Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: BINDNER@auvm.auvm.edu Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Hell and the Faithful Message-ID: Date: 6 Dec 90 09:04:13 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: The American University - University Computing Center Lines: 51 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Recently my brother and I were discussing hell, a reason a friend of his stopped practicing religion. Apparantly, she has quite practicing (she was devout) because she couldn't endorse it as a concept (would a merciful God have a hell). This got me to thinking about the motivation people have for believing in a hell. Marx said religion was an opiate of the masses because of the promise of heaven. I think Karl was off his nut. Religion and the masses interact in a different way. When people are persecuted their comfort comes not from their reward in heaven, but the very human thought that their persecutors are going to hell. When a society such as ours exists where there is no persecution (or little among the main stream - I can't speak for minority communities) there is really no one the average person wants to send to hell, which makes it a difficult concept, as people get involved in all sorts of introspective morality trips. If no one were persecuting me I wouldn't like the concept of hell either (no one is at the moment, but life is change). This brings up a collateral point on a possible motivation for the practice of religion, spite. If a large number of people justify their faith by the desire to see others burn, what kind of faith is that? I can see the point in celebrating God's justice, but the social implications are not pretty. I'll further state that, though some may use the above to invalidate faith, I think it could be used to challenge religious leaders. Christ came to preach mercy and forgiveness, even of enemies, as well as justice. The church should preach this, as it is more uplifting than a constant call for moral behavior (which is needed on earth, but has little place in the overall justice of God) or a denunciation to the oppressed which builds hate (as opposed to comfort - in human motivation there is a fine line). Also, those of us who are comfortable need a swift kick in the ass, as we in fact may be the unwitting oppressor. That's all for now, Michael [As usual let me say that I find speculation on the motivations of people who hold views other than our own to be a useless activity. Postulating psychological reasons for a belief is a great way to avoid having to consider its merits, but doesn't really settle much. Christians who believe in hell usually say they do so because they find the concept in Scripture. And in fact it's there pretty solidly. Those of us who would like to avoid it require very fancy footwork indeed to do so. Christians -- like it or not -- think that our religion is based on revelations from God. At some point we may have no better answer for why we think something than that it's part of the revelation. --clh]