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Fear of Hell

As an atheist is continually boggles my mind that I can have no belief in an afterlife and yet still fear what the church indoctrinated me to believe about where we go when we die. Do any other atheists still fear, or have feared, hell fire? If so, how does one get over that fear? I was raised in a Christian home and have only been an open atheist for about 2 years, but I still constantly fear that if I'm wrong I'll burn for eternity.

BlairAlena 4 Mar 6
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62 comments (26 - 50)

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1

Those are negative thoughts, the product of years of wrong thinking. Remember it is bullshit...

1

Hell is just a term like Santa Claus we know it is not real and yet in some respects it controls our emotions. It is a way in which terminology is used to cause fear in our mind. Phobias can be erased with intellectual perspectives. Like a spider for example lots of people fear spiders in reality, a human is thousands of times bigger than an arachnid, we are not even in the prey category for spiders. Most not all people that have spider venom in them is because they swatted the fangs of the spider into their skin. In most cases people that insist that a spider bit them it is a case of mistaken identity the solifugae is way more likely to bite a human than a spider is.

1

I remember as an atheist youth worrying about hell despite myself. But over the years it occured to me that "eteranl life" as described by Christians was equally abhorant as was the idea of hell. Oblivion, a dreamless sleep seems not all that bad by comparison.

1

Hell is just a threat to keep believers in line

1

Self doubt is one of the greatest things we can ever have. It allows us to grow. Fear is also a great motivator, if controlled and channelled. Because I have no knowlege of the afterlife, it is possible that there is some savage deity looking over all of us demanding our attention at all times, and if we don't give it and follow it's continuously changing requirements, we are DOOMED TO SUFFER IN DANTE'S INFERNO (I am hoping I can squeak by as a Virgil). But if you weigh all the possibilities of an afterlife, it seems absolutely foolhardy to think you can pick one and it is gonna be right, no matter how you logic it. It's a closed door that nobody (well, maybe nobody) get's to go through and come back to give you a scouting report.

1

From what I hear, Hell is the smoking area of the afterlife.

1

If you intellectually accept that they lied to you about the existence of hell, then if it really exists, they probably lied to you about what it's really like. Think of it as an eternal cocktail party with your pals. That's ridiculous of course, but it might take an irrational rationalization to lose the irrational fear. Just do the best you can and try not to dwell on it.

1

Don't let it steal form the time in your life that you are spending

1

It took me a while to get my mom's voice out of my head like quite a few years but it will happen just believe in your self 🙂

0

Think about what is going to burn. When you die there is nothing left. there is nothing to burn. Even the pope has decreed that there is no such place as hell. Of course the corollary to this is that there is no heaven either.
I was lucky, although I attended Sunday school and church until I was 16 I was never indoctrinated. You have my sympathy.

0

I can’t have fear of something that doesn’t exist. Hell is when something bad happens on earth and heaven is when very good takes place. Examples of hell are death of a loved one, sickness, loss of all material things, poverty, starving and homelessness. Examples of heaven is birth of a child, good health, financially well off, having the love of your life and having the home of your dreams.

0

The only hell is how you allow yourself to be tormented while you live.

0

I guess I have a hard time understanding your fear.
If you’re an atheist then there is no hell.
If you’re afraid you’re wrong about the choice you made then you are not an atheist.

You seem unsure.
Take your time there’s no rush.
You aren’t there yet and that’s ok.
When you truly embrace there is no god then you will no longer fear hell.

0

I have always felt like hell was BS. I always had that thought of what if though. I was raised in the bible belt and I have just came out as an atheist. The things that have helped me is research, listening to podcasts, and educating myself. Once I realized the absurdity of religion, the thought of going to hell went away. Also, God hasn't objectively shown himself to man. We have no reason to believe in him atm. Sounds logical to me. Why would we get sent to a hell for thinking logically?

0

I don't know what it is like to feel the fear of burning in hell. I do have an unhealthy fear of death though. I am afraid of what it will be like to walk into oblivion one day. The fact that one day I will just end. It is something that I fret over almost daily to my detriment. I know it won't matter to me once I die, cause I will be dead. But the finality of death is a frightening concept to me and is one that I have difficulty coping with.

Atecc Level 4 Nov 18, 2018
0

I’m new here but I think there’s no hell no heaven we lived and we die that is all you need to think about that is how you conquer your fear

0

What, really? That's super weird. The whole idea behind being atheist os realizing it's a bunch if nonsense and letting go of the promises and threats. You aren't wrong, and if you are, hell is where all the best people have gone, and heaven would be full of molesters and simple fools. Don't think about it too much, hell doesn't make sense because people are fucking chemical and meat machines, we aren't judged. There is nothing to be sent there, and no means for it to have been sent. Hell is as far a stretch as the ark. And further, because at least boats exist, alternate dimensions where your consciousness turns from a physical thing in your brain to something metaphysical and eternal are completely made up.

0

It still does with me briefly time to time, since I been an atheist for only 10 mouths. I tell myself imaginary things can't hurt me. Only thing after death is your body being barried in a pine box to the end of time. I know that sounds depressing, but reality isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

0

The same way I justify it to myself. If exists and he wants to punish me for eternity for not believing in him and worshipping him, is hell really such a bad place? I mean the church makes good out to be an ego maniac and I can't fathom someone creating a universe and knowing some people will choose not to believe in him and then he tortures them for an eternity for it? What kinda fucked up Creator is that

0

No God = No He'll.

Hell

0

It can take more than a couple years to unlearn a lifetime of bullshit conditioning. Be patient with yourself. The fear will dissipate eventually.

Deb57 Level 8 Nov 12, 2018
0

You will be going to Hell in every other religion, even if you remain a Christian.
Religions with more followers, based on older scripture.

That, and the sheer idiocy of the idea of the Hells have insulated me from the fear of it.

0

Here's a very good argument as to why the soul can't be real - [agnostic.com]

0

Heaven/hell is in your mind

0

We have a comedy radio program set in hell, called 'Old Harry's Game' Andy Hamilton is in it with demon Scumspawn.

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