If Hell doesn't exist.....?

Question

I posed the question: Why does the Christian faith offend so many?

Several answers said that they are offended by the idea that "if you don't believe you will end up in hell" and for this reason they are offended by Christianity.

However, athiests believe that when we die we cease to exist. I am not offended by this. I don't feel an ounce of anger, or any other emotion when I think of this.

If someone doesn't believe in hell, why would they be upset if someone else does?

Laptop Jesus- you almost are making my point. If you said "my boss is putting you in a concentration camp" I would KNOW that this is not true. I would not get offended, I would laugh.
If someone is sure that Hell is not real then why get your panties in a wad?

Part three;
I agree that it is VERY offenseive if you feel that someone wants you to be in hell. I woul dnever say to that anyone nor would I want that.

Part three;
I agree that it is VERY offenseive if you feel that someone wants you to be in hell. I woul dnever say to that anyone nor would I want that.

Answer 1

When the conscience is prodded, it often produces anger. Each person has the right to his own faith, and like you, I am not offended by the beliefs of others. An equally thought-provoking question might be "what if hell DOES exist?".

Don't know about you, but I am not willing to take that chance!!!!!

Answer 2

Because Christians CONDEMN others to hell, which is a judgement on that person based strictly on whether or not they believe in the Christian God, not whether they're actually a decent human being. As a Wiccan, I get damned to hell quite a bit, and it's extremely offensive. The implication is that just because I believe in a Divine different than the Christian God, I am unworthy of having a pleasant afterlife, and the way you live your life and the morals and ethics that you live by are completely meaningless. Where you spend the afterlife then becomes highly arbitrary, and that's extremely offensive.

)O(

Answer 3

It's not the Christian faith that offends people. Just like it's not the Muslim faith or the Jewish faith that offends people.

It's the fundamentalists that offend people - the ones who say "If you don't believe this, and think the way I do, you're wrong and will go to hell."

There's a difference between the two. As far as I am concerned, you can believe whatever you want. I can believe whatever I want. It's like that old cliche that you've got a right to swing your fist, but that right ends where my nose begins. Your beliefs won't offend me, until you try to cram them down my throat. Then it offends me.

Answer 4

I'm not a religious person like that, i do believe in god and the devil, heaven and hell. Without one the other could not exist and as we see with everything going on, good and evil is everywhere. Everyone has a right to believe in what they want, but at the same time have an open-mind to someone else's belief. People use the bible as a crutch and that's not healthy. You cant tell me what god said or the bible. I know how to read and interpret on my own. We are living heaven and hell on earth.

Answer 5

Jennifer,
Your question and remarks basicly I agree, super.
However, let me interject a thought that is true, if you don't mind me saying I believe in a creator.
The bible may I quote?...The word HELL as some think is fiery torture but the Bible dose not say that.
HELL in Greek, is HADES, the Hebrew word Sheol is eqivilent in the definition and meaning...it means the common grave of mankind all of us go there when we die...in the grave as you said we do not exist. All of us are in the memory of our creator when given a second chance because of the sin we inherited from Adam.
Look into a good cross ref. Bible check out those words in Greek and Hebrew.
The scare tactic was started by the catholic church many years ago to keep their uneducated populus in their church...basic line was MONEY. Read it all in the library look for books on that subject.
Peace....

Answer 6

Speaking for myself, I am not offended by the idea of or the belief in Hell. I don't believe it exists so there's nothing offensive to me about it. (Apart from the idea that God would create such a place)

What IS offensive is the glee with which many Christians proclaim that I am going to said nonexistent place. It's the attitude, not the place - the insistence that anyone who does not believe as they do will suffer eternal punishment. It's the holier than thou "I'm going to Heaven and you, infidel, will burn in Hell" thing that offends me, not the belief in hell itself.

Answer 7

The concept of a burning, torturing hell for bad people to suffer in eternity, is a man made idea in order to scare people into a particular faith. If you read the Bible carefully, you will see that hell is just a term for the common grave of mankind. People die and during death, there are no memories, no feelings, no concept of time. You're basically non-existent, until the resurrection that's promised in the Bible.
Atheism is another concept that some believe. You claim you have no regrets of ceasing to exist when you die. Most likely you're in good shape and are young. I'm sure your viewpoint will change when you know you're old, or you're dying from cancer or something of that nature. To me, people who claim to be Atheist, and claim to not be afraid of death, are so full of baloney, with all your bluster. As the saying goes, "there are no Atheists in foxholes!"

Answer 8

The difference between ceasing to exist or going to hell is that the latter can be (and often is) used as a threat and a fear tactic to coerce and force belief.

Atheists can't threaten you with their views, we can't go "Believe Atheism or you'll become nothing!" because obviously it's not a belief and you'd become nothing either way. Christians however love to use Hell as leverage or persuasion tool, both to convert people and to force behaviors in their members.

What's a better way to mobilize people to think or do something than eternal suffering in a fiery chasm of demons? It makes you more willing to fight and die to get to heaven, to convert as many people as you can and be as obnoxious as possible.

We don't like when people tell us our ways of life, our points of view and even our opinions can damn us eternally to torture and that the only way to not suffer is to blindly believe some ridiculous old book that has been translated so many times the original writers wouldn't recognize it.

Answer 9

Because of the contradiction involved. It's difficult, perhaps impossible, to square a loving God with Hell. A lot of theologians have tried it but many remain unconvinced.

If you were the parent of a bad child would you ever want your child to go to Hell? No. So how can an infinitely loving God create a Hell for creatures he loves? Would you love and obey anyone who wanted to torture you're loved ones for an hour much less for eternity? So why would you expect non-Christians too warm to the idea?

Answer 10

The christian faith does not offend so many people, it is that we are forced to accept it continually - the Bush admin - and then we are told that we will go to hell if we don't repent or something. All we are doing is asking for proof. When we do all we get is some quote that has been proven false.

Answer 11

Suppose someone insisted that there is a city under the ocean. You don't believe that, and your rational mind tells you that if you go under the water, you will drown. But you are not offended that others believe it. Now, suppose those that do believe it are convincing others, including your sister, mom, dad, boyfriend, to follow them to that city under the ocean. And suppose that, over time, the belief in that city under the sea becomes a predominant belief in society, so much so that laws, values, ethics, rules, education, philosophy, and morality are structured around how to get to that city, who goes, who doesn't, why, etc..., even though no one has ever seen that city and come back to tell about it. Even though there is no actual proof that the city exists. Even if you don't believe in that city, will it affect you?