Fortunately, Hell isn’t such a bad place.
It’s actually a village in Norway, and although I’ve never been, it certainly doesn’t seem as harsh, torturous, or pyrotechnical as its reputation would suggest.
Of course, I’m talking about a Hell that actually exists.
The fictional kinds never seem like much fun. They’re not all quite as homogeneously horrible as the popular Christian imaginings, but unending torment seems to be a regular feature. Other religions had and have different ideas, and many Christians today reject the standard notion of lakes of fire and pitchfork enemas.
But the sadistic idea of never-ending suffering for people who’ve done wrong in life is still a popular and mainstream one, with a majority of Americans believing in some kind of punishment bad enough to earn the name “Hell”.
I don’t buy it for a second. It’s a primitive attempt to reassure oneself and one’s allies that your own tribe is morally righteous and specially preferred, and that injustices against you by “others” will be corrected in your favour, so long as you hold true to the values you were born into. Only humans could come up with something like this.
But it’s still a really scary idea.
Once in a while, I’ll start to really imagine it. I’ll just drift into that hypothetical worldview, picture myself in some dark pit, surrounded solely by creatures wishing me harm, powerless to escape or even to move, being bodily tortured and suffering immense pain, and knowing that this is truly unending – no lunchbreak, no knocking off at 5 to go home, no weekends, not a single other experience of anything that I’ve ever valued, not a moment’s respite from the pain, not even death and an end to it all, no end to this, ever.
Once in a while, I totally freak myself the fuck out.
Only for a few seconds, of course. I’ll let my head wander to this really sinister place, then just shudder and shake it off, reassured that there’s as close to zero chance of it happening as I could ever hope for of anything.
Sometimes, though, I shudder again a little later, as I think about people who can’t be so reassured.
There are people who really believe this shit. Some just loudly assert how agonising a fate everyone else deserves, because of some serious insecurities and a pathological need to claim some kind of superiority over people who won’t let them get their way, however imaginary that superiority might be.
But then there are those who live in terror of making a wrong step, and being consigned to an eternal fate that can make even a devout atheist’s heart beat a little faster. There are kids and adults who’ve had it driven into them that this unending pain is real, and is what their loving god is going to see to it that they get – because it’s what they deserve – if they do anything wrong, or even think sinful thoughts.
It’s not just a fleeting creepy thought for some people, but a permanent terror.
Richard Dawkins has described some kinds of extremist religious education as constituting a form of child abuse. When kids are being terrorised by fantasies like this, it’s hard to call him wrong.
As a deeply committed Christian – I have to agree with every word you say!
Someone once said that, if you can’t believe in the god you’ve been brought up with, then find one you can believe in. It takes a lot of thought, work and commitment, but it’s well worth the effort!
As a former fundamentalist Christian I have to agree too.
Hell is also a town in Michigan. The zip code is 48169, and you can find it on Google Maps.
Growing up as a gender variant/queer kid, I lived under the persistent “realization” that I would suffer in hell for all eternity after my earthly demise. Let me tell you, living under that fear during your youngest years really fucks you up.
It is definitely an abusive, sick belief to teach to a little kid. My experience as a child living under that fear was one of the primary reasons I grew to hate religion with a burning passion for a good many years.
There’s something that I just don’t understand about those Christians (and other religious people) who believe in hell: why do they even trust their god? Lets be blunt. We have an entity that creates the world and all of the living things on it. That entity, being all knowing, knew that some of the people it creates will do things that will displease it even before it creates the world. Nevertheless, it creates the world and its inhabitants anyway, finds that it is displeased with some of the inhabitants (surprise, surprise), and decides to torture those humans for all eternity. Oh, and it uses the excuse of, “I’m not the one doing this to you. Because of the flaws I created within you, you “freely” chose to engage in actions that displeased me. Hence, you are responsible for the suffering and pain in the hell that I also created. By the way, the host in your eternal torture chamber is this dude called Satan. I created him, too. Now, don’t be angry with me. You just didn’t love me enough when you were alive—a trait which I designed into you, I might add—so enjoy your time with my henchman in this eternal dungeon of torture.”
People can try to portray their god with all the loving, flowery imagery they want. There is no way to avoid the fact that their god is a sadistic, evil bastard. Knowing that their deity behaves in a sadistic, evil way, why trust it? So, it says that if you follow its rules, it will put you in heaven after you die? Really? How do you know it wont change its mind and toss you on a bed of sharp stakes repeatedly for all eternity just because it is amused by your torture? I mean, it did drown most of humanity in a world wide flood, right? God doesn’t seem to play nicely with its toys.
If this is the dude that runs the universe, we are all severely and thoroughly fucked.
As usual, I know that there are Christians and other religious folk out there who do not buy into the whole hell thing. There are far too few of them, but I do know they exist and I don’t really have a problem with those particular believers. As for the rest of you? You teach this sick shit to poor, defenseless little kids? You are teaching your kids to love an irrational, sadistic, evil entity. What the heck is wrong with you people? You aught to be ashamed of yourselves.
/rant
I am even more alarmed by the Christians who seem to get an almost orgasmic pleasure from the idea of other people going to hell. I’ve even heard people say that one of the things they are most looking forward to in heaven is watching sinners suffer. They are just as sick and twisted as their beastly god.
The sad thing is, they were taught by their religion that brutal retaliation and revenge are divine. The highest authority in all creation condones unending pain and suffering as just retribution for anything from incorrect theological beliefs to falling in love with the wrong person.
I know that many traditional Christians see their religion and their god as “loving”, but lying deep within traditional Christianity’s beliefs is a terrible cruelty and violence. This religion teaches people that a propensity for cruelty and violence coexists with a loving, caring disposition within an entity they are expected to love with all their heart.
Let’s restate that: traditional Christians are expected to love with all their hearts a figure that will hurt and torture them if they do not obey its wishes. They are taught to see this as acceptable behavior in a figure who is portrayed as having a loving, caring nature. They are taught to see this relationship as healthy and affirming and they are socialized into this kind of thinking from childhood onward.
Anyone who has survived an abusive relationship with an adult family member or a romantic partner should realize that this kind of theology models the psychology of an abusive relationship and essentially places a stamp of divine morality upon it.
Exactly. Cruelty is love. Violence is peace. Ignorance is wisdom. It’s no wonder their ideas about relationships and morality are inside out and backwards. They have been denied the ability to distinguish what those concepts actually mean, or to recognize when either they are being abused or abusive. It’s tragic.
Well said. I can’t believe these folks talk about their “loving god”. What a travesty. But then, religious folks know nothing about morality. It’s completely alien to them.
I hope you get your broadband issues settled soon. Now that’s my image for hell: no connection. Good luck!