Do you really care that I am going to hell?

[Cmass]

I don't think you really believe I will fry in Hell for being an Atheist. I don't think you really truly believe any of your non-believing family will either. I think deep down, you know it just isn't true.

If you do believe they will all fry and are not doing absolutely everything in your power to stop it, I would suggest that you are a very cold, dispassionate person. If you really believed your dearly beloved mother was going to burn in hell right next to Cmass and Charles Manson then you would stop at nothing to convince her to accept Jesus. You would not just gently encourage, you would be emotionally and perhaps even physically engaged on a daily and hourly basis. You most certainly would not be reading this silly OP right now. Not if you REALLY cared.

Think about it. If you saw your mother being beaten by someone on the street, would you stop to help save her? Would you put your own life at risk to keep her from drowning? Is there anything you would not do to help her? OK, what about eternal torture in hell? Doesn't this concern you? What about all the other people in your life who are going to hell? Doesn't this leave you feeling devastated? If I believed there was a hell and that so many people would be going - especially any of my friends or family - I would be in constant agony myself and would devote my life to stopping it. Or, I would be numb.

Does your knowledge that so many people will be in eternal torture bother you very much on a daily basis?

This OP came about after reading commentary by some of our more conservative Christian friends in here. Some seem to have no real problem with all us atheists burning in hell forever. Granted, there are probably some personal anger issues involved but still, I have always been uneasy with how casual many Christians are when it comes to discussing eternal damnation. Some get more upset over running over a kitty than the eternal torture of their best friend.

Nonetheless, I give most the benefit of the doubt: I don't think they are really that cold. I just don't think they really believe as much in the hell concept as they report.

[Scrotum]

To clarify, it's like nothing has been done by God to warn us of Judgment Day....He has done things to point of sending His Own Son, Himself, who would speak to us of eternal life and hell. "Be not afraid of the first death," He said. "Rather, it is the second death..." "Men shall not live on bread alone, but on every Words that come from the mouth of God." Yes, bread feed us but a hundred years, if even, then...we die. Death is the end for all of us....unless, we receive the gift of salvation.

Maria, this is what Christianity claims. What about all other religions? And all the people that never heard the Christian "truth", but have Muslim, Hindu, Buddha lifestyles.

Everytime you speak of God, remember that you are talking about your Christian God, not about Shiva, Thor or Oden.

God alone is the Judge of the level of humility you have when the Truth is presented to you to make a choice. God knows how well the Truth was presented to you, after all He knows Him human instruments are imperfect. God takes into consideration how well you observe His natural laws of goodness, love, mercy, kindness... There is a voice of conscience calling out to advice us against doing harm to others and ourself.

If this is so, how come Christianities history is based upon killing and destroying the societies that do not accept their claim?

When you talk about Christians not wanting to harm, or hurt or somesuch, you seem to forget the entire history of your religion, it is only the last 100 years or so there has been no official violence and "persuasion" from the Christian Dogma. Sure, we have people like GWB claiming to do "Gods work" when killing people in the Middle East, but that is not the stance of the official Church anymore, and is purely the new "american christianity".


Why, pray, do you sit and say that "God alone is the judge", at the same time as you declare that we will burn in hell if we dont accept your word?

[Biker]

Awwww, you're trying so hard to have it said nicer, don't you? Shall we PC (politically correct) it a little bit? But, no, the Judge will say to the people who intentionally, willfully and knowing what they're doing at rejecting Him, "Depart from me, you don't know me so I don't know you." Only God who can search the hearts, thoughts, deeds, propensity, tendencies....be the Judge of whether you very being and existence is one of not knowing God. First of all, do you know what knowing God is about?

It is odd how sometimes believers completely miss the context of what they quote.

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

In this passage where Jesus uses the phase, Depart from me, he is teaching that belief and adherence to religion will not get you saved. Doing the will of the Father will.

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'
"Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'
"Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Here is another place where the phrase Depart from me is used. Jesus is again emphasizing action not belief with regard to being saved.

I guess I would ask, are you atheists doing the above?

Biker

[TMMaria]

First of all, do you know what knowing God is about?

I think so, but to be clear, could you explain?

Do we have all the time in the world for an explanation, then? My explanations after all are limited, but you're welcome to it any time. But, better than that...refer to the Bible, specifically study and learn from Jesus's words, actions, and very life. For example, "Be holy as your Father is holy." Is it your daily goal to be holy? Do you have a vision of what holiness is, how holiness act, love, and care? And, tell me the truth, are there just maybe that "something" that makes you lose that touch of holiness when it comes to dealing with others around you? That's what we call "the fall." We will fallshort every day of holiness. But, with God's grace of forgiveness, we have the strength to get up and keep moving toward Holiness...without looking back. When you know, there is explicit joy...look at the profound message from Jesus:

Matthew 13: 44 - 46
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44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,
46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

It's not like nothing has been done to warn all, you know.

Actually, I would have to say that there are some people in remote areas that probably have not been warned.[/quote]

Are we to be surprised by this? How can they know unless there is someone there to tell them. The Apostles knew because Jesus was there to tell them, God in Person. Then, the Apostles went on to tell others all over Judea, while Paul went on boat and foot to bring the Good News to the Roman Empire...from there to all over Europe. Given the modes of transportation, forms of communication, cultural and governmental barriers, we did pretty good to bring the Good News to Asia, Africe, North and South Americas, Asutralia. Now, look at how we communicate, instant messaging, faxes, phones....But presenting the Truth is more than saying it, writing it....We witness with our very own lives...back again, being human instruments, we are limited....but the mission of the Truth continues...the Truth will be presented to all nations to the ends of the earth.

[Confused]

Should Goat have been included in on this warning also??? Since HE wrote the post!

Biker

Moderator Note:
Issues with interventions should be addressed in a PM, as you well know. I have posted this in the moderators forum for discussion already, and in it I stated I didn't feel Goat was to be included simply because he appears to have come into this already in session whereas you and Easyrider had been warned previously. I post this here to show no bias. In the future, please challenge any moderations by PM.