Got Hell?... What About the Fear of it?...

Hello Readers, sorry it has been so long since the last post but I have been busy... Went back to school, who would have thought after a Masters, but it is for my career and even enjoyable... at times, but does definitely eat of time in general... Cannot always do what you want,   right?... maybe that will make my writing better? Bigger gaps but content?... We will see...

(Wikipedia) Hell: is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless.


Hell (by whatever name) is feared by billions of followers of all Abrahamic Religions (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism), and rightfully so as it is horrifically described within their sacred texts and canons. Especially Christian Medieval artwork, wow there was some frightful stuff....

One thing I find interesting is that the earliest of the sacred texts of these religions do not make strong mention of it until later after more writings and as time pasted. Then was really driven to the forefront by the rise of Christianity. So do you believe in Hell? I know I did for 22 years.... but no longer... even with the inability to total shake Western religious baggage... yet...

I would suppose a better question would be... Does the fear of Hell keep you at your local place of worship and/or practice? If you are a Christian and you say no, you are a liar and committing a sin... Shame on you!... haha... sorry could not resist... Back to my point, this is a fraction of what keeps you where you go and what you practice. Now, I must say I cannot speak too much to the Islamic Sector of the Abrahamic Religions just because I have never been to a congregation (but do have a Koran and read it from time to time). Now with Judaism it is a smaller fraction than that of Christianity but is still present, and I am sure their are some that could answer the question with a No and not be a liar, but I think you would be surprised by how few there would be... I know right? How can that be since Christians cannot say no and it be not be truthful but a Jew can? I think it is the follower's of Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew, Hebrew root meaning... Salvation... some trivia for you) use of this idea so heavy because they saw what the power of this idea had, and you still see it to this day.

An even better question for you... Why does it matter if Hell does exist? If you do all you can to uphold a high degree of morals and values (common between all of the Abrahamic Religions) you should not find yourself ending there upon your demise... correct? If you disagree that is fine with me, that is your right and I respect it, but I think that would not be justified by a just God as described by it's canon and every version of the Bible or Tanakh...

My point is, and the thought that came to me to inspire this writing, was how extreme the idea of Hell is, the power of the fear that this idea causes, and how I truly view the idea of Hell (See Author's Perspective Section)... I personally think it is stronger than any fear driven by any secular means... the only close comparison is the fear of death (for those who have it) on a secular (non-religious) level.

I personally know the have felt the power and feeling of believing in Hell, as I was a follower of 2 Abrahamic Faiths in a span of 22 years, and feel for you if you have this fear... and if you are a Westerner Christian (e.g. US Christian Faiths) there is only one way that I found to eliminate this fear, and it just happened, I had a "Religious Wake Up Call", or climbed a couple rungs of the Enlightenment ladder in my book, and that is to seek pure religious truth and do not be afraid to go where the path may lead... and the truth will vary from person to person even if they are both following the same exact Faith identically but neither are wrong... In fact it is the complete opposite... they are both correct. Same goes if there religions are completely different, such as a Muslim and a Jew, in my eyes, can you disprove either (entirely, even though some of the Bible or Koran can be disproved)... No. In my opinion, there are many paths to the same destination (of sorts) no matter the religion, and I am not speaking of Hell, if I were I would be a big hypocrite at this point, I speak of living your life in such a way that upon your passing "you" will find yourself in a better place (depending on religion that "better place" can vary highly between every religion).

I remember a conversation with someone explaining my beliefs, one being that Hell as it is known in West and really most of the word does not exist... The immediate content of the person's reply to this belief was, "Then where is Hitler, since he did not go to Hell"? I found this interesting as a snap response... My answer... "To an existence not desired by anything alive". However, this answer was not fitting to the person and the conversation switched topics... purposely and by my doing, as I could see the person could not look at religion objectively, which most Westerners cannot, I know it took me 22 years, as previously mentioned to be able to look at any religion objectively.

There is something to be learned by this post, that being... If you have the fear of going to Hell, get rid of it. This can be accomplished different ways depending on the person and Faith, if there is an easiest way to rid this fear you must dig within your mind, body, and soul, which obviously isn't easy but the alternatives are not suggested as they are much more radical.


(This is a new section to my writings (posts). It is a short snippet of how I really about the subject. I know I always put in my two cents in the body but I want to be able to expand my feelings and give the audience my outlook, and one that will make many mad, so in the future remember this.)
Author's Perspective:

Hell existed in canon of almost all Abrahamic religions in one manner or another since their respective inceptions but not until they learned the true power the idea of a place of utter and pure suffering would have on it's followers. Then, upon this discovery it has been extorted in many ways due to this idea and what you "have" to do to avoid this place. Religion has molded our world around us that we see today. We are just now seeing more tolerance of other Faiths between Religions, which is good. bottom line the idea of Hell is an amazing mechanism for control period.


(Another new section, hopefully this will not make anyone mad as this is not me expressing views, perspectives, etc., but a way to give you a thought to ponder upon, enjoy)
Thought 4 Thought:
If Hell did not exist in these religions how many more, or less, followers would they have?...

Until next time,

-automachi