Do you only believe in God because of the fear of going to hell?

Question

When i was talking to a few religious people today i came to the sudden realization that the only real reason they believed in God and did the right thing and behaved in society was for the sake of getting in through the gateway of heaven, or better said, the fear of going to hell!

Now i contemplated this realization and wondered, do most of you religious people only do the right thing in society simply because it is just a charade, not because you care about your fellow man, but because there is this eye in the sky keeping a scoreboard? Do you also keep a personal scoreboard each time you write that $1 check for those starving people on tv so that when god reveals your score you can say not so fast bub, remember that time i wrote that $1 check cuz that is worth an extra few points?

It just seems to me that the only reason one desires to be religious is out of selfish necessity, not because of a genuine concern for the fellow man.

One does not need religion to follow the moral code of life and i personally believe that an atheist is the only true soul who could claim that following the moral right is not out of selfish reasons but a sympathetic understanding of the situation.

The religious appetite to use a carrot on a stick is inhumane.

Answer 1

Please read my words carefully:
If you see footmark in the sand, you'll say that someone passed from here...
If you see a piece of dog sh*t on the ground, you'll say that a dog passed from here...
So what about the enormous universe, the sky, stars, planets, earth and all the beauty in it, doesn't it lead to that someone made it?!!!

Some people say that everything is created by itself after the big-bang... I won't ask you about what caused the big-bang, but I'll ask you a simple question:
If you take all the letters of the alphabet, multiples of them, and you threw them randomly on the floor. Do you expect (by a chance of one in infinity) to get a poem like shakespear's??!!

Can't you see how organized our universe is, the planets, the eco-system on earth, look even in your own body... Can you control your heart-beat? Can you control your breath while you're sleeping? Who stopped your eye-lashes from growing after reaching a certain length? Who told the baby turtles to move towards the sea and not to the earth after they come out of their eggs? Who taught the bird how to make nests?

My friend, think with your heart and brain. If you're still lost, think about the following:

Do you know how to play safe?
Your point:
If there's no God and you do all what you want in life, then nothing will happen to you after life. But if there was God and you were mistaken, then you'll blame yourself FOREVER...

Believer's point:
If there's God and I followed His commands in life, then I'll be in Heaven after life FOREVER. But if there was no God and we're mistaken, then nothing bad will happen to us after life...

Now you know how to play-safe, in case you're not convinced?

Answer 2

I definitely don't approve of pushing religion upon others, but I do think that I'd personally feel really stupid if I went through life forsaking God, then when I died, discovered that there is a God, but he won't let me in Heaven because I did forsake him. Follow your heart.

As far as the $1 checks, I definitely don't believe that those go for the intended use. It would be better to simply pick one day a month, and go help at a soup kitchen or something like that so you'll know that nothing was missappropriated.

Answer 3

No...I don't know what religious people you were talking to, but I'm a Christian and I do the right thing because I love God. Christ's blood covered my sin when I asked to be forgiven and I'm not worried about a "scoreboard". God has revealed Himself to me in so many ways and I couldn't deny some of the experiences that I've had with Him. I'm not into mysticism; He's just really shown Himself to me in real ways and I know Him and love Him. I believe in Him, because He's more real to me than anything else in the world. I find ways to serve other people, because I know the beauty of His love and sacrifice and it is euphoric for me to serve others as He did for us. He loves me even though I did nothing to deserve it and that makes me love everyone around me. It's really a spiritual thing, though, and I'm not sure how to describe it to you, because if you haven't experienced it I don't think that you could understand what I mean.

Answer 4

No. Sorry. I certainly do not want to go to hell but I also don't want others to go to hell. That's why we are here in the forum night after night being laughed at and made fun of and talked down by the Atheists whom I haven't yet figured out WHY they lurk here unless it's to search for truth. We care about people. We share the gospel because we know it's true and we want other people to find that truth. I have lived both lives. The life I had without God was shallow, senseless, hopeless, fearful, lonely, and I was absolutely of no use to anyone around me. The greatest fulfillment I've had in life was in finding God and committing to His laws and His rules. As an analogy I like to use the example of a person who chooses to learn a martial art here on earth. Why do they do it? They want to become a better, stronger person in body, mind & spirit. To do that they must go to class (similar to us going to church), they must learn the rules, they must follow the rules, they must respect & obey the "master." Only THEN will they see the improvements they hope for and only then will they accomplish their goals. It's no different for a Christian following God & His laws only it's on a spiritual level rather than just a physical one.

I am here in this forum to offer hope. The Atheist has nothing to offer me except hopelessness. Why in the world would I trade hope for hopelessness? It has nothing to do with hell. It has to do with being the person I was created to be and living a REAL and happy life. Even if when I die I find out you were right then I've lost nothing. I'm very happy & content. I am a better, stronger, wiser, more caring, more compassionate and more loving person by submitting my will to the will of my "master."

Answer 5

Wow! I do understand what you are saying....but,

I believe in God for many reasons and here are a couple:
I have experienced God in my life
I have seen God's work in others lives

Now, with that said, I could give you many examples of God's work in my life however, to keep this short, I will give you one.

When I was a young girl, my younger sister (the pain in the butt) younger sister was always bugging me. She was truly a pain and I was constantly telling her to leave me alone to no avail. Finally one day, I snapped and banged her head into the ground with all of my strength. Would you believe that she did not even have a scratch? It is true and this was the turning point in my belief. I tried to kill her yet God intervened and protected us both.

Now as an adult, I believe in God not because of fear of hell but because of my experiences. I have witnessed changes (miracles) throughout my years and know that we could not have done those without more power than we even have collectively.

Let me ask you this: Would you rather live your life doing whatever you want, not believing in God only to die and find that God does exist?

OR

Live your life trying to do good things, feeling good about those things, and die only to discover that there is no God?

The choice is yours. I have made mine.

God bless you.

Answer 6

I agree which I why I don't go by hyporcritical, dogmatic, power-hungry, authoritative religion.

I will be judged, but it won't be by a Man, not ANY church measuring my sins by how much I put in the collection plate.

If I am right - cool

If I am wrong, well, that sucks, but I'd rather go down for getting the finner points wrong than because of buying into someone else's hubris for 40 silver pieces.

In the meantime - I'd like to just try to live my life as best I can, believing in a higher power yet avoiding what I consider to be the poison of religion.

Guess I'm going down - just like everyone else for making judgment. :)

Although I do believe in an undefinable higher power, I see your point and can't help but agree with it.

Answer 7

I get it. It's clear that you don't believe in God. Do you believe in cancer? If you didn't would it insulate you from the potential of having to face it?

I'm playing the devil's advocate here. If you read each of my other answers you would not be likely to discern my faith (if any at all). I'm only trying to demonstrate the simplicity in poking a hole in an argument based on the interpretation of motivations among others that we don't completely understand.

Answer 8

to awnser your question I believe in him not only beacuse now I wont go to Hell, but beacuse He died for me, he made me, he loves me more then anything else. I want to follow the creater of the universe, the Lord of all. of course I want to have a relationship with the one that love me more then anything. Id be a fool not to. in my own life anyway.
I dont do anything for a "scoreboard"
how dare you call me fake.
I take offence to that beacuse I am the type that has my heart on the outside, im real with people beacuse Christ was real to us.
I dont like to see people hurt. thats why I help. why I care. Your preseption of God is so messed up. I pray he reveils himself to you for who he really is.

Answer 9

I have questioned what I should believe lately because I didn't grow up going to church nor was I taught it at home. But i definitely believe that there is NOT a hell. I'm sure there's a God but as far as Jesus, I'm not so sure about all of the stories.

Answer 10

Man that was awesome! I am always looking for a reason to believe, to have faith in a higher power, maybe that is the reason for my motivation, I have never really looked at it that way before.

Notice how many ppl did not captilize Him in their answers, I was always tuaght that this was proper