Now please, I don't wish this to have a wholly religious undertone and I want to make that clear from the outset. Read on and you will understand what I mean for the purpose of this discussion.
I want to ask you, forum readers what you believe Heaven or Hell consist of. These two metaphysical realms of intrigue perplex and instigate debate throughout time and place, and I'd love (within reason and with absolute civility and complete tolerance to your fellow man/woman's religious or non-religious beliefs) to hear what your grasp or idea of what each plane consists of. Do you believe that the depths of Hades has cavernous infernos, lava pits and tortured souls for eternity? Do you believe Heaven to be high in the sky, surrounded by the stars and occupied by those who lived fulsome honest lives adhering to the most moral of values? Perhaps you believe that the existence we serve is actually either the former or the latter? Or maybe you don't believe either exist?
A good friend of mine, upon discussing it one evening came up with a beautifully simplistic grasp on what he believed was heaven or hell. His heaven, was his life as it was then but surrounded by his loved ones, without stress nor illness, nor disease nor famine. To have everything he'd ever wanted - not necessarily material possessions but everything else in between. His vision of hell interestingly, wasn't much different. The same setting, the same universe almost: but without anyone to share it with. When my nephew was five or so, I asked him a similar question. He'd been learning about the idea of heaven and hell at school (ours was a semi-religious upbringing) and his just made me laugh. His idea of heaven was a massive strawberry sponge cake. His idea of hell was the same cake, but not having a mouth. Kids!
I'm not sure where I stand on either side anymore. I'm not a very religious person with regards to any faith, although I certainly respect those that wish to practice a faith and would never claim any kind of enlightened moral high ground. I do believe that all religions as long as they practice peace have a role to play in the continuing social development of the world. But I just don't think I know what either concept looks like in my own mind yet.
Thoughts? And a message to the mods - please feel free to close the thread if it becomes a flaming war, as I wish this discussion to be conducted with the utmost maturity and respect for one another. The subject material is sensitive and I wouldn't want anyone to take offence nor feel offended.
I feel they are the realms which are necessary to enforce the rules of religion be it the carrot dangling in front of a horse (heaven) or the consequence of not obeying the rules. As a non-theist I of course do not believe any such place exists but are needed to add depth and structure to religions. They're like god, no direct evidence for their existence and need to be accepted on faith.
Heaven is like one big frat party. New guys in heaven are pledges and they have to steal angel women's panties right off of their fresh pale skin as an initiation rite (which the angel babes love because obviously they're angels). Heaven is sponsored by Dominos and Pabst Blue Ribbon, so they get an eternity's supply of pizza deliveries and PBR for free. There's sports fields and courts, a mount olympus sized swimming pool with cloud recliners, and everyone plays the circle game. Matthew keeps track of all stats, with Jeez being the all-time champ of everything. God gives Jeez an allowance for everything, so he's like the frat leader guy.
Hell is completely different. It's one big frat party. New guys are pledges, but their initiation rites are things like being buried in mud up to their shoulders and sprayed by demons with a garden hose and made to chant "I don't even deserve to be in hell" for hours on end. Their only facility is a dusty old rec-room with a ping-pong table with no ping pong balls, foosball tables with pieces that wont turn, and a 20 inch tv with no knob and broken antenna that only picks up soap operas and white fuzz. Hell can only get Little Ceasars, and it's carry-out only. They don't get beer, only boxed wine.
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~~Jet Pack Soldiers: Never forget those who failed~~
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I'm just here to pad my post count.
Heaven and Hell are both subjective terms brought about by personal morals. One persons Heaven is another persons hell. There is no good or evil. Simple as that. If one religion is correct, heaven and hell just seem like snobs vs plebeians.
its a nice thought that once you die you go to a celestial paradise in which you have everything you've ever dreamed of, or burn in a pit of fire and damnation for eternity.
to me its just a tool to get you to be a good person or to get you to believe in a religion "join us or you'll burn in hell" it's a fantastic idea and one thats worked well for many religions, but its so ingrained into most peoples lives, the thought of being rewarded or punished for living a good or sinful life is in nearly everyones mind, whether they believe or not dosn't matter, for allot of people it helps them cope with their own mortality or helps them grieve over lost loved ones, thats what i think anyway no proof whatsoever.
Do find it funny that in a lot of religions you can repent your sins on your deathbed and get into heaven, seems to defeat the whole object
Burn in my Light!
I like that idea, when you think about it as a fable type story, the moral is to forgive people, no matter what, holding grudges is silly. But just SAYING your sorry and that you love jesus or what ever doesn't work, the thing about getting forgiven is MEANING it. If you don't feel sorry or believe what you're saying, you go to hell lol
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