If you are not religious, do you go to heaven?

Question

I want a serious answer from serious people. I dont believe in any devine power. Im a proffessor of physics, and all my life have been in the physical world of things. I just dont believe in creationalism. Either way, hypotheticaly speaking if there is a lord, people who have lead a good life, do they go to heaven or hell. I just think that the christian idea of a lord, if he is realy forgiving and kind, how can he send someone to hell just because he does not believe in what he does not see. I see this as extremely egoistic and unfair, because if i was to believe in everything i heard withought asking for proof, id probably be dead by now from trying to jump off a bridge to get free cookies. My point is, this wont change my thinking of things, just wondering how people see god as.

Very good answer J T by the way. What i mean to say is that, if you are an atheist, can god realy blame you for not believing in him? He gave no reason to believe in him, just people preaching out his name. If i told you to jump off a bridge to save the world withought proof, would you do it. No seriously, think about this last comment, you will see the connection.

Answer 1

I am an atheist and do not believe that heaven or hell exist.

But, I was a practicing Christian for over thirty years, so I am familiar with the bible and biblical doctrine.

In the unlikely event the biblical God exists, hell will be a place of learning, it will not be a place of everlasting torment, nor will it be the horror described in Dante's inferno.

Further, heaven will also be a place of learning or some form of continual growth.

The answer to your question is that you can safely ignore all those who claim the only way to heaven is by praying, or repenting, or doing anything. God made us in his image and he accepts us for what we are.

No one is going to Dante's hell, nor are they going to the Ice Cream Parlor heaven so often described.

God did not invent religion. Men invented religion so they could pretend to be God.

Peace.


Response:

Thanks, monomat.

Here is how I became an atheist:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjMLcgbW_grpmKxqlTMnrUjsy6IX?qid=20060704033919AAaHQFk

I agree with everything you said in your comment. If the only thing that a person requires is faith, how does he balance what he is willing to do in the name of God?

That would seemingly offer a legitimate defense for doing literally anything. As an example, if a person murders children, he can claim God told him to do so, and he was acting on faith. We have seen recent examples of that in Texas where mothers murdered their children and claimed God told them to do so.

Which is obviously not what God intended.

The irony is that if the overall message of the bible is true, atheists will be in heaven and the most strident bible thumper will be in the lowest depths of hell. (using previous defintions for same)

Atheists operate solely on faith in what God gave them (logic, critical analysis, objective conclusions, etc.); bible thumpers rely totally on other men and words in a book. Which proves they only have faith in other men.

But, as I said at the beginning, I am an atheist and consider the bible a book of mythology.

Peace.

Answer 2

You bring up a very good argument. The thing is, you have to be careful what you believe, but sometimes you just need to believe in what you cannot see. I mean come on, would you really jump off a bridge without a bungee cord for free cookies? You'd just die at the bottom and never even get those cookies. If you didn't believe that their was an odorless toxic gas in the air, even though some people were telling you that there was, yet you wouldn't believe them, you would be dead. Christianity is kind of like that, you have to believe in the unseeable, make sense? From what I've been taught, yes you have to believe in God in order to be let into Heaven, unless you are a young child, to young to understand. If you believe that there is a Heaven, then you are believing in something that you cannot see, so why not take a leap of faith and believe that God exists? If you don't believe in Creationism, then how do you think that the Earth came to be, by a "Big Bang?" Makes absolutely no sense to me, but then again, I'm not a professor of Physics.

Answer 3

If you don't believe in God and are not religious why do assume that there is such a place as heaven or hell? I would think that in order to believe that there is a heaven and only those with the inside track can get there. You would also have to believe that there was a God or Supreme Being in charge of everything and able to determine whether or not you got in. it is not just the "Christian" religions who believe in heaven and hell. Most religions have some form of afterlife.Except those that believe in reincarnation. I have read the Bible and it basically says that you could be the nicest person in the world, never doing wrong, always taking the right path. But that if you don't accept the "Lord" as you personal savior that you will not get into heaven. There is even a character in the bible who not only knew what was in the scriptures but would sing them. And Jesus told him he had to accept the "Lord" or he would not get into heaven. It is a scare tactic used by those who want us to believe that their way is the only way into heaven. Even the "christian" religions can't totally agree on what it takes to get in. Also in Revelations it says that 144,000 will go. That is going to leave a lot of people disappointed.

Answer 4

If you don't believe in divine power, it follows that there is no Heaven. Otherwise, it is up to God, who near as I can tell cares more about how people treat each other than what their specific beliefs are. In the Gospels, Jesus praises a Roman centurion for his pragmatic faith (the man was concerned for his slave's health) and regularly condemns the Pharisees for going through the motions of rituals and not helping others. The parable of the Good Samaritan is very enlightening in that regard.

Many religions require that you believe this or that to be "saved," but that isn't really the point. The Golden Rule is, and most religions also have some version of that. Again, Jesus told a story about people who were separated into two groups, one to go to Heaven and the other presumbly to Hell. Each asks why, and he answered that they had (or had not) fed him when he was hungry, gave him something to drink when he was thirsty, visited him when he was sick or in prison and so on. They said they had never seen him at any of those times, to which he replied, "Whatsoever you do to the least of these little ones, that you do unto me." (Or did not do, in the case of the condemned.)

In short, God doesn't care what you believe, he cares about what you do.

Answer 5

I dont believe in god.. After I read the bible it really set it in concrete for me that there is no such thing! The bible contradicts itself with every paragraph.. In one sentence its telling you how horrible homosexual people are and christians reading it will take his views and opinions.. and in the next its saying only god can judge!
Christianity I believe is the biggest scam of a religion.. Christians take bits and pieces out of the bible and follow what they want!
The bible literally "puts the fear of god" into you.. Now why would "our lord saviour" want people to fear him? Perhaps because he is a power hungry man? God "needs us to survive" pretty selfish if you ask me, espicially considering all the pain and suffering currently going on in the world! Also he flooded the "world" back in the day due to all the bad things happening, and the rainbow is the promise he will never do it again.. Come one people.. Did you not study science? You honestly think a rainbow is produced by god? Because Eve sinned first "women will have unbearable pain during child birth" ahhhh I think that Pain is from pushing a Head the size of a 3 soccer ball our of a 5 cent hole would hurt pretty bad! Nothing in the bible makes sense.. Nothing proves he exists it just makes the case stronger that he did not!

Answer 6

What you believe dear Professor is what you will always experience.Pardon me for being a bit long winded here.

You dont need to be religious to go to heaven because there is no place called heaven to begin with. However, there is a subtle realm of energy on the so-called 'other side' where you will reunite with the energy source (when you die) which holds this cosmos together. You may want to refer to this place as heaven because here you will realize your true identity as a part of the body of God.

Yes - you are dead right.The idea about God as a judgemental creator is totally wrong.Everyone of us are here to go through a set of experiences because experience is the doorway to knowing and knowing is the doorway to belief and belief is the doorway to perception and perception is the doorway to becoming and becoming is the doorway to the true experience of God.So the repeated passages through this earth your soul will make, dear sir, is designed to make you evolve until you attain final self realization.

As a physics professor, you are in the right position to understand the spiritual realm. You may probably want to wonder where the energy that makes sub atomic particles come from..they reportedly appear in and out of a void. I believe that is the actual state of our existance ..pure clumps of energy which coalesced to become the solid matter we perceive through the 5 senses that we 'think' is real.

In effect, we are under a delusion that this world is real purely due to the experience projected by our 5 senses.Particle physics has proved the dual state of existance of a particle as both wave and matter at the same time. I ve read about the thought experiment conducted by Einstein...correct me if am mistaken.In an elevated state of awareness, we come to perceive the real beauty of this cosmos and the creator where there is no heaven or hell or religion or race or cast or creed, but just pure BEING.

You could check various books on Science and Spirituality by Deepak Chopra, Larrey Dossey and many others.

Answer 7

I dont believe in any religion that is out today because I think that man just uses it to seperate and control other people. I mean do you really think that God approves of over 50 different versions of what actually happened to him and how things were created, its ridiculous, why do you have to give them donations or pay tides shouldnt God take care of all of their needs why when pastors preach on television they have a number running across the bottom of the screen the entire time on how and where to donate why are Catholic priest molesting little boys Shouldnt God be giving them strength, why do nuns sometimes get pregnant Isnt the Lord supposed to cure them of their desires. Why is Easter the most attended day of the entire year to go to church a fashion show, humans have turned religion into a game they pray to God to take away their sorrows to give them wealth to heal a sick family member to take care of a fallen relationship but what about just true faith in the existence of something we dont have a right to try and understand and to just believe that the expectations are for us to be the best humans that we can be with human expectations and downfalls and to not entertain this thing called religion and to not worry about the hear after and live life to the fullest possible while we are blessed to be here.

Answer 8

All religions classify where you end up in pretty much the same two categories:
1. A place where you are rewarded for being the person that you were supposed to be in this life. This includes contentment, and eternal life in many situations. (Some religions only give you a temporary reward before you return to earth again as a human.)
2. A punishment for not being the person you were supposed to be, which could be:
A. A firey hell.
B. A lower being, such as a rhodent or snake.
C. Ceasing to exist completely.

Every religion pretty much states that it is your personal choice which path you end up in. So whether you are regious or not, you will end up in one of the two paths, but heaven (the first path) is a personal choice.

Answer 9

This is the point of divergence between scientific thinking and religious thinking. One is built on evidence and material proof, the other: love and faith. If you are absolutely scientific in your approach towards life, you cant find love, and you will never understand the intricacies of religion.

However, religions are supposed to guide man to acheive greater spiritual heights, be better persons, etc.

Some people, like you perhaps, have the great insight and wisdom to better your own life and practice noble values.

After all, religion is not about praying and being pious. When you save a distraught kitten, you are kind.
when you gain control of anger, you are wise. when you gain control of lust, your mind is pure. These are the people who actually go to heaven, with or without religion.

Answer 10

I think that God does not care if you are Christin of Buddhist or Angalcin or whatever i think that God made this world hoping for change and evolution and he got what he wanted. If we were all one religion there would be no point in doing different things we would all be the same and beilve in the same things. We all have our own Gods and thats fine how can be sure that there isnt a God for every religion and that we cant all beilve in different things i think that if you live a good life and be honest and you will go to heaven and not hell. Just beilive in A God not one specific one just one.

Answer 11

If you are not religious...then no...you don't go to heaven or hell...you have to belive in that stuff to go there...

In my opinion...religion was invented at a time when people seriously needed an answer for their being...so, they made it up...pure and simple...

the weak minded people of the world have to believe that there really is "pearly gates" and the like...I think it is a shame and people should spend their time on better things like saving starving children or housing the poor and unfortunate instead of praying to something that isn't there.

Another reason I feel that religion is man's creation is to make people fear something to be good...and also a reward for being good (heaven).