Discussion Christians trying to scare you with hell

[Baskol1]

What do you think of christians who try to stop you from commiting suicide by saying that you will end up in hell? Why do they think atheists are scared of a nonexistent place like hell? Did ever anyone tried to scare you with hell? And did it work? Are you personally scared of hell? Or is life already a sort of hell? And how did you respond back when someone tried to scare you with hell? Did maybe even some psychologist warn you of hell?

 

[Shamana]

The prospect of hell as a possibilty scares me as a buddhist an ive had visionary encounters with hell beings in my downward suicidal spiral. I dont believe i will necessarily go there, but i see it as a possible destination related to a very negative state of mind and the act of killing. But in general i dont find threatning suicidal people with hell as the right response to suicidal behaviour.

 

[JWL]

Do bible-bashing Christians scare me with Hell?

Hell no!

 

[arelia]

Hell is other people

 

[Dawn0071111]

Its a fear that has been instilled into many. I choose to focus on my pain, suffering, & mental illness... That is there is a benevolent forgiving God, that there will only be peace & comfort for those who are overtaken by the suffering of this life. My heart goes out to those of us who were raised as Christians and find ourselves in places like sanctionedsuicide there definitely can be a conflict but I have found that the suffering will ultimately override even this deeply ingrained fear that has no basis. Some religions even teach that suicide is a guaranteed ticket to Hell which is absolutely ridiculous and ludicrous. I don't think it's necessary to abandon your faith to commit suicide although those of us may find that through our Despair and suffering that our faith can crumble and shatter as it did in my case. But whether you're a person of Faith or not I think that it's better to believe that the universe is ultimately benevolent. And at the very least is not going to punish people by kicking them when they're down. For me personally I just said f*** it. Whatever happens after happens but I got to get the fuck out of here.

 

[Ermac]

Hell is used to control people with fear. Most Christians, especially the extreme ones fear it more than anything. Used to be Christian and that fear worked up until I found something to be more afraid of.
Which was life .....


I find it easiest to just shrug it off when people try to use it to scare me. If for some cruel reason there is a hell then at least I won't have to see their annoying face.

 

[Alchemist]

An adult with imaginary friends trying to scare a rational person with hell has the same effect as threatening them with Darth Vader or Papa Smurf.

 

[shelledone]

I don't laugh much but I would probably laugh at trying to be scared. I don't believe in heaven or hell. or reincarnation. I'll go back to the nonexistent state that suited me for so long ;)

I would feel annoyed if I'm "prayed for" or someone says they are scared for me (my soul) Like, they're trying to be nice... their efforts could be better used for giving actual, practical help if able (I know it's not easy, but just a shoulder to cry on would mean the world, and hey, let's get a coffee afterwards, is this so hard? yes.)

 

[Empty Smile]

Churches are a cult. They brainwash people into believing there is a skygod, heaven and hell.

Most christians are only trying to be a good samaritan by thinking they will go to this place called heaven for saving your life. It's a part of being brainwashed by the church.

Fuck christians.

 

[Darkhaven]

If the Cristian God truly is indeed merciful and inclined to protect the weak then he can never punish desperate people who have been smeared by this life's problems and kill themselves to escape their nightmare's.

 

[Icarus]

The prospect of hell as a possibilty scares me as a buddhist an ive had visionary encounters with hell beings in my downward suicidal spiral. I dont believe i will necessarily go there, but i see it as a possible destination related to a very negative state of mind and the act of killing. But in general i dont find threatning suicidal people with hell as the right response to suicidal behaviour.

Same here. I saw three vile spirits coming to me in dreams and then devil pulled up on the bike and I gave him a hug.

 

[JimFord99]

I bet all religions do a bit of putting fear into their followers. Part of the mind control without it religion won't work. There is no hell.

 

[JWL]

Hell is other people

And rap music.

 

[Baskol1]

And rap music.

Disagree

 

[JWL]

Churches are a cult. They brainwash people into believing there is a skygod, heaven and hell.

Most christians are only trying to be a good samaritan by thinking they will go to this place called heaven for saving your life. It's a part of being brainwashed by the church.

Fuck christians.

In-your-face Christians have usually been the most awful people I've had the misfortune to meet.

Disagree

How can ya 'like' me but disagree???

 

[Codieb1]

Hell is primarily a tactic designed to induce fear, to gain control over the gullible. There's absolutely nothing else to it. Hell is a manmade concept, it isn't real. One singular man has his own opinions, where he comes up with a way to induce fear to attempt to force people to follow this same line of thought, in a way where people aren't allowed their own thoughts, because freedom of speech is "rebellion" which will send you to hell. Gays being bad, cutting penises is good, etc. It's honestly quite disgusting. This is religion.

 

[JimFord99]

Fear is the magnet to the fool inside ...Agreed, there is no hell, as much as there is no heaven.

 

[Shamana]

Hell is primarily a tactic designed to induce fear, to gain control over the gullible. There's absolutely nothing else to it. Hell is a manmade concept, it isn't real. One singular man has his own opinions, where he comes up with a way to induce fear to attempt to force people to follow this same line of thought, in a way where people aren't allowed their own thoughts, because freedom of speech is "rebellion" which will send you to hell. Gays being bad, cutting penises is good, etc. It's honestly quite disgusting. This is religion.

I belivee that Hell in buddhist terms is one of many realms of samsara taught through the omniscience of the buddha. I can't fault atheists for believing that it is all bullshit though.

 

[Codieb1]

I belivee that Hell in buddhist terms is one of many realms of samsara taught through the omniscience of the buddha. I can't fault atheists for believing that it is all bullshit though.

That's under the assumption that Buddhism, also a manmade religious concept, is the only real religion. See, all religions contradict other religions in many ways. Insisting that "just one" is correct is just fooling yourself the way the religion wants you to, instead of thinking for yourself in the reality we live in. There's no "realms". We have this reality, and death is the absence of reality. There's nothing more to it. It's unfortunate but we truly are limited by physics in the world we live in, in the reality we perceive in our one and only brain

 

[Shamana]

That's under the assumption that Buddhism, also a manmade religious concept, is the only real religion. See, all religions contradict other religions in many ways. Insisting that "just one" is correct is just fooling yourself the way the religion wants you to, instead of thinking for yourself in the reality we live in. There's no "realms". We have this reality, and death is the absence of reality. There's nothing more to it. It's unfortunate but we truly are limited by physics in the world we live in, in the reality we perceive in our one and only brain

.

I disagree with you. I believe in buddhism because of made study into it, my practice, my experiences and having close relationships with genuinely enlightended teachers.

But yes, I have the assumption that buddhism is the truest of all the world's religions.

 

[Lookingforabus]

There's no Biblical basis to the Christian dogma that suicide is a ticket to hell or even a sin, in fact 3 suicides in the Bible are judged to be at least somewhat moral. (None are condemned as immoral.)

So my response, even when I was a Christian was two fold - read your Bible, which you claim is the foundation of your Faith, and also, the idea of condemning people to eternal suffering because they've had too much suffering in their life is the act of a sadistic psychopath, not a compassion and loving being. Had some Christians say very unchristian things to me as a result of following that up with the obvious logic conclusion and asking if they really believed God was a sadistic psychopath, given their beliefs on suicide.

Not that it makes a damn bit of difference to me either way. Even if I believed in such a thing, hell's a lateral move for me.

 

[Codieb1]

.

I disagree with you. I believe in buddhism because of made study into it, my practice, my experiences and having close relationships with genuinely enlightended teachers.

But yes, I have the assumption that buddhism is the truest of all the world's religions.

Of course you do. Every religion is pushed to their followers to be true in various forms of their own brainwashing. After all, who is really in control if there's no hivemind and everyone thinks for themselves? Personal experiences are what you've lead yourself to believe through eyes of the religion to gain your trust. Certain people are capable of believing literally anything, no matter how delusional.

 

[Darkhaven]

Death itself is a payment for the sins we commit. There is nothing more besides that. When Adam and Eve commited the first sin God said to Adam:
"From dust you came and to dust you shall return".
By returning to the dust it's generally accepted that God meant that Adam (and Eve) would simply dissapear and stop existing. To a being that brought life to the universe, taking that life away from those he created is the worst punishment that can exist.
There is no biblical proof that "bad people" are forever kept in an invisible place so their souls can be submitted to torture.
People die and lose consciousness.
The bible talks about a ressurection in the future after Jesus's return but that's actually a good thing not a bad one.

 

[Shamana]

Of course you do. Every religion is pushed to their followers to be true in various forms of their own brainwashing. After all, who is really in control if there's no hivemind and everyone thinks for themselves? Personal experiences are what you've lead yourself to believe through eyes of the religion to gain your trust. Certain people are capable of believing literally anything, no matter how delusional.

Not all religous people fit neatly into modern day religious stereotypes.

 

[justanotherday]

Hell is here on this earth!

 

[Wayfaerer]

A place of eternal agony and torment for the heinous crime of not believing in their religion among other petty non-offenses? The idea of it seems like it was invented to control people's behavior or something...

 

[ish]

What do you think of christians who try to stop you from commiting suicide by saying that you will end up in hell? Why do they think atheists are scared of a nonexistent place like hell? Did ever anyone tried to scare you with hell? And did it work? Are you personally scared of hell? Or is life already a sort of hell? And how did you respond back when someone tried to scare you with hell? Did maybe even some psychologist warn you of hell?

Christians humanized God and tried him
assign human qualities, which I believe is a mistake.
The human likeness of god lies in "consciousness"
(thinking), not "image and likeness" - corporeality and
thinking. Hence the idea of hell to interact
on living bodily. Paradise and hell are among the living
people. Heaven is nothingness (non-existence), everyone goes there their own way
death.

 

[gulrotpinne]

Yeah it's just a scare tactic. dont fall for it

 

[iiii5555]

Some people try to anthromorphize the christians as a scheming group that have total conscience of their actions as detriments, but this way of thinking is actually quite counter-productive because it insufficiently addresses the problem of historical perspectives. If you were to look at many of the groups which have been reproducing negative ideologies throughout history, you would find that many people have never been explicitly antagonistic: it's that they were incapable of seeing that their actions were wrong in any way.
For example, many Christians during the Middle Ages did not somehow know in the backs of their minds that persecuting "blasphemers" was wrong, yet did not care enough to do anything about the issue: they genuinely believed that blasphemy warranted floggings, imprisonments, and murders. Simultaneously, every generation of people believes that they are lucky enough to be living in a society which is the most enlightened of all history. They believe that they have the best perception of the world out of anyone, and that they are not fundamentally fallible.
That's why the concept of Hell isn't just "fear tactics" anymore; it's a actual perspective, delusionally made into reality in the mind of many. And, due the fact that every major organized religion conflates morality with their mythology, christians see the act of reprehending people thorugh fear as a virtuous pursuit. Morality is like that in general: It is always an instance of people with power contriving arbitrary ideals to justify actions, or adjusting their actions according to their arbitrary ideals. In conventional Christianity, killing yourself would intuitively be desirable because you would be able to go to heaven. In Buddhism, taking five seconds to kill yourself would free you from a lifetime of suffering. And yet in both, suicide is arbitrarily forbidden for contrived reasons.

 

[dcfm]

Hell doesn't seem so scary to me compared to living in misery. Also, I don't have seen any evidence of hell, but pain seems damn real to me.