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.

if you don't belive in god you are already in hell!


...just kidding, welcome to atheism

"Religious" isn't exactly a favorable term among the Christians (believers in Christ) that I know... yes some don't even like the term Christian

Would the term believer's ne more appropriate then?

I believe in hell. But i believe individuals will be judged on their actions and not on their beliefs.For example, if you are an evil person and have done evil things then you will end up in hell. If you don't believe in god but have done good things then you will go to heaven. Even though I call myself catholic, my beliefs don't align well with the church's teaching - it has become too institutionalized. Just my thoughts on the matter.

Theist would probably be most appropriate to poll people who believe in various religions where there is a heaven/hell paradigm.

Of course most of them believe that atheists are going to hell. If not, what would be the point of their religious practicing? Why would they spend years on their knees before God if those who do not may receive the same reward anyway?

Argh... when will everyone stop falling on these old fashioned traps to keep societies in order. Fear compells you, when logic should.

Theres no hell, the idea is more presposterous than heaven. At least the story of God as an entity tries to lace him in our universe. If the atoms that compose us stay here after we die, why would we go anywhere else? Collection of fantasies...

You expect to benefit from it by avoiding eternal suffering and receiving eternal happiness and joy. Avoiding what you fear and seeking beneficial life conditions is part of human nature, after all.

The majority of non-denominational / contemporary Christians I've talked with do not like the term religious at all, and some even go as far as saying they don't like the term "Christian" either because of the negative affiliation with the word even though they believe fully the Jesus is Christ.

The reason why these people don't like the term religious is also because of the negative stigma of the word, but aslo because biblically Jesus Christ came out against the religious leaders of his time who were more concerned with the law and their own pomp rather than the heart of the message of G-D and doing His Will. Furthermore it is written in the book of James that the only religion that is pure and undefiled is to take care of widows and orphans. By default that would make any other religion/religious actions impure and defiled.

Perhaps some of the well established demoninations / sects of (?)Christiandom have not fully adopted this idea yet or don't care about such an issue. The majority of those, however, that I have talked to are part of a new paradigm that don't even normally classify their churches by any such terms traditionally used; Such as: non-denominationl, charismatic, pentecostal... Most of these people are also those that have heard of / or been to Brownsville Revival, Toronto revival, IHOP, Bethel...  (those listed are events and churches that have had a major impact on modern day Christianity, and by that I mean the Christian churches that aren't self inclusive in their circles of communication)