I feel a range of emotions with different people. I usually pause to decide how to respond.( I am getting better at that) knowing that some people that I care about are fragile. If the person is an arrogant a-hole, I usually just laugh.

My reply is that there's probably some pretty awesome people in hell if we pretend it exists. Tons of comedians, scientists etc that I would love to spend time with. How many serial murderers and rapists repented to enter "heaven" again? That usually stops the conversation.

I normally joke around and say something like there's so many brilliant scientist down there it's probably air conditioned by now if there talking about hell or sometimes I'll just laugh at them and walk away

easy.
my only child is dead.
i'm already there.
suck it!

The notion of "Hell" being a place of Flaming Brimstone is exceedingly silly. Once the physical body dies we no longer have nerve endings to experience such physical pain. It's a "marketing ploy" to scare people into believing their BS. It's fun to give them pure logic to disagree with them. They get all dumbfounded and start repeating themselves since they have no REAL responses to intelligence.

and I presume Santa Clause is going to give me coal for Christmas this year also? Tell your imaginary friend that he's kind of a jerk and nobody deserves to be tortured for all of eternity.

I ask them to show me even just ONE man or woman who has actually gone to any of those places, and provided some kind of proof that they actually exist! No T-shirts? No coffee mugs or key fobs? How does one get there? Is there a special bus, plane, train or automobile to get there? If you're really dead, how would you ever know that you had arrived? If it's not you that goes there, but some intangible part, it's not really you then, right? So then if it's not really you, why would you care? Can you actually feel any pain or pleasure that someone else is experiencing? Does anybody sit up nights worrying about what fate befell their old shoes, belt or socks??
There is absolutely NO logical argument that can be made to support the actual existence of any paradise, heaven, hell or otherwise. If there is one to be made, why has no one made it yet??

Randy

I just don't talk, I look at them like, "ARE YOU SERIOUSLY SAYING SOMETHING SO RIDICULOUS?" lol

Lol

Saw a great response to this the other day.

A Christian telling an atheist they're going to hell is as scary as a child telling an adult they're not getting any presents from Santa. - Ricky Gervais

Before I heard this one I just asked them if they were also scared of what Sauruman, Captain Hook, and the Wicked Witch of the East would do to them if they weren't obedient.

Surprisingly, I haven't been threatened recently (I moved to the south from the north and was expecting it more). But the few times I have been threatened I tell them that they are going to hell in another religion and ask them if they are afraid. They say no and I tell them that's how I feel about their threat.

Heaven and hell are states of mind that exist on earth. Until you've met somebody that died, and went down there or up there, your comments are irrelevant to me.

Ill see you there

I'm in my mid-forties. People who talk of punishments for not believing in their religion are very seldom worth talking to. They obviously believe as strongly as I disbelieve. A discussion is rarely a good use of time.

Only when I'm asked the question by someone I like or love do I respond. I say something along the lines of "these punishments aren't a concern for me at all because I don't believe in the religion that created the rules for punishment". Hell is not a threat or concern to an atheist. Religious threats are hollow and fall on deaf ears. Just as Christians do not fear the wrath of nefarious Pagan gods, atheists are not bothered by promises of extreme punishment from a god who is believed does not exist.

If a stranger or acquaintance asks (and they do), I usually just chuckle and ask if they'd like to hear how a life of atheism can make their life better. Always offensive and shouldn't be. But they believe, quite foolishly, they know the truth. I can understand why they would want to share it. It's just not worth my time to listen. It's always the case, if Christianity is the religion in question, that I know more about their Bible than they do. They believe firmly and I disbelieve firmly. Nobody will be converted. More fun to talk about movies.

Casual, possible to convert, Christians (from my experience) don't talk about punishments. Those who do aren't listening to you. They are listening to themselves.

How am I supposed to take the threat of hell seriously when I fundamentally don't believe in it? It is a specious threat. I suppose my response is "oh."

after laughing as hard as I possibly can for a. Of time I just answered them with more laughter also let them know that I don't believe

I try not to laugh in their face...

It's happened a few times.

It's an empty threat, forget about it.

I am not at all threatened as I don't believe in hell, other than what we create for ourselves here on Earth.

Laugh... I grew up in a family that went from Baptist to Apostolic ..i am almost immune now

No thank you, unless they have a topic they wish to raise with importance. Then I shall take time to respond with simple answers & questions of my own.

I go and hide in my coffin.

I tell them I don't believe in imaginary places.

Caveat: When people tell me I will have to "stand before god and answer to him." I say, "IF I stand before god, he will have to answer to me."

I tell them religion was created for man by man for the purpose of control and to explain things they could not explain. I also ask them which "GOD" there have been over 3,000 throughout history.

I'll tell them if they've ever worn blended fabrics (nylon/cotton/spandex/etc.), eaten shrimp, thought about doing anyone without being married to them, masturbated, or broken any of the laws listed in Leviticus (and there are PLENTY), then I'll see them there. Bonus points for me if I can point out a few that they are currently breaking. They usually come back with the whole Jesus died on the cross for my sins, so I can eat shrimp and pork... to which I just laugh and say yes, Jesus died so we can all eat bacon... it usually dies down after that.