I’m really trying to stay away from religion in my blog posts. I frequently keep up on the study of religion and it’s critiques, but since religion used to be a major part of my life, I’ve found I can be a little to emotionally attached when arguing a point concerning religion. That, and as far as my contemplativeness is concerned, I find it’s healthiest (at least 90% of the time) to take the mentality that I’ve de-converted, I have my reasons, enough said.
But when reading through a post at de-conversion.com, I saw one aspect of my old faith that I was never as a Christian able to reconcile.
Dear reader, I don’t care who you are, what religious background you are from, what you have done or not done in this life, or what you believe or do not believe. You do not deserve Hell. Know that I am not out to de-convert Christians or win them to my side. But my one evangelistic plea that I will make is that you do not have to believe this lie anymore. You do not deserve hell. You have intrinsic worth apart from God. You *are* somebody!
I repeat my claim that Hell is perhaps the most cruel and inhuman invention of the mind that mankind has ever concocted. I can’t even begin to imagine the emotional anguish and mental torment that this superstition has caused over the centuries. The fear of Hell enslaves the soul and robs us of the ability to question our own beliefs. The fear of Hell fuels unquestioning, unthinking and rigid faith, and drives many of life’s downtrodden to fearfully accept conversion as if by gunpoint.
And nobody deserves that.
This passage also reminds me of one of the many regrets I have. Without getting into specifics, I’ll say that had I this mentality earlier, I could have saved a lot of friendships and a lot of hurt feelings.
Bryan, I am honored that you found meaning in what I wrote. The belief in Hell just became too much for me to bear, and I do think it is a poisonous belief. And I cringe when I hear good Christian friends of mine tell me during an evangelistic discourse that we all deserve hell. So sad.. so very sad.
Thanks for stopping by, HIS.
I think you’ve said this a time or two, but the existence of an afterlife would keep me up at night worrying about my friends who “deserved hell.” Horrible mentality. I’m glad I’m free of that.