Chapter 15: Hell

Let's talk about hell, shall we? There's a lot of good shit in wiki about it. Lots of facts about its origins bla bla bla. Hell is probably the single most compelling argument against traditional Catholic theology. I recently sat in front of a conservative priest and watched him contort his brain around the idea that hell is a human invention. He was completely unable to look outside the confines of his recent seminary experience as he fumbled around trying to refute my assertion that Hell simply cannot exist as a function of a just God.

It is simply impossible to reconcile the idea of a just God condemning even one evil person to the fires of everlasting torment. If you add compassion to the list of traits we assign to God, the question becomes laughable. Yet Christians cling tightly to the idea that God sends bad people to hell and good people to heaven. And those who wish to confuse the argument claim that we choose heaven or hell voluntarily. More nonsense.

We cannot possibly claim that God is all knowing and good and claim that he sends people to hell. Even the most evil people on earth believed they were doing the right thing. Hitler believed he was giving humanity a great gift by killing the Jews. We always go to Hitler when we start to talk about hell, don't we?

And think about how much a minor burn hurts. Think about how much that hurts and then imagine that pain a hundredfold. That is what these phenomenally stupid people want us to believe. And why do they want us to believe this? Don't you know? Because if we chime in and say we believe, it gives them solace. They want so desperately to believe this stuff that they cannot help but badger the rest of us. And if they can get a few smart people to agree with them, they can claim that they are not crazy, and dim-witted. They can claim their ideas are main stream.

I have talked to a lot of main stream believers about hell. None of them have ever professed any belief whatsoever in this horrible idea. Only the most fundamental elements still sell this idea. Catholics still cling to it somewhat but Baptists rely on it to fill the seats. They use it to motivate themselves whenever they feel their faith waning. And isn't that a great way to winnow your thoughts? Scare yourself into believing what you want others to believe by inventing a place for non-believers. Then shake your head as if you care dearly that they will most likely burn in hell for lack of commitment. Tell them you will pray for them. Jesus!

Much of this nonsense is a result of brainwashing. A family who constantly reinforces fundamentalist ideas brainwashes their children and creates a powerful wedge between their ability to think critically and their superstitious legacy. They pass on their worst ideas like a virus, infecting the minds of their progeny. And if said family is a loving and sweet bunch of people, it becomes almost impossible to eradicate the infected thought processes. The warm love of the family becomes synonymous with the superstition and therefore confused with reality.

Of all the ideas passed on via brainwashing, the idea of hell is the most pernicious.