime - regardless of the scale of the sin. Absolutely no action done here on Earth could possibly be justly sanctioned by an eternity of suffering and torture. Hell only highlights the hideous, horrific, vicious, revengeful, spiteful,
unchristian, ungodly, unforgiving nature of the biblical God's punishment of his own creation . This punishment is probably one of the greatest of all proofs for the non existence of the biblical "supreme, benevolent being". A revengeful Christian God is an oxymoron.
Some Christians even go as far to tell you that unrepetentant sin deserves such brutal and grotesque punishment. They then even apply this to nonbelievers; claiming that atheists and the like will burn and choke for eternity due to their cynical and questioning nature that "God" himself apparently gave them. If that were the case - it seems like this omniscient and omnipotent (and of course benevolent) "God" is setting them up solely for a miserable existence. It also means Gandhi and everyone who isn't a Christian, is also going to Hell. Seemingly, peoples good nature is nulled if they dare doubt
His existence. How dare they believe the wrong fairytale...!
I don't believe in God because I see absolutely no reason to believe in the supernatural, I realise the potential humans have for stirring up imaginative tales and because how gullible people can be, especially if it fits in with their own instinctual desires. Whether I'm a good person or not is nothing in the biblical God's eyes - I don't believe therefore I deserve only an eternity of torture! How sad. Quite frankly, I find it deeply disturbing, sickening and simply revolting that people can believe and preach such things.
Analogy 1: ("Sinner")
I'm going to throw out a scenario. A child (let's name him Bill), pulls a girls hair during class and commits a few other minor "sins". The teachers response to this is to torture him continuously for the rest of his life, regardless of whether he apologizes or not during this time. According to the "Good Book", that's how Hell works. Except, Hell is infinitely worse because it never ends. Someone could be burning and suffering for zillions and trillions of years and God still wouldn't care, certainly not enough to do anything about it. If he felt he really must punish someone - why did he opt for the most brutal and forgiving option possible?
Analogy 2: (Atheist / wrong religion)
Now let's say that Bill didn't pull the girls hair, but he heard someone else did. Now he didn't see it himself (no evidence), and he knows that the boy who claimed to have done so is always lying about such things (human nature). A teacher then comes along and asks Bill what happened. Bill truthfully answers that he doesn't know because he didn't see anything, however he sees it as unlikely because there are a few contradictory tellings of the story and the boy in question is always lying. The teachers response is to throw him in a dungeon to be
tortured until he dies from old age from a life full of nothing but anquish and incomprehensible suffering. Except, once again - Hell is infinitely worse!
But it's all okay - because God still loves them and will forgive them and... oh wait, no, he doesn't and won't - Hell is eternal and inescapable.
The "Happy Hell" Christians:
And for those Christians that thought you could get away with claiming that Hell does not exist and still accept the Bible as a divine revelation - let me give you a few quotes from Jesus in the "Holy Book": (and all from the New Testament)
Hmm...
I wouldn't be to happy to hear that from the Son of God. Sounds a bit sadistic, to be honest. So, since most of Christians don't accept the Hell of the Bible - why not? You believe the rest of the fairytale. How can you decide what you believe or not, considering the Bible doesn't actually differentiate between the two? It seems like you're just cherry picking your favourite parts (the bits that just sound nice and good and happy) to fit an ancient, primitive tale into a modern society. Either accept the Bible fully (and that God is a malevolent prick) or discard it. Preferably the latter. Science and reality prove to be a much more interesting and accurate read."
http://www.teenageatheist.com
I love to surf, read, play guitar and debate. However, you'll catch me doing anything - I love life and all that comes with it. That sums me up!
I recently decided to bring my atheism online and started to join atheist and theist discussion forums and blogs, and this inspired me to create my own blog. Anyway, below is my latest post outlining the contradictory nature of God and Hell according to the Bible. The original (along with the comments) can be viewed at: http://www.teenageatheist.com/2010/06/hell-burning-contradiction.html
Hell: A burning contradiction
"I recently entered a conversation about Hell with a Christian, and quite frankly I am absolutely appalled. The Hell that I am talking about is the Hell according to the Bible:
- Matthew 13:50 “furnace of fire…weeping and gnashing of teeth”
- Mark 9:48 “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched”
- Revelation 14:10 “he will be tormented with fire and brimstone”
- Revelation 14:11 “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever and they have no rest day and night”
- Revelation 20:15 “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”
- Revelation 20:14 “This is the second death, the lake of fire”
That sounds outrageously evil. In fact, the only thing that's more horrific and sickening than Hell itself is the being that supposedly created it and allows for its existence. According to the Bible, that being is God. And yet, somehow, he still manages to get away with "benevolent" attached to his name and character.
I cannot even begin to fathom how anyone could justify perpetual misery and torture with a finite crime - regardless of the scale of the sin. Absolutely no action done here on Earth could possibly be justly sanctioned by an eternity of suffering and torture. Hell only highlights the hideous, horrific, vicious, revengeful, spiteful,
unchristian, ungodly, unforgiving nature of the biblical God's punishment of his own creation . This punishment is probably one of the greatest of all proofs for the non existence of the biblical "supreme, benevolent being". A revengeful Christian God is an oxymoron.
Some Christians even go as far to tell you that unrepetentant sin deserves such brutal and grotesque punishment. They then even apply this to nonbelievers; claiming that atheists and the like will burn and choke for eternity due to their cynical and questioning nature that "God" himself apparently gave them. If that were the case - it seems like this omniscient and omnipotent (and of course benevolent) "God" is setting them up solely for a miserable existence. It also means Gandhi and everyone who isn't a Christian, is also going to Hell. Seemingly, peoples good nature is nulled if they dare doubt
His existence. How dare they believe the wrong fairytale...!
I don't believe in God because I see absolutely no reason to believe in the supernatural, I realise the potential humans have for stirring up imaginative tales and because how gullible people can be, especially if it fits in with their own instinctual desires. Whether I'm a good person or not is nothing in the biblical God's eyes - I don't believe therefore I deserve only an eternity of torture! How sad. Quite frankly, I find it deeply disturbing, sickening and simply revolting that people can believe and preach such things.
Analogy 1: ("Sinner")
I'm going to throw out a scenario. A child (let's name him Bill), pulls a girls hair during class and commits a few other minor "sins". The teachers response to this is to torture him continuously for the rest of his life, regardless of whether he apologizes or not during this time. According to the "Good Book", that's how Hell works. Except, Hell is infinitely worse because it never ends. Someone could be burning and suffering for zillions and trillions of years and God still wouldn't care, certainly not enough to do anything about it. If he felt he really must punish someone - why did he opt for the most brutal and forgiving option possible?
Analogy 2: (Atheist / wrong religion)
Now let's say that Bill didn't pull the girls hair, but he heard someone else did. Now he didn't see it himself (no evidence), and he knows that the boy who claimed to have done so is always lying about such things (human nature). A teacher then comes along and asks Bill what happened. Bill truthfully answers that he doesn't know because he didn't see anything, however he sees it as unlikely because there are a few contradictory tellings of the story and the boy in question is always lying. The teachers response is to throw him in a dungeon to be
tortured until he dies from old age from a life full of nothing but anquish and incomprehensible suffering. Except, once again - Hell is infinitely worse!
But it's all okay - because God still loves them and will forgive them and... oh wait, no, he doesn't and won't - Hell is eternal and inescapable.
The "Happy Hell" Christians:
And for those Christians that thought you could get away with claiming that Hell does not exist and still accept the Bible as a divine revelation - let me give you a few quotes from Jesus in the "Holy Book": (and all from the New Testament)
- "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire"And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
- “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched”
- "everlasting punishment"
- "place of torment"
- "everlasting fire"
- "eternal damnation"
Hmm...
I wouldn't be to happy to hear that from the Son of God. Sounds a bit sadistic, to be honest. So, since most of Christians don't accept the Hell of the Bible - why not? You believe the rest of the fairytale. How can you decide what you believe or not, considering the Bible doesn't actually differentiate between the two? It seems like you're just cherry picking your favourite parts (the bits that just sound nice and good and happy) to fit an ancient, primitive tale into a modern society. Either accept the Bible fully (and that God is a malevolent prick) or discard it. Preferably the latter. Science and reality prove to be a much more interesting and accurate read."
http://www.teenageatheist.com
-
Comment by Misty: Baytheist Living! on June 14, 2010 at 10:07pm -
Hello and welcome!
What a wonderful and well thought out post.
Now Featured!
-
Comment by Adam Shope on June 15, 2010 at 12:36am -
Thats why the born again or evangelical mivement is so strong. Cherry picking.
-
Comment by Raithie on June 15, 2010 at 5:49am -
Thanks for the welcome and feature!
Indeed - Christians seem to be very fond of selecting only certain parts, and somehow cast off the rest as simple parable or metaphors - despite the Bible not differentiating between the two.
-
Comment by Apple on June 15, 2010 at 10:05am -
The sad thing is that a lot of this "brain-turned-off" evangelical types don't mind this at all. They see other countries, cultures, and liberals as "the enemy." They relish in the idea of being in heaven in Jesus forever with the rest of their family and community while the rest of the Earth's population is tortured eternally. This is all well deserved too, and not because they are better people. Oh no, just ask them and they will tell you that we are all "sinners." But, they bet on the right set of evidence-free ancient stories.
I honestly believe that people like this have a very limited amount of experience with the global community, and all of their knowledge of the world is filtered through Fox News. I wish that 1 year of study abroad would be required in higher education. I think a good number would open their eyes once they experienced life and culture of a non-christaian majority country first hand. This is surely a powerful tool for "Breaking the Spell" of people who have been indoctrinated but are still open minded. Spend time in Japan, China, or any number of European countries and suddenly these people are no longer "out of sight, out of mind."
-
Comment by Natasha Kenny on June 15, 2010 at 3:25pm -
Welcome.Can't wait to see other blogs.
-
Comment by Raithie on June 15, 2010 at 3:49pm
-
Apple - I could not agree with you more. The believer always ensures that their beliefs tie in with their own self interest and desires. It's a deluded state of ignorance kept alive by unquestionable indoctrination and the false notion that blind faith is a "virtue".
Indeed. Perhaps seeing the world other than through a screen would make them realize "wait! why isn't my omnipotent God doing anything to help us?!" or to see how well a country works without religion.
Thanks for the welcome Natasha Kenny! There are a few other posts (although not much - it's still new!) on my blog Teenage Atheist, if you're interested in reading past posts. The link is above.
-
Comment by Gerald Scott on June 15, 2010 at 5:41pm -
Welcome Raithie. You made it. This is a true story. An educated woman asked me, after I told her I was an atheist, if I was afraid of going to hell. I asked her how hell was organized. Do you just go there? Do you meet someone first? I could spend half of eternity in line waiting. She said it was individualized based on your sins. I told her that was very considerate. She also said it was awfully hot and I would be uncomfortable. I asked her what would I be wearing. She said I would be naked. I couldn't take it any longer and changed the subject. She was serious. She teaches 2nd grade in a christian school. How sad.
-
Comment by Raithie on June 15, 2010 at 7:14pm
-
Thank you, Gerald Scott :)
Argh. It's one thing when people develop such sadistic ideas and keep it to themselves, but another thing altogether to actually preach it, especially to kids. It's downright ridiculous. To know that there's some Christian teacher preaching to her pupils that they'll burn, choke and scream for eternity if they break any of Gods special rules is horrifying.
-
Comment by Sebastian on June 15, 2010 at 7:41pm
-
I nice read, thanks for sharing :)
May I just point something out? Perhaps you should open another domain, like ex-teenageatheist.com
Soon, what is like to be year or 3, you won't be teen anymore, and every form the delusional side of the debaters, will be using it to undermine your renationalisation, saying you are fraud to start with. Trust me, I been there. They resolve in all kind of tactics once they feel they are using an argument :)
-
Comment by Sebastian on June 15, 2010 at 8:34pm
-
by the way, I followed one of your links in the blog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZFG5PKw504&feature=player_embedded
This was quite entertaining, I'm convinced now, that there is a god and I was wrong about evolution all along. How fullish of me, in face of the new and absolutely indisputable evidence they presented,
I'm ashamed of my prior ignorance.
Now, jokes a side, I might be an atheist but it does not mean I'm pacifist. I believe people like that should but burn on pile of twigs, i the Christian style...
What's new today
Forum
It Can Be Smothering At Times
Started by Katie McCranie in Politics, Economics, Civil and Reproductive Rights, International Conflicts. Last reply by M.M. 5 minutes ago. 3 Replies 1 Like
Blog Posts
Fantastic and Courageous Act by Arizona Law Maker!
Posted by Robert Karp on May 23, 2013 at 10:33am 0 Comments 0 Likes
Events
Services we love
Check out our new mobile/tablet version of Think Atheist! www.ThinkAtheist.com/m
© 2013 Created by Morgan Matthew.
You need to be a member of Think Atheist to add comments!
Join Think Atheist