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Heaven/Hell ?

Simple question… why do Christians believe in Heaven and Hell? Why do they condemn me to Hell?

• If Satan wants you to sin why would he punish you for it?
• If God is all forgiving why would he send anyone to hell?
• If someone is indoctrinated into Hinduism for example and doesn’t convert to Christianity on the say-so of a single preacher, why do they deserve eternal punishment anyway?
• What kind of people would actually agree that a system of rules that involves an eternal punishment for people like those above is a good system and worth ’signing up’ to?

The funny thing is if you ask them why they signed up to a belief system that, hypothetically if such a place were to exist, would send you to Hell they will claim that the rules are not theirs and they are not condemning you. God is doing that and they are blameless! They love you as a brother/sister, they respect you as a Human being, but they are absolutely sure that it’s right and just that you go to Hell – because in their mind that is not their decision. It’s like people who eat meat but wouldn’t ever kill an animal themselves. People who agree with the death penalty but would never carry it out.

There’s a word for that…

Oh, yeah… Hypocrisy.

Of course most Christians get all wishywashy if you try and discuss this with them. Some of the responses I’ve found (yes I really have):

• Fundamentalist: They’re all infidels and must burn in agony!
• Liberal: If they live a good life they’ll go to heaven.
• Scared: Well it’s not my decision. God condemns you not me.
• Brainwashed: If you don’t accept Jesus as your personal saviour you cannot enter heaven.
• Unthinking: *shrug*

Of course if you start debating with the liberal what is good and bad you can inevitably show them that either only Christians go to Heaven or that they stand in direct contradiction of the Bible’s laws. The liberals cover a great swathe of views and attitudes but they’re probably the group that has the most open mind in so far as they’ve already done some thought and realised that not everything can be compatible. Some of them then can be good to talk to and the inquisitive amongst them will likely become Agnostics and Atheists if given enough encouragement and intellectual stimulation. However there are amongst them some with whom having a debate is as useful as punching a wet rag… you can’t pin them down on anything. They’re just SO liberal they’re amenable to everything but without any real commitment at all.