Could God really send a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu to Hell? Hear me out on this one...I talked about this with some Christian friends of mine. If I was playing God (going by Christianity here) and A Muslim man who was born and raised in Pakistan was to come up to my pearly gates I wouldn't send him to Hell. Why? even though Christianity says the only way you enter Heaven is through Jesus I couldn't hold it against this Muslim man. He was born in Pakistan, raised to believe in Islam from day one. It's what he was told his whole life...The only things he probably ever heard about Christianity is probably the same thing we here in the states hear about Islam. Of course my friends said "He would have heard the word of Jesus and had a chance to be saved" To this I said "Oh really, when's the last time you picked up the Koran and read it?"
Aren't all the folks who have not heard the Word of God supposed to get some sort of power point presentation and chance to sign up for a celestial timeshare around the time of the Apocalypse? Hopefully someone who knows something about religion can add to this....
ha, I suppose if the Apocalypse were to happen exactly as the Bible says it will then that ought to be enough evidence for anyone to convert. But what about the people who will die before this Apocalypse which may or may not be true but is most likely not true.
Assuming Christianity is real, If you are born in an area other than Gold you will burn in Hell by predetermined forces. By the way this map isn't very accurate, a large area of Europe is now majority Atheist.
This is what I was thinking the other day, see I was born in Pakistan and raised as a Muslim. I came to the US when I was 5, and always thought about what you are saying but from the other side. Meaning I always thought would 'god' send good people who are of different religions to hell just because they weren't labeled the 'right' religion. Well I read the Quran in translation one day and one of the first things that came up was that Jews and Christians (since supposedly the three religions follow the same god) that are good people and have good values will also go to heaven. But then again what about people of other religions? This whole religion thing really goes over my head.
The idea of a Christian hell is a myth which started with Zoroastrianism, approx. 500 years BCE, they thought that: "souls are judged after death at a bridge where their lives are weighed. If the outcome is good, the bridge widens and carries them to heaven. If they are judged to have been evil, the bridge narrows and pitches them down into a dreadful hell" Although the idea of an underworld is not new, and is no stranger to many religions, it remains a myth. The good news: if hell motivates people to live good lives and be decent people, then they will not suffer as much in this lifetime, and less people will suffer because of their actions. Even though there is no guarantee of an afterlife, that's no excuse to not be a decent person
exactly, great point! Many people need to realize that "living a moral life" is very hard for some people. We have many influences in our lives that can alter our minds away from this moral way of living, via money and profits, etc. The Christian idea of heaven and hell is just a way of "threatening" believers that if they stray away from the Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments, that they will lose God's trust and will have to make it up in hell or purgatory. There is no heaven or hell, where you will be rewarded or punished for your actions here on Earth. Original Poster, if you are Christian, I will not try and convince you if there is a heaven or hell, but remember, the God in the Bible is described as trust and fair. He will wait until the very end of days for someone to believe in him, and if they are still blinded, he will continue to wait.
So the idea of hell is like holding a shotgun to someone's crotch and saying "donate £20 to amnesty international" ?
ill sum up Christianity for you shorter than i can sum up Losts final episode: In the beginning a creator created all that we see, and two humans. they sinned. anybody born from them would now be heirs of this sin, and deserving of the punishment of sin. that is why our human nature is self preservation and mostly greed. this sin nature. however, this creator had mercy the instant the first two people sinned and said i will send a savior, all you must do is truly believe that he has saved you. the only thing you must believe is that when you die, that you believe that he has already atoned or your sins, and the creator will judge his perfection instead of your sin. that's a saving knowledge right there. however nobody wants to think that they can't get their way into heaven. true knowledge is autosotereological: (spelling?) the only religion that says you can't do shit to save yourself, and any "good works" are because of thanks that you have been saved from eternal daamnation. the 20,000-30,000 branches of this "christianity" have put a twist that we fear hell and go for heaven like ratsin a maze. If this creator had no mercy than by all rights i deserve that eternal punishment, that's the hardest part to accept. that even since i was a kid i was sinful. but i realize that, and thank the creator that he has given his son. There's no "good works" from me. there's no "good intentions". its just believing that the creator has sent his son and as i believe this i will do what i can out of thanks: the first is to try to spred this message even though everybody will -rep me
Religious exclusionism is another feature of religion which I think needs to fall away in order for society to really advance. It simply doesn't make sense for the reason you give: why would God automatically condemn people who had never had the chance to hear the Gospel (or Qur'an, or whatever)? Isn't the whole point that the onus is on you to choose? How can you be held responsible for not making a choice you never knew you had to make, or were indoctrinated from birth to choose the wrong way?
God is completely just. Everyone is equally effected by the Laws of Nature, and the problems we have in life are not a result of favoritism, but rather Cause and Effect, created in the last life. There is no set way to worship God, and the reason you see such savage belief's is because the 3 major religions were written in a more primitive time. As man advances our conception of God becomes closer and closer to the truth of the matter. If you know how to read it, you'll see the same things taught in all religions, just written in different allegories for different cultures of people. Jesus was not "God incarnate" anymore than we are all God incarnate. The difference is that Jesus is the only man recorded to have achieved complete Godhead so that his soul was absolutely pure, giving him the power of God. We will all reach this state, and there are a few others who have reached it as well but they are not well known like Jesus. Accepting Christ to save your soul does not mean believing Jesus was God incarnate, it means attaining the Christ state in order to purify yourself so that you may "enter the Kingdom of Heaven" by dissolving your individuality back into the Primordial Light once you have reached perfection of the soul. Eventually a new religion will be created by the influence of the Spirits who help humanity to evolve, and newer higher conceptions of religion are created when the time is right. I just may be the one to create this religion, but hey, what do I know. I do feel the strongest of inspirations to bring people up to spiritual par so to speak, and the religion i follow is based in logic and not any superstition. Then again, Jesus tried to do the same thing, and it didn't work out too great once Emperor Constantine deluded the hell out of Christianity with theology.
Last time I was reading the Bible (last night), it says God decides who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. Not me, nor any other human.
To bad there is no Hell and this is the threat incase the bribe of eternal bliss/life doesn't work. The closest thing to Hell you'll experience is right here on earth until the end of time when the Final Judgement occurs, but this judgement will be completely Just and Fair. How could one possibly believe that God's idea of Justice is less than Humans is. We do not sentence a man to death because he committed some minor crime, why would God sentence someone to eternal damnation for not believing a certain way?
Christianity as well as the other religions are all based off of morals. It always brings up the question, "Would these believers still act moral if they did not have God judging them, or these moral codes to follow." If one of God's 10 Commandments were "Thou Must Kill," the average individual would say that that conflicts with their morals. There is no need to follow "religious morals" because they are basic morals that one learns while experiencing this world, with the results of "sins and evils." Muhammad, Buddha, and Jesus for example, all preached (at the core) for a "Golden Rule" way of living. One must look deeper into these religions to find the cores, because they all in fact lead to the same "God" at the end.
Your killing me LOL God is like being in jail its not supposed to be fun. Just waiting till you will be free. Please someone post my Bond or just set me free. I just rented a place at the beach twenty four hours before the Mayan Calendar ends. Going out in style [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jim_HBj7Bdk"]Bill Hicks - God is Fucking with Us[/ame] Peace! see you after the next apocalypse. Be sure to check out the rest of the Bill Hicks on religion clips.. Its Just a Ride No Hell Dont worry God does not exits!
Atheism: "You can all be sooooo close to the answer yet never come to know it, or you can all be wrong."
Perhaps if you were talking to a very conservative Christian, they would believe sending a member of another religion to Hell would be right. Many southern Christian churches, in my opinion have lost their way. A more open minded Christian, such as myself would say that a loving god such as God would not send someone of another religion to Hell. But in order to view it this way, we must contradict the existence of any other gods, in my views I think that many religions worship the same God, just in different ways and in different names.