...never mind.

As far as I'm aware, there is no mention of hell in the bible, but rather it was made up as a way of controlling us. I'm not sure there's absolutely nothing after death, but I am sure that it's not what people have let us to believe..and if there is something, it's not anything we can understand or comprehend as biological beings.. It's beyond our scope of understanding.

Well, first of of you have to realize that the visons of an aferlife depends otn eh religion. Often pepel talk of Haites and Hell as if they are interchangeable, but Haites is actually and freezign cold, whiel Hell is incredibly hot. The visions of Haides originated in colder climates, whiel the idea of Hell originated in hotter climates.

I fyou were to study comparitive religions, you'd find that the idea of an after life is not univerally "hellish". And as you learn each new story of an afterlife, you will likely find that what you were were taught as a Christian was just a made up story just li9ek any other religion.

You might lok for book recommendations on this site. Most of hte books recommended here have expanded my own understanding,or at least have been very interesting and worth reading.

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.

Truly sorry to hear that -sounds like one of the after effects of coming off the drug, I wasnt ever religious so I really don't know what you are truly going through but I do wish you well , and hope that you get some help. I have a sense form soem of teh other things that I have gone through that its true, time heals, give yourself an easy ride for a bit and when those feelings come try talking back to them soothingly - 'ssshh - all will be well!'

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.

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

I was lucky enough to figure out all religions were BS when I was very young so the fear of hell never stuck.

By de-converting a Catholic , that would about every night wake up in a cold sweat frearing he would burn in hell, into a free thinking athiest, I was able to help him completely rid this fear of hell. It took him a few months after figuring out religions was BS.

However, the Athiest Experience [atheist-experience.com] (Think it was episode before 22.07 had a caller (recovering theist?)) like yourself who was still fearing hell even though he had figured it out to be no longer a valid fear had a long discussion with the hosts. I recommend watching that episode. (This topic has been addressed on this show on many occasions).

I’ve been an atheist since age 12. And never really believed in religion before that. Even though my parents made me go to church every Wednesday night and twice on Sunday. So I never really feared hell. But my guess is the fear of hell has ingrained into your core beliefs. You should be proud that you have over come the indoctrination as much as you have. Deprogramming will take some time. You will get there. I’m a ex gun nut. The fear that the government was going to come and try and take all my guns was ingrained in me from a early age. If I can overcome that you can overcome the fear of hell.

I'm a relatively new atheist, but I must have been thinking about all this in the back of my mind for some time. I can honestly say I have no fear of hell. If I do have any fear of hell it seems to be on the same level as a fear of being bitten by the Easter Bunny.

The belief in a real hell was instilled in you as it is in most christians, and I don't think you will get over it instantly, but in time, as you delve more and more into your non-theist studies, you will. The most important thing I have found in my life is to be patient with myself. I let go of religion years ago, but within the last year, labeled myself an atheist. I don't think I ever really believed anyway. Religions know that fear is their strongest weapon and they know how to use it so just think logically and use reasoning.

Personally, I found that that fear recedes over time. I too was raised an evangelical christian. It's the fear that keeps people "in line". A fear of death is natural for all human beings. But I think ultimately it's the quality of the life you lead now that matters.