What do you think heaven and hell are like?

Well, since I don’t believe in that stuff, I would say they look like what the typical descriptions of them are since they’re made up: heaven is blue with clouds and pretty, happy people full of love, and hell is fiery and painful, right? Or could it be that those are things observed in the physical world? I think so.

@Blackberry I thought heaven was full of virgins who want to throw themselves at you? Or is that hell? One thing that disturbs me, though, is that they say there is no beer in heaven. What’s up with that?

@wundayatta I imagine that beer would lead to sinning, and we don’t want people experiencing god’s glory only to have it stripped away.

No beer? Fuck that then, I’m breaking every sin that exists.

I don’t believe in this stuff, but my grade four teacher had an interesting vision of Hell. He said it’s a desolate place, where you’re just sitting around…watching all the people you loved and who loved you pass you by, constantly, as if you didn’t exist.

@Symbeline “my grade four teacher had an interesting vision of Hell. He said it’s a desolate place, where you’re just sitting around…watching all the people you loved and who loved you pass you by, constantly, as if you didn’t exist.”

Well shoot! I been there!

Excepten, I warent dead and I wuz thinkin if I ware, it would be a lot better than ware I wuz.

Reminder: @leopardgecko123 is 13yrs old

@SpatzieLover My bad. I thought I was in the adult grown-up section.

Where’s the moderator? Can we get these answers censored modded on behalf of the youth of the questioner? Damn! Why can’t people under the age of 18 have a little red L” attached to their avatar?

@wundayatta I too would prefer there was some way of knowing other than having to memorize users…which I’m horrible at, especially when they change their avatar. I was just giving a heads up to all the jellies.

Really, guys? This level of sarcasm is necessary for you to express, whether or not the OP is 13? You couldn’t have simply not clicked on the Q? You’ve made it very clear in recent days how you feel about the subject on threads that specifically ask for your input and some that don’t, but this? Really?

I didn’t know he/she was 13

I strongly suspect that we largely make our own “heaven” and “hell.” Knowing what the human mind is capable of, heaven would be amazing and hell would be horrific. I honestly don’t think that those are questions about which we need to be concerned though. If we do as we have been instructed, and “love the lord our God with all our heart and mind and strength, and love our neighbor at least as much as we love ourselves,” everything else will fall into place. This is more than enough challenge for most people. : )

@Blackberry : Whether or not the OP is 13 is just an appalling factor, not really the point. Is it necessary Every. Single. Time. to mock people that don’t believe as you do? Over the last week or so you’ve been able to make your feelings very clear on Fluther. Do you really have to do it on every thread that might address a religious belief? Well, I guess the answer is obvious, huh.

Stopping following now.

@JilltheTooth

Actually, in all fairness, I think Blackberry is one of the least offensive posters on this subject.

For me Heaven or Hell doesn’t exist in a physical vision reminiscent to whatever we see the in the universe. To me Heaven and Hell are all feelings based for the eternities. I don’t know I just love fantasy and metaphysics.

@JilltheTooth My answer could either be interpreted as mocking, or simply an observation (or, even my beliefs). Am I wrong that we have no evidence of heaven and hell, so we’ve attributed physical properties to it as a way to explain what it’s like? Well, I guess I should have said that instead of calling the notion of heaven and hell “made up”. Sorry.

I always pictured heaven as being a perfect place for my likes and tastes, so for me it looks quite similar to what you see when you picture hell. I always did the same but in reverse for hell, so to me hell probably looks a lot like what you see when you picture heaven.

I once heard that hell is a rolling, beautiful field of the finest ganja plants that could ever possibly grow, but there’s not a lighter in sight.

As far as I know, no one has ever come back to tell us the facts, so it’s anybody’s guess or imagination. I think heaven is where everyone gets along with no fighting. You get to peek over the edges of clouds and watch what is going on on earth. You hear whatever music you want and can dance and sing whenever you like. The weather is beautiful, just the way you like it. The food is great. Sometimes you get permission to go down to earth and help someone. Everybody is happy, inquisitive and good humored.
Hell, is full of people complaining and being nasty to each other. They ignore anybody’s needs except their own. They are never happy or satisfied. Their stomachs are always upset. None of the food tastes good. It’s always too hot.

@JilltheTooth I’m not sure I understand why it’s offensive for someone who doesn’t believe to participate in discussions about religion. @Blackberry was quite civil in his answer – why doesn’t it count unless he’s a Christian (that is, given that we’re talking heaven and hell, I presume only Christians are allowed to participate)?

I am often drawn to religious questions even though I am an atheist. Partly, this is because I was religious when I was younger, and I am interested to know how religiosity continues to manifest in adults. It is very difficult to resist the temptation to whisper incredulously you know none of this is real, right? Don’t I have a right to do that?

I picture heaven as a place where people achieve the best of themselves. Self-actualization made tangible and attainable. I see it as a place where people do not ridicule each other as they so often do. I have a hard time picturing the actual sight of it, but the social aspect is prevalent in my mind. In heaven there will be no need for moderators to block out the hateful comments and unnecessary sarcasm. People of different opinions will be able to converse without rolling their eyes and making (what they assume to be) hilarious quips at the others expense. I think people will finally be capable of looking outside of themselves and seeing how awesome it is to be nice to others.

In hell, I see nothing but rapists, murderers, pedophiles, and other malcontents who were not able to see the error of their ways. I see those who are genuinely not sorry for terrible crimes they have committed. I see an emotional regret that goes beyond language’s ability to describe. And now… after reading this post.. I see quite a lot of people who place the value of beer above their own soul.

@digitalimpression Uhm…Have you had an ice cold Blue Moon or Widmer Hefewiezen? :D

Heaven: Angie Jolie frolicking about the place wearing very few clothes.
Hell: Oprah Winfrey frolicking about the place wearing very fe…........oh you know!!

Assuming heaven is real, I think it’s a world where all you see, hear and touch are exactly to your liking, except for that one minute every hour that all of that is taken away if only to remind you of the difference.

Assuming hell is real, it could be a world of constant mental and physical pain to you with no hope of relief. And there’s more but you’re 13 so let’s leave it at that. And don’t forget, this is just assuming…

Ok wow, I just saw @digitalimpression‘s post. Does this include rapists and pedophiles who were repeatedly raped and abused as kids as well?

Heaven can’t yet be described .. there too much we can’t really understand.
Hell is simple. Being an outcast, able to see what’s inside but cannot participating or be able to join in. In my opinion it’s more bad this way then to just burn In Flames [^^] for an entire eternity.

I’m a bit of a traditionalist, so I’ve always gone with the Dante’s Inferno version of hell. I’ve always imagined heaven to be a paradise full of people wearing sandwich boards that say things like, “You barely escaped hell, ask me why”.

I’m not sure what heaven would be like, but hell, hell would be sitting in a math classroom listening to a professor drone on about something complicated in heavily accented English.

Heaven is a club where you get to do things you wanted to but didn’t because they were labeled as sin back on Earth.

Hell is a club where you get things done to you that you never wanted because you did what was labeled as sin back on Earth.

I don’t understand heaven and hell to be afterlife experiences, nor actual localities. I think that for two people sharing the same seat on a bus, that seat can be hell for one and heaven for the other. The hell-dweller finds the seat too hard, the bus too slow, the fare too high. The bus is taking him to a job he doesn’t want to do, surrounded by colleagues who constantly annoy him. He would so much rather be somewhere else.

The heaven-dweller is grateful to have this seat on the bus, grateful for the labor of the countless people that made this wonderful conveyance possible. She’s grateful to have a job, mindful that so many don’t. The bus is full of unknown friends, and a never-ending parade of wonders streams by the bus windows.

Gee whiz I didn’t see any mocking going on…?? I don’t think anyone knows what heaven and hell are like and there are lots of ideas, including that there is no beer, and each of those ideas is thought provoking.
I also don’t see any implicit reason to think this is a Christian’s only question, heaven and hell are concepts a lot of faiths find useful.

In one of David Byrne’s songs “heaven is a place where nothing ever happens”.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard I exist to bring chaos and disrupt the very fabric of all. All.
I got a lighter, my man. :)

A little parable-like internet story for @leopardgecko123 that comes to mind:

“A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, “Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.” The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, “You have seen Hell”.

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, “I don’t understand.” “It is simple,” said the Lord, “it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.”