Do mentally challenged people go to hell?

Question

If Mentally challenged people (such as helen keller) cannot grasp the fact that there is a supreme being out there does that mean they when they are born they go to hell? If so why would god create them and never give them a chance?

alright I made a mistake with the helen keller part. Notyou311, you are not a very nice person and I'll have you know I have an OPENED mind, which is why I ask questions like this because I want to understand. iknowok, I NEVER said mentally challenged people were "bad", as my own sister is Mentally handicapped and I love her to death and would do anything for her. And to Swarr2001, thank you for trying to be nice, but I was only asking the question because I was curious and all my life everyone has told me that no question is a stupid question. You all should be a little more nice, and if you don't like the question, its simple. Don't answer it!

Answer 1

Heavens no. God loves the soul and communicates with them just fine. Sometimes the "mentally challenged" find us to be the deficient ones. Sometimes we are. Sometimes the so-called "different" actually excell at some thing very wise. Why do we call them idiot savants, for example? Perhaps that is the special gift they brought with them and focused on to the exclusion of all other traits. Good for them and good for us who have had an opportunity to learn from them. I think they'll fit into heaven just fine. Hell is for real freaks like Hitler, Stalin, Edi Amin, Napolean, Bloody Mary, Henry the 8th, etc, etc, etc, for they never changed in one single incarnation. They were evil when they arrived here on earth, and they are still evil to this day. Hell is what they brought with them, so of course hell must be returned to them. That's the Karmic Law of God. This is what Mother Mary, Jesus and Joseph still teach to those of us who hear God just fine.

Answer 2

Um...

I recall that Helen Keller was extremely intelligent, and actually wrote a book about her life. While she was physically handicapped, I do not believe she was "mentally challenged."

In my opinion, if Helen Keller didn't believe in God, then she was fully capable to make that choice. It does not make her "unable to grasp the fact that there is a supreme being," even though there IS no "fact" that there is such a thing.

As for the actual question in this, I strongly doubt it, since I am an atheist and therefore do not believe in any god.

Even so, I don't think we should be worrying about such a thing. If they aren't bothered with it, fine. They just will live a life without having to fear for themselves because they might anger God. Honestly, that seems like a pretty good life to me. And, you'd think that believers in God wouldn't worry about this, since it is often preached that God is forgiving. You'd think that if there was a mental handicap preventing someone from doing something, you wouldn't blame the person. It just doesn't make sense. (Then again, the Bible also says that people should kill a child that talks back to his/her parents... So, maybe it isn't so forgiving after all.)

Answer 3

First, if I may be so bold: Helen Keller was not mentally challenged nor was she even developmentally delayed. She was deaf, dumb and mute. It took Ann Sullivan, her teacher to find a mode of communication to allow to her to interact with the world around her. She went on to found schools, lecture and write books. Hell of a lot more than I have done in my life.

But to answer the question:

To be sent to hell means that you would have had the chance to know right from wrong and made wrong choices in your life. If somebody does not have the ability how could they be judged? You can't expect a 3 year old to know it is wrong to lie, you have to teach them so they grasp the concept of right and wrong..only when they have done this can you then hold them acountable. If someone has an addiction can you hold them to their behaviors? I don;t think so because they are ill. But if you worked for Enron...knowingly stole oodles of money...you are guilty.

I like to think that whatever forces control the universe would give people who have struggled on this Earth a sweet hereafter.

Answer 4

I personally believe that we are all loved by God, smart or dumb,great nor small,fat or thin, handsome or ugly. We are all equal to his eyes, and we did not earn that right to judge others because we ourselves have short comings and ALL have come short to the Glory of God.(read what i typed first few sentences). Helen Keller isn't mentally challenged but just probably misinformed, confused OR she just plainly chose to believe that there is no higher Power Or a Supreme Being. But that's between her and her maker...i don't have much of anything to say to that. Mentally Retarded (NOT Mentally challenged) people are a lot closer to God simply because they are innocent and most of the time, not really aware of what is right nor wrong...Much like babies who don't know anything. To say that a person is going to hell is like judging them in a way, which isn't good. Always remember: "Judge Not for you WILL be judged according to the very same measuring stick you use"....Peace & Love :D

Answer 5

God created every human being with an inner knowledge that there is a God. (atheists know, they just choose to not believe which is stupid. They just don't want to be accountable to anyone. They still will when Christ comes back. they will be judged and sent to Hell if they never accept Jesus Christ as their savior.) Mentally challenged people do know. They may not be able to express that they know but they do know. As to how they will accept Christ as their savior, I personally do not know. But God does not create a human being and give them no hope. If the gospel is explained to a mentally challenged person, I believe God makes it possible they can understand that in their own mind but cannot outwardly show it. But all it takes is repentence, faith and asking. Every human can do those three things. Not all outwardly but God looketh upon the heart. He knows.

Answer 6

Hell is a personal thing. In my view, Hell is a punishment. Mentally challenged people who do not understand the difference between right and wrong cannot be punished for lack on knowledge and understanding.

It seems they have already lived their hell on earth, and should be rewarded for having to deal with not only their handicap, but how, people not understanding the "mental handicap" have treated them, or in some cases ignored them.

Answer 7

In my reality, no... mentally challenged people do not go to hell.

I think people's souls get reincarnated. You get multiple chances at life, but with no memory of a previous life.

If you created something, wouldn't you want a vigorous test done to guaranty it? What about babies? Do they go to hell? Ok, If they go to heaven, how are they different than Angels? Angels didn't get a choice and later on angels revolted in a major war. Do you think the creator is stupid enough to make the same mistake? I think Earth is a testing ground. We get a number of different lives, each one testing us in new ways.

Ever wonder why good people always die young? They passed a test and need to be put in a new situation. Cranky people live forever, they never get it right.

Answer 8

Hell is a human fabrication based on Greek mythology and Dante's Inferno. The common concept of Hell is not taught in the bible.

Mentally challenged people will be raised back to life in the second resurrection along with all the rest of the dead who were not called to the first resurrection, they will have the understanding of the truth made available to them a that time.

Answer 9

The mentally challenged are in the same category as the young children before the accountability age. God has everybody on earth for a reason; he wouldn't just create people and then send them to hell.

Answer 10

First Helen Keller was not mentally challenged, she was extremely intelligent, just blind and deaf.

And second, she expressed her faith during her many public speeches: Helen Keller, 1908. "Faith is a mockery if it does not teach us that we can build a more complete and beautiful world." (Helen Keller
www.afb.org/braillebug/htm_asp/hkfacts.htm )

Third, if a person is capable of understanding right from wrong and understands the consequences, that person has reached the age of accountability, regardless of chronological age or mental intellect.

(age of accountability : http://nafwb.net/tp42/page.asp)