| SlayerRondo said: As someone who was recently christian then deconverting to athiesm i have been wondering about the idea of hell. If i put the question to you that given my honest disbelief in the existence of a god i will suffer eternal pain and torture? Please let me know below. |
I'm Christian and I believe in hell.
Do I believe that you would end up in hell for Atheism? Well, that's God's call and people aren't supposed to judge others. As for whether you're doing something wrong by being Atheist, well, that depends.
As a Christian you believe that Jesus was the son of God and that his time on earth was to instruct and set an example. One of the fundamental themes of Jesus's life is that he placed right and wrong and acts of kindness high above religiousness. He was himself religious, and never said not to be religuous, but he made many statements emphaising that your thoughts and actions in life are much more important than what you do in the temple on Saturday. He gave examples of Summaritans as role models (what would be the equivalent of a modern-day Christian saying a Muslum is living life the right way), he emphaised private prayer as opposed to preaching in church and he hung out with people the church leaders would call "sinners". I would think that it is un-Christian to think that non-Christians are damned to hell. So I would say that no, being an Atheist is not giong to send you the fire.
On the flip side though, I think it's important to ask why you have ditched Christianity in favor of a Godless existance. If you simply can't find reason to believe in your life, I would like to think God would understand. If your reasons are that you find the expectations of kindness and love that come with Christianity too difficult then God probably wouldn't approve. If you don't like Christianity because removing God from your life makes you feel better and more empowered because you feel there is no one above you.... well I would say that's a bad reason too because humility's a good thing. But of course it's wrong for anywone to speak on behalf of God and to judge others - so I want to be clear I'm not doing that. I'm just giving you my opinion of how I try to interpret life's meaning for myself. And no, in simple terms I don't think that non-Christians are going to hell.
