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Do you believe in hell?
Yes 7 (43.8%)
No 4 (25%)
Agnostic or Atheist 3 (18.8%)
Other 2 (12.5%)
Total Votes: 16
Do you believe in hell?; Please read below.
Topic Started: Aug 19 2005, 06:05 AM (1,129 Views)
who
Have light saber. Will travel.
Do you believe a loving God would creat hell where people would burn in horrible torture forever?
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Fesarius
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Admiral
Yes.
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psyfi
psyfi
I believe in hell but not for eternity. I remember that when I was a kid in catechism classes I devoted a great deal of thought as to whether there was a hell. I used my dog. I looked at Duchess (a darling miniature Dachshund that was the smartest dog that ever lived on earth) and I thought: Is there anything this dog could do that would make me want to punish her eternally? I conjured up what I considered all sorts of horrible things my dog could do. However, at the end of it I concluded that no matter what, I loved that dog and while she would be punished, it would never be an eternal punishment. It seemed to me that if I was able to love my dog enough that NOTHING could make me want to see her in hell forever, God would have to feel the same way. I've grown older and hopefully wiser but I haven't yet changed my mind about that.

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gvok
Unregistered

I don't know.
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ImpulseEngine
Admiral
I chose "Agnostic or Atheist" although "No" would be correct also.

I consider myself an atheist (although I do maintain an open mind), but was not always so. I was raised as a Roman Catholic. I was once devoted enough to seriously consider becoming a priest. That was in my teen years. Then, as I grew older, I began to think more deeply about things that I used to merely accept. As I did, many aspects of Catholicism didn't make logical sense to me. The question that you asked in your post below the poll was one of many key questions that I was asking myself then.

Before I became an atheist, I considered many alternatives - both other perspectives within Christianity as well as non-Christian ones. One alternative perspective on the specific question in this poll is that a fire and brimstone hell may not really be what hell is and that this is just human misinterpretation. It is possible that hell is merely an existence in the afterlife having the absolute knowledge that God truly exists, but being without God and knowing what you're missing.

However, the more I got away from the actual teachings, the more I had to wonder if I was inventing explanations just to make things fit. Believe me, abandoning the faith that I had for the first 20 years of my life was no easy matter. It was much easier to try and make things fit, but eventually it seemed that I was really just kidding myself and it made more sense to let go. By the time I waded through my soul searching and all the other alternative perspectives and religions I considered, another 8 years went by.

One thought that I maintain is that if I am wrong and there truly is a God, if that God really is all-loving, then I don't see how faith in Him is a necessary component in order to go to Heaven. As long as I live my life by the best morals that I can, I do believe I will end up in Heaven anyway if it exists. If not, the only explanation that makes sense to me, assuming God does exist, is that He is not in fact as all-loving as many religions would have us believe. Why would an all-loving God cast someone into hell who has led a life of good morals when they merely didn't believe in Him? After all, His existence isn't obvious or there wouldn't be so many atheists and variant religions. How can it be that an all-loving God would punish someone for only that?
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who
Have light saber. Will travel.
I also initially believed in God as that is what I was taught but then became an atheist as I turned to science. I continued my quest for meaning and truth both in religion/spirituality and science. I then became an agnostic as I had no way to prove God did not exist. With further study in both science and religion/spirituality and multiple spiritual experiences I now believe in God once again.

I do not believe a loving God would creat hell. I think the only hell that exists is that which we make for ourselves.
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Fesarius
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Admiral
Here is an informative link I found on the subject of Hell.

http://www.bible.com/answers/ahell.html
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~Luthien~
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Little Sister Of Sistertrek
I believe in hell but i dont believe that they let people burn there for eternity i think they would set 'hell' up as something different than that.
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Fesarius
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Admiral
Quote:
 
... i think they would set 'hell' up as something different than that.

Luthien,

You mean, like a shopping Mall? ;)
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Dandandat
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Time to put something here
"Agnostic or Atheist" - but "no" would also work.
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Fesarius
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Admiral
I don't believe in Thor, so I suppose that that makes me an atheist as well. Perhaps a Thor-Atheist. :)
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Dandandat
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Time to put something here
ImpulseEngine
Aug 19 2005, 11:09 AM
One thought that I maintain is that if I am wrong and there truly is a God, if that God really is all-loving, then I don't see how faith in Him is a necessary component in order to go to Heaven. As long as I live my life by the best morals that I can, I do believe I will end up in Heaven anyway if it exists. If not, the only explanation that makes sense to me, assuming God does exist, is that He is not in fact as all-loving as many religions would have us believe. Why would an all-loving God cast someone into hell who has led a life of good morals when they merely didn't believe in Him? After all, His existence isn't obvious or there wouldn't be so many atheists and variant religions. How can it be that an all-loving God would punish someone for only that?

I agree with this point.
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Fesarius
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Admiral
I do not agree with it.
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Dandandat
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Time to put something here
Fesarius
Aug 19 2005, 12:47 PM
I do not agree with it.

why not?
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Fesarius
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Admiral
^^^
Because I believe that God can choose to cast one into Hell simply for not believing in him. He is a jealous God (as revealed in the scriptures). It is clear from the O.T. and N.T. that we are to believe in Him, and that there are consequences for not doing so. That being said, I understand that there are countless people who do not accept the scriptures as divine or authoritative, and who as a result reject my position. It is not my place to convince them they are wrong, however. I also believe that God's existence is very obvious.
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