[ SECRET POST #876 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #876 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 21 pages, 518 secrets from Secret Submission Post #126.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 2 3 4 - not!secrets ], [ 1 2 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Well, it's better than the other reason for there being a Hell: eternal punishment.

Because that would rather conclusively point to the God being a tremendous dick thing and would still make Hell preferable in that at least you don't have to kiss up to the universe's biggest asshole.

Really, the concept of Hell is a lose/lose situation for anyone who wants to believe in a merciful, loving God.

[angelofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

The concept of Hell is totally ridiculous, I agree. Especially when you consider the standards for Heaven. Jeez.

But nothing - NOTHING - is worth eternal punishment. That's so ridiculously excessive there aren't any words to describe it.

Just to argue, though: You can have a merciful, loving G-d who wants everyone to be in Heaven but is not all-powerful and therefore cannot help that some end up in Hell. So it's not a lose/lose situation if you give up omnipotence. Or omniscience, I guess.

[(Anonymous)]

So... let's assume God is not omnipotent (even though Christianity says He is). He did still make everything, right? And that would include Hell, right? Because if the Creator didn't create everything, then who did the rest of the work?

So, if God created Hell and He doesn't really want people to go there, then why should He make it (or, perhaps more accurately, write the laws) in such a way that the vast majority of humanity is going to end up there? The guy wouldn't just be not omniscient, He'd be downright incompetent!

Then again... considering the placement of both the wind and food ducts in the human body, an incompetent God might explain a lot. ;)

[angelofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

If Hell is the absense of G-d, He didn't have to create it per se. Or perhaps one of his angels (Satan) created it?

These are all great questions, but you really are asking the wrong person if you want an answer. I'm not a Christian.

Now, about the laws - when He wrote the laws, it was to Judaism. As we don't believe in Hell (per se - we have a sort of... er, cleansing process), the laws were not made to distinguish who went to Heaven and who to "Hell". And anyway, Christianity is not about law. Law does not separate those who go to Heaven from those who go to Hell. Christians are "saved" simply by believing.

I totally agree with you that if G-d didn't want people to go to Hell and he was omnipotent, people wouldn't go to Hell. That one I can't make sense out of.

[cobryn-moy.livejournal.com]

"Christians are "saved" simply by believing".

Only the Protestants. Catholics still have to do Good Works too afaik. Darn layabout Protestants.

:)

[sensualcoco.livejournal.com]

God gave humans "free will." He doesn't want us in hell. But it's our own choice if we want it.

[angelofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

That only works if you think that everyone believes that Jesus was G-d but only certain people choose to follow him. Otherwise it's not us "wanting it [to go to Hell]", it's just us... not believing that Jesus was G-d.

[relmneiko.livejournal.com]

According to Paradise Lost, god is omnipotent and omniscient but he still grants his creations free choice. Delving into the paradox therein is pretty much the entire point of the work and takes more words than I'm willing to type.

God did indeed create Hell, knowing that Lucifer would eventually fall to it.

And Paradise Lost was apparently based on biblical scriptures that were available at the time (but aren't now), so hey, this could all be Bible material rather than a gigantic fanfic here.

[snackbreak.livejournal.com]

Even if He was omnipotent, isn't the point of free will that we can choose Hell without his interference?

I mean, obviously no one sane is going to say "yes, Hell sounds like a good time" based off of what we think Hell is in modern society - but it's probably not that straightforward (if it exists, and I am not saying it does, I am just postulating here). If Hell is simply the "absence of God" then well, people turn away from God all the time by choice. Who hasn't rebelled against their parents, for example? I think there's a natural "I can do this myself, and I don't need your help SO BUTT OUT" instinct in most of us, even if that isn't really what we want in the long run.

(and for the record, I believe anything is possible, so I think Hell is a possibility as much as I think reincarnation is a possibility. I'm not particularly attached to it existing though - if it's made up, awesome x a million)

[bleed-peroxide.livejournal.com]

THIS. I always bring that up when I talk to someone who feels its necessary to badger me with their religion because I might let something slip, or because my clothes scream out Satan spawn (because wtf, people have complained to my parents because I wear black shirts.)

The more I read the Bible, the more I was like, "...he's selfish, doesn't seem to want women to advance in the world, he's arrogant, he's VERY arrogant, and he sounds like a dick." I mean, sending someone to suffer because they don't praise someone? I mean, that's what Christianity essentially boils down to--praising God with your life, and ministering to others in order to bring them to that religion. God created the world, if we go by that logic. Why, then, does he need millions of people telling him how fucking great he is?

Also, by their logic: God knows everything. He knew our entire lives before we were born, he created our future. He knew some people would grow up atheist or just fuck up somehow. Why would he create someone doomed to screw up and go to hell then? Or if there is free will, that implies that God isn't all-knowing. The logic constantly cancels out the other.

Sorry, on a tangent. B-b-but yes, I agree with you.

[palsmarties.livejournal.com]

Yes I am Gay, so I figure if the fundies are right then the only way I'll get into heaven is if I never ever have sex with a man I'm attracted to.
So I pretty much just figured that's no fun and then I started reading the rest of the bible.
Now whenever people try to convert me I just point out that the Old Testament God was a racist, homophobic, sexist, blood-lusting, pro-slavery God and that I would never want to spend eternity with someone like that.
And since he's supposed to be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow then he must still be a dick and he will always be a dick if he's real.

They either pity me, hate me, or laugh.

[bleed-peroxide.livejournal.com]

But then they point out the New Testament God, and I'm like, "Yeah, and he also says that a lot of the old laws are abolished. So are you now picking the laws you want to follow?"

I don't think someone's preferences should matter. Yeah, I'm straight myself, but I'd be the first to say that it's not impossible that I could fall for a woman in the future. I don't know that I ever will, but it'd be stupid to write it off because zomg!same sex. I'm not even bisexual, but my thing is, I call myself straight because I have yet to find myself attracted to another woman the way I'm attracted to men. But who's to say that's permanent. You can't help who you fall for.

I like how Bjork said it: "I think everyone's bisexual to some degree or another; it's just a question of whether or not you choose to recognize it and embrace it. Personally, I think choosing between men and women is like choosing between cake and ice cream. You'd be daft not to try both when there are so many different flavours."

[icthyopook.livejournal.com]

This is only if you take the Bible literally...

The Bible was written by man. If you really read it, you'll notice that very different people were penning different parts of the Bible. The God of the Old Testament is completely contradictory to the God of the New Testament, but that makes perfect sense because the God of the New Testament is the God of Jesus. Jesus came in and shook everyone by the shoulders- essentially yelling "YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!" to the major religious leaders of the time. If you read the New Testament you'll notice that the stories Jesus tells are of a God who is loving and accepting.

I mean, that's what Christianity essentially boils down to--praising God with your life, and ministering to others in order to bring them to that religion.
That is not what Christianity boils down to. That is what false Christianity boils down to; the Christianity that is preached on televisions and pushed by anti-abortionists and homosexual haters- that is not what Christianity is.

Christianity is about following Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ was a loving and accepting man. If you want to understand this religion instead of pushing it away and chalking it up to hateful bullshit, you should read the New Testament. Christianity is not what the media makes it out to be. And by media, I mean IT'S OWN media. Christian media today is preaching the OPPOSITE of what Christianity is about. If these new Christians actually read their Bibles instead of worshiping Televangelists, they would know that.

Don't base your opinion of God and this religion on what other people say it is. If you really want to know, look into it yourself. If anything, the stories of the New Testament are very powerful stories that will at least teach you something, even if you don't end up believing in God/ whatever. Regardless, it is a good read.

Why should you believe me?

Jesus never once says anything about abortion, homosexuality, evolution, etc... all of these unimportant issues that the false Christians of today push and push and push... Jesus never once brought them up. Of course evolution was not discussed because the theory did not exist then, but still. The Church has manufactured these issues from old scripture written by man that never came from the mouth of Jesus.

[(Anonymous)]

If you think abortion is unimportant issue, you fail.

[icthyopook.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean abortion itself is an unimportant issue, I meant that anti-abortionists are harping on something that in fact does not come from the Bible, so it is an unimportant 'Christian' agenda. It is irrelevant to religion, not irrelevant period. You really like to take things out of context, don't you?

Also, though I believe abortion is an important issue, I don't believe it is nearly AS important as America makes it to be. Pro-choice is as plain to me as the right for gay marriage but our country is too wrapped up in it's own bullshit to care about women's or gay's rights, so... whatever. Harp harp away, America. I'll be on the sidelines trying to help the people who aren't so self-important that they believe they have the right to dictate power over what other people do with their own body.

Again, way to completely warp the point of my comment entirely.

[bleed-peroxide.livejournal.com]

Jesus never once says anything about abortion, homosexuality, evolution, etc...

Yeah, maybe you missed that line. She wasn't saying that it's not an unimportant issue as a whole, but rather that Churches shouldn't be pushing it so heavily when it wasn't even something Jesus talked about. Way to twist her comment the wrong way.

[bleed-peroxide.livejournal.com]

Hmm... you bring up a lot of good points. It's refreshing to hear someone that doesn't agree 100% with everything the church says or does--I'm accustomed to them parroting their doctrine in my ear all the time -__-

What I like about this comment is that you're advocating the man, not the religion, and the fact that he doesn't preach about half the shit that Christians like to gripe about. My church would always go on about how awful this movie or whatever was because *gasp* it totally went against their beliefs, and I was like, "...where in the Bible does it say that we're supposed to boycott movies or something?" Jesus talked way more about money than he ever did about abortion, but somehow it's vitally important that some Christians (extreme ones, I grant you) scream at women going into abortion clinics. How does that preach love to anyone when you're saying, "You're a baby killer, but Jesus loves you"?

I'm rambling and probably make no sense, but thank you for writing that. It restores my faith in Christianity a bit. I have a lot to sift through, but there's a reason I'm just agnostic, not atheist. I doubt a lot, I question a lot, but there's still a part of me that can't just renounce my religion completely. I'm still in that "finding answers" phase, but I'm sure as hell not going to get satisfactory answers from the preachers at my church. (Souther Baptist, anyone?)

[icthyopook.livejournal.com]

I'm still in the 'finding answers' stage too. I was raised in a strict Christian home, but grew up realizing how ridiculous the religion's charges were. "What does being gay have to do with anything?" I wondered, as I fell in love with a girl. I've since learned I'm straight, but really... the crap that goes on in the Church has nothing to do with Jesus or God. It has to do with money.

And you're exactly right- Jesus talked a LOT about money. What did he say about it? Oh, let's see here, lemme think... oh right. He said it was nearly impossible for a rich man to find his way to heaven. Now what could he have meant by that?

The church completely ignores everything Jesus Christ said and was about... instead choosing to focus on what 'sells'. It's easy to get people to pay you for sermons if you preach about a God who will give you more money if only you give him pennies for thought. Donate now, and God will make you ten times more prosperous! Hate sells well too. In order to sell Christianity, you have to make it appealing. How do you do that? Well you morph it into a religion that tells people what they want to hear. People love a good reason to justify their hatred- the Bible has a line about gay being bad... oh, sign me up! And it's so easy for people to join the masses of false Christianity because the only rule of false Christianity is 'believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and you're home free!'. The problem is, when that's the incentive to join Christianity... well there's no incentive to do good for other people or follow in Christ's actions because as long as you BELIEVE he died for your sins, you can sin as much as you want on Earth. There's no 'good' reason to try to become a better person. Jesus takes you as-is, if only you keep him in your thoughts! Aww!

'The Church' infuriates me. But I've come to realize that The Church, in it's falsehood, does not matter. *I* know that is not what Christianity is about... and I plan to explore Christianity without all of the crud the Church pushes. Good luck on your own spiritual journey. Remember, Christianity is really about building a relationship with God and following in the teachings of Christ... and Jesus Christ is certainly not the only guy to look at. I'm also looking into Buddhism and other religions. I believe that 'God' has many names... and works in many mysterious ways. He does not belong to one people over the other. It's up to you to figure out your own relationship with God. And yours will not be like mine, or anyone else's. :)

[relmneiko.livejournal.com]

You have to realize that the Bible was written for an earlier time, and through the eyes of the men of that time as they write about God. You can't just take things said completely out of context and expect them to fit modern times. Especially if you're reading Old Testament, yeah, Leviticus was a nutbar and Job was a diiiiiick (no, men of Sodom! Don't rape my sons, for it is a sin! Take my daughters instead!)

The base idea of Christianity does state that humans have free will - God, being all knowing, knows what people will choose, but that doesn't diminish their choosing.

You can really read a lot of it in different ways depending on the angle you take. I mean, hell, look at Christians vs. Jews. (if you want to get really crazy, check out Gnosticism).

[shishiomaru.livejournal.com]

Job was a diiiiick You mean Lot? Not to nitpick but it was a pair of angels, not his sons, that Lot was defending from the mob. Which, if you think about it, makes it even worse. The angels could defend themselves. His daughters, not so much.

Also, don't forget about Abraham, who was more than willing to sacrifice his only child as proof of the faith God already knew he had. The same kid, by the way, that God sent to him as a REWARD for his faith.

The Old Testament is full of morally questionable actions like that, which, to me at least, makes accepting God as a benevolent being much more difficult.

[bleed-peroxide.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I never did understand why he did that--"oh no, my sons can't do that! But my daughters are perfectly okay, you can rape them." Ummm... what? O_o

But the thing is, by that logic, wouldn't it logical to conclude that if God determines your fate, and then lets you "choose" to do something, that ultimately there really is no free will? I probably sound like a babbling idiot, but the two ideas--to me--are contradictory. It's always drilled in one's head that God knows everything, and that he decided everything you would do from the moment you were conceived. So to say one chooses their destiny doesn't add up to me, since that would imply that God wasn't the one who decided your fate and working in your life. This always leads me to the question of heaven or hell: if God decides your destiny, doesn't that mean he decides, by writing down one's destiny, where one goes in the afterlife? If it's free will, then he's not all-knowing since he would have to ask you if you accepted Jesus as your lord and savior. The question becomes one huge uroboros that never really resolves itself.

I think that I need to look into things more, but not from my church. I've been there for six years and have stayed, hoping to find answers to no avail.

[icthyopook.livejournal.com]

if God decides your destiny, doesn't that mean he decides, by writing down one's destiny, where one goes in the afterlife?

My friend, you have just hit the nail on the head.

Many Christians today believe in the ridiculous notion of 'pre-destination'. God picked me especially to go to Heaven! It only reinforces the notion that all you need to do to get into heaven, is accept Christ as your savior! Many people take these two things together in a dangerous, misleading cocktail and believe: "I was born a child of God, meant to accept Christ, and he has saved a special place for me in heaven since my creation!"

It all has to do with taking the Bible absolutely literally again. And once again it gives a lot of people the idea that they don't have to strive to be better people; God will take them just because they speak his name.

Personally I believe that God is always there, for everyone, and he knows the mistakes we will make... he knows everything. But he doesn't choose things for us to be so, and his knowledge is a kind of knowledge we cannot comprehend. I also believe that sometimes God does step into people's lives to steer them in the right direction, but those times are not when people ask for a new car or "Please God, help me win this game!" I actually think God steps in, in ways we DO NOT ask him too. That job you really wanted, that you didn't get? Maybe it wasn't good for you, and God pulled a few strings to prevent you from getting it. Sometimes the things we want most are not the best things for us. I am struggling with this notion at this moment.

Anyway. Yes, interpret things your own way. Your faith is not for the Church to decide.

[angelofcaffeine.livejournal.com]

That depends on where the "arrow of causality" is pointing. Do we make choices because G-d knows which choice we will choose, or does G-d know which choices we will make because we will make them?

I didn't explain it very well. Peter Vardy does a great job of it, though.

[bleed-peroxide.livejournal.com]

Random question, but why do you write it "G-d"?

Yeah, it's a complicated thing that constantly goes in circles. I sometimes confuse myself trying to sort through it @_@

You have my name! ♥

[tomatocaco.livejournal.com]

YES. I really want to write some kind of story that debunks heaven-as-utopia, because the existance of hell automatically keeps it from being perfect. I'm atheist, but I can't see anyone enjoying heaven if anyone they knew or cared for were in hell. Especially if it were the kind of hell where people were burning just because they had gay sex they weren't sorry for.