Attention Theists!!! Do you really think good Atheists are sure to burn in eternal hell for not accepting your God concept?

Atheist don’t believe in god or follow any religion, that’s the point. We don’t believe in any of that stuff. We are logical people who see the world as it really is, that you control what happens to you, if something good happens its not because some god wanted to reward you, you live your life as you see fit, and you die, the your body decomposes.

not the question i asked

Just saying that there is no deity for atheists, because we are atheists

understood, but i fail to see how that addresses the OP

Nope, I definitely don’t believe that you go to hell just for not believing in God.

Not a theist, but my understanding is that the belief is that nobody could possibly go through life without sinning (and even if someone managed to, they’re still somehow marred by the original sin) and so accepting Jesus as having died for your sins absolves you of them; without doing so you’ve sinned and there’s no room for you in heaven. Perhaps, though, there are some theists out there who believe that a single sin won’t doom you to Hell, and that living a generally good life might earn you a spot in heaven whatever you believe? These people are in the minority, though, I think. I’m interested too in hearing from some theists on their thoughts on this. It has always seemed wrong to me that a benevolent god would send a “good” person to hell for not believing. And please correct me if any of my understandings here are inaccurate.

@Mariah : Being a theist does not mean being a Christian. I am a theist, not affiliated with anything organized, and I don’t imagine that atheists are going to burn in hell for being atheists. Not sure I even believe in hell.

I would say most people (Christians) don’t believe that just accepting Jesus somehow magically absolves you of your sins. According to the Bible, even the devils believe, and they certainly don’t receive salvation. If God condemned people to hell for simply not believing, what of the millions of children who have died before being old enough to really understand who God and Christ are? I think God is more merciful than people imagine. Heaven, I think, is different than most people image as well.

@JilltheTooth Right, of course! Christian is simply a small subcategory of theist. I definitely should have worded more carefully, my apologies.

perhaps my OP misled you @Mariah. Burning in hell is generally a Christian concept. I should expand it to include the Hindu reincarnation concept of returning as a lower life form via the mechanism of karma.

@Mariah : I guess I was a bit jumpy on that, sorry, but I hate to be lumped into that categaory. My type of theism does not include a deity with human reactions or judgments. But now I’m curious, @RealEyesRealizeRealLies , did you only mean “theist” in the category of those who believe in a deity as described by one or more organized religions?

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies Do Hindus believe that you’ll return as a lower lifeform for not believing in their dieties, though? My impression was that karma is based solely on your actions and therefore judges people for their “goodness,” not their faith.

@JilltheTooth No apology necessary, I understand. It sounds like you have a very accepting viewpoint and I also would hate if people assumed I believe things I don’t.

As laid down by the original rules of the Brahman @Mariah. Karma is a set of rules with rewards and penalties.

@JilltheTooth No, I really dropped the ball on this question. Saying Theist but directing the question towards Christianity. Big mistake on my part. I’d love to hear about any Theistic concept of reward and punishment… or just what’s to be expected in any form of afterlife from any form of deity.

It’s stated pretty clearly in the Bible, and as a Christian, I trust it as truth. It’s not a person’s deeds (referencing “good” atheists) that lands them in heaven or hell, it’s their acceptance or rejection of Jesus.

We don’t believe in any God, however, if all of us who believe “wrong” then why would your God have created us this way to begin with?

I’m a very dull theist in a discussion, I don’t believe in a reward and punishment system, or any of the traditional things associated with organized religion tenets. I try to behave decently because I’m happier and sleep better when I do. That’s about it. It’s absolutely individual to me, other theists may have much more interesting things to say.

@JilltheTooth raised me with a similar concept. I don’t believe that when we die, we will be rewarded or punished. I believe that our deeds while we are on this earth are almost always a direct result of our being limited, physical beings. When we die, we are no longer physical beings and thus we cannot be judged by what we did as physical beings. It’s kind of like condemning an adult for throwing up on someone as baby. As babies, we have different rules to follow than we do as adults. As physical beings, we have different rules or ways to live than we do as non-physical beings.

I don’t much like the concept of hell. Then again, I’m not much of a fan of Christians who believe that, no matter what kind of life you live, you will not be accepted into heaven unless you acknowledge Jesus as the one and only savior. I also realize that their are many Christians who do not believe this or believe very different versions of this.

I asked a somewhat similar question a while back. I got a lot of great responses, so if you are interested you might enjoy reading through that thread.

@KatawaGrey : I can’t decide if we sound marvelously evolved or just wishy-washy! ;-)

Hell no! If you were a genuinely good person your whole life, I think it’d be really unfair if your beliefs or lack thereof were your ticket to hell.

@Facade I don’t think the Bible is so clear on the issue. On one hand, the Bible suggests that the reason that someone would be rejected from Heaven (and therefore sent to Hell) is because sin makes a person unclean, and no unclean thing will enter Heaven. The purpose of Christ was to make a way for the unclean sinners to enter Heaven by clearing their slates. In this sense, it is the sin that puts someone in Hell, not the lack of belief.

However, the Bible commands us to love God with all of our hearts, so, by not believing in God, atheists are sinning by not loving God. In this way, lack of belief is causing you to go to Hell because it is a sin.

In a sense, you are right that lack of belief supposedly sends you to Hell, but the bigger picture is that it is what you do or don’t do that puts you in Hell.

For the record, I don’t believe any of this.

Yes, except I don’t believe in Hell. I believe every repulsive infidel (anyone who does not adhere to my religious beliefs) will spend his/her afterlife in a black void, where they shall be eaten alive by the minions of Y’zgahr, the great invisible tyrant of the Cosmos. Arghd UmK’ri!~

I’m a Theist and a Christian. I don’t believe that anyone will burn in some kind of eternal Hell. I think that our hell is a self-imposed regret for what we might have accomplished if we had chosen differently in our lives. Good people come in all philosophies or ways of thinking, and every one of us will have our chance to be whatever we wish to be. Sins are whatever we might do which prevents us from accomplishing the goals we have set for ourselves in our mortality.

I think that the best reason for being a Christian is that this offers us a blueprint for the highest possible success in our endeavors. I think Christ was an exemplar and is our advocate with the Father. He is like a coach or a very wise teacher who really wants us to win. Winning is different for everyone, and I have no desire nor predilection to judge what another individual will or won’t find most fulfilling in their own existence. His first and most important suggestion was that we love one another. So I’d surmise that this is what is the most important thing we do, and that the things we do as a result of that love will bring us the greatest rewards.

The kind of God I worship is a loving father who wants His children to succeed in this test that is our lives, and who provides every possibly opportunity for our success. He does not discriminate, loves us all the same. Our outcome is purely based upon our accomplishment of goals, much as if we were in an excellent school. We receive the degree we have earned (learned), but in life (or hereafter), nobody sits in detention forever. We just might have different careers based upon our achievements. Some more rewarding or fulfilling, or more appropriate to an individual than others.

@Michael_Huntington Blessed be the UmK’ri! for all eternity. Peace be upon it.

Best answer so far is @eden2eve I agree with this part: “Our outcome is purely based upon our accomplishment of goals,” which is basically what I believe as a secular humanist. Most reasonable theists I know who I’ve asked this question to basically agree with this as well.

Firstly, hell is not eternal. It’s a crappy translation of the words or phrases most often used to yield the English word eternal.

Secondly, the entire notion of hell as a literal physical place has much more to do with Dante’s Inferno and the RC church than anything else.

Jesus often spoke in parables and metaphors so to presume that the church most closely associated with the Roman army (one of the most brutal in history) got it right is very presumptuous indeed.

So, I don’t believe that hell is a physical place and it’s certainly not eternal. Torture with literally no end doesn’t even make any logical sense, much less any spiritual sense.

And the picture that such a concept gives of the nature and character of God is so clearly incompatible with simultaneously presenting Him as being a just and loving God that it boggles the mind. But apparently that contradiction doesn’t seem to bother those who do believe this.

But I’m not one of them. I certainly can’t keep insisting upon the clearly indefensible notion of an eternal hell.

Deconstructing…

First
What is a theist? Just any religion that believe in a god? Does a Pastafarian count as a theist?

(Side note: Your question seems to assume that a theist would necessarily believe that there is even a “hell.”)

But even more importantly
What is “good”? According to whose standards? And if you pick a particular standard, why that standard? What about people who have alternative standards?

These two lines of thinking must be dealt with before the core of this issue can be addressed.

No. If there is a heaven and hell I believe that where you end up is determined by whether you lived the majority of your life as a good, caring and compassionate human being. We all make mistakes but it’s how we make things right that counts in the end.

This goes for those who do not understand the way of how God system works.

Simple put. It’s like the law.
If you drive faster than the limit you get a ticket [ even if you didn’t knew the law The law applies no matter what. ]
If you kill a man you usually get punished for with with a fine or jail time ( if you don’t get a really really good lawyer ) [ even if you didn’t knew it was against the law IT applies to you ]
Same goes for stealing / raping / molesting etc etc

God laws are above normal state laws. in the end even if you didn’t believe in it you’ll have to suffer the consequences of your own ignorance.

For state laws there are books and signs to try and keep people not to disobey.
For God laws we have books [ wich people let them to catch dust on shelves ]

In the end if you were ignorant you’ll suffer your own damnation. End of story.

@Hibernate So you’re in the atheists will burn in eternal hell camp?

well it sure sounds like he is doesn’t it ?

You’d better start quaking in your boots if you know what’s good for you, Rarebear.

:D

Laugh now, cry later.

I’m 99.972% sure that they don’t burn in hell.

@mattbrowne: That’s because atheists are fire-proof.

@KatawaGrey – Yeah, I know they wrap themselves in polyurethane-polyurea copolymers such as spandex. Smart move. Makes Lucifer go ballistic all the time.

@Buttonstc Well I have a double whammy. I’m atheist AND Jewish.

would that be Athewish?

Or Jewiest.

A superlative atheist Jew? Interesting concept, that…

@JilltheTooth Not superlative, superfluous.

lemme’ chew on Jewiest a bit… i’ll get back to you on that one

@Rarebear

Well, the Jewish part may give you that Ace in the hole. After all “God’s Chosen People” and that kinda stuff…..

Nah, if my non-religious atheist friends can’t come to the party then I don’t want to go either.