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How do you guys overcome the fear of Hell? I know it still slightly nags at me from time to time, so I would like to hear from people who also came from religion. Though, anyone can answer.

Renadt 4 Nov 16
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0

I lived through hell twice by the time I was 22.

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I think the moment I overcame my fear of hell was the moment I went through something so traumatically damaging (at the hands of religious people no less) that I could honestly say Ive already been there, done that.

Like with most things there are many ways to go about shedding yourself of fear and prejudices, personal shame and all the layers of rotten onion religion sprouted around you. There are going to be all sorts of destructive thought patterns to defeat if youve freshly deconverted but I believe it can be boiled down to educating yourself and pulling at every thread of curiousity about your own life, human history, sciences, eastern religions and youll fill in the gaps of your understanding and find out what youre really afraid of.

To start with read up on the 5 different rootwords that were translated into hell in the modern bible. One of those words (the one that all the passages about fire and brimstone used) is literally referring to a place where garbage was dumped and burned. These were so obviously either a) meant to be taken as metaphors or b) made up completely to scare and control people.

Another angle to look at it from is, if the abrahamic god did exist, hes such a horrible prideful wrathful entity with so much apathy for the suffering of the helpless and poor masses that I wouldnt spend eternity with him if he begged me. Hes a completely morally bankrupt prick and Im with satan all the way if these shitheads are for real. Spoiler alert: theyre not but Im still completely sure about my allegiance if they were.

Also hell is where all the cool and interesting people are going to be, so even if it does suck, Ill be in good company.

Research both satanism (the satanic temple not church of nor lavayan nor luciferian) and buddhism, and look up psoas release yoga on youtube. Work your mind n body out between that and a creative pursuit of choice and youll conquer fears you didnt know you had.

Love that song!

4

Since I don't believe in Hell, it doesn't scare me. I also don't believe in Heaven.

At age 13, I became an atheist when I realized the Bible is just a book of stories written by men.

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Look into the actual history of the concept. The "hell" that we know was mostly created by Dante in the 14th century book "Inferno". What gets translated as "hell" in the Bible is actually the place name "gehenna", which referred to a burning garbage dump outside Jerusalem.

Orbit Level 7 Nov 16, 2018
3

In much the same way as I overcome my fear of being eaten by a giant half-tiger/half-fish monster with five hundred eyes and teeth made out of rusty fence-posts - it doesn't exist, so I'm not worried about it.

Jnei Level 8 Nov 16, 2018
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I do not fear what I don't believe exists.
I know hell isn't real, so there's nothing to be afraid of.

2

Fortunately I never had the terror of hell even as an evangelical. I think some people are constitutionally more prone to it than others. It also depends on the exact version of hellthreat you were suckled on (my denomination emphasized "eternal security" ). It also is influenced by the type of parenting you received (mine were not particularly authoritarian).

My take-away from this is that since there are people who have zero fear of hell simply because they never heard of it, and there are even people like me who heard of it but have zero fear, then there's no reality to the fear apart from the campfire stories being told and the willingness of people to be credulous about it.

Finally, when you really look into it, common notions about hell owe more to Milton and Dante and to Elizabethan biases in the translation of the Bible and Hellenistic influences on the New Testament authors, than to what little the Bible actually says about it and how e.g. the ancient Hebrews actually viewed it. Most likely what you've heard is not only divorced from reality, but even from the scriptures themselves.

2

Wtf did this to you lad? Seriously that is child abuse. No one should be brought up fearing an imaginary place like that. It really angers me that this happened to you. Just think it through. Where you in hell before you were alive? No life is the here and now. Grab it by the horns and ride it's back for all you are worth. Keep bloody holding on because seriously this is all you have. Nothing good to save for...nothing bad to avoid, just us hanging on for dear life.

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addendum to my answer: I realize the draw of that occasional nagging feeling of what if? is tempting to listen to but youve gotta remember that Pascals wager doesnt work. If youre unfamiliar thats the concept that we should believe to hedge our bets because if a believer is wrong no big deal but if an atheist is wrong they go to hell.

Thats logistically nonsense for 2 reasons: first any omnipotent being that knew you had even considered that would know that you don't have true faith only fear as a motivator and youd be disqualified and sent to hell for deciding too logistically if anything. And second the existence of god isnt a 50/50 either/or issue. Theres thousands of possible true gods if theres even one. Which one are you betting on and why? Because of the geography of where youre born? Because of these factors the chances of faith saving you from anything are slim to none and slim just slipped out the back.

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If you have real fear of hell, I'd say you haven't fully left your belief behind. Maybe time for some introspection.

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Ah , Hell. That totally contrived eternal horror created to keep the sinners in line . Continually threaten them with damnation, and heavily instilled guilt !

No fear here.

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The short answer is: the same way you rid yourself of the fear of monsters as a child; by reminding yourself that it isn't real.

The long answer: even IF Hell is real, people don't go there, and even if they do, it's not what you've been told. Most of the imagery we associate with Hell come from political social control efforts, from Dante, from Heironymous Bosch, from the Puritans.

Hell only has one defining characteristic, and one target demographic. Angels who either joined the Luciferian rebellion or took no side were condemned to Hell. Which is simply a place devoid of the presence of God. Which, for beings whose very design makes them addicted and/or slaves to their own worship and adoration of God, is punishment enough. That's it. Just a dark emptiness where fallen Angels cannot feel the warm light of their addiction.

Everything else is a human construct designed to fear-monger the ignorant masses into obeying the social edicts of the Church, which was a legitimate international political force for hundreds of years.

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Your in Hell right now. Think about it.

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When I overcame the fear of gods, werewolves, goblins that lived under my bed. Just made sense to me that if it doesn't exist, then it is not rational to be afraid of it. "Hell" is a man made mind fuck meant to manipulate. Thats all.

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How do you guys overcome the fear of Hell?” With the certainty that we’re simply living it 🙂

Varn Level 8 Nov 16, 2018
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It is SOOOOOOO unlikely to be true! Even IF it were, there are so many religions and sects that have different interpretations of how to get there that one would still be stumped (ie: all Christians are going to Muslim hell)!

1

I completely do not believe there is hell, a physical place of damnation imposed upon me at Catholic school. When I die, I decompose to organic matter. Full stop. No afterlife. No reincarnation. I shall purposefully make sure that by the end of my lifetime, I will have made a difference, however far my mortal body and humble knowledge and strength would allow me, by helping the less fortunate ones, respecting every individual at all cost, and, in my personal circumstance as a transgender woman, fighting for inclusivity and equality for all. Only then will I have realised my life lived to the full.

I am currently involving myself in charity work with adults with learning disabilities. I volunteer in LGBTQI+ groups whenever possible with special emphasis to the transgender community. I keep my family and friends close as they are invaluable to my general well-being. I can only do so much to make this world a better place for future generation. I think I'm positively living a life of purpose and hell is definitely the least of my worries.

1

i don't come from religion, per se. i was raised in a secular jewish family, but even if i had been raised as a religious jew, heaven and hell really don't come into it. jewish sermons don't have fire and brimstone. judaism doesn't have a devil (jewish folklore sometimes does but that's different and it's still quite different from the christian devil, heaven and hell). so i never really had a hell to fear. just keep reminding yourself: it's a fairy tale! you may as well be afraid of the big bad wolf 🙂)

g

1

I don't remember ever having a fear of hell.

Me either and I grew up in the church. Fire, brimstone and all. Guess I don't scare easy. ?

1

If hell is real its gonna be lit cause most my friends and family will be there.

And you can bet my great grandma will NOT take any shit from satan. Hell she probably would be sitting on the throne

1

It is strictly a makebelieve place created by control freaks to manipulate people.

1

I have NO fear of hell at all. I life a fair, honest and compassionate life. If there's some "god" puppet-master who decides I wasn't on my knees praying to "it" enough, then all is lost anyway. Not playing that game. No fear. Just living life kindly. That should be all that's needed. If everyone would just do that we'd have no problems on this planet. And no need for "gods".

0

I really never feared it when I did believe. I surely don't now. But honestly, I'm of the attitude that if any god DID exist and that god chose a punishment such as hell for ANYTHING, let alone disbelief, I would go and go gladly and spit in that fucker's face while they dragged me away. I have no need for a god, particularly not one with such a penchant for cruelty.

0

I stopped believing in hell before I stopped believing in god.

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I was raised Catholic. Went to Catholic school for 12 years. Taught by nuns who had no idea about life,but could put the fear of god in us! Went to church faithfully. Married in the church and raised my children in Catholicism. Attended prayer meetings, believed in heaven and hell. Then I started to have life changes. My parents lived with me for 10 years. Did not have good communication skills with them or my husband. We all avoided confrontation like the plague! Without going into detail,I slowly realized there was no god to help me. If you don't believe in heaven then there absolutely can be no hell! All the comments on here have a lot of value. Don't waste your emotional well being on what not is. Hope this helps!

0

I realized that the tales about hell are the same as the ones about the boogeyman: made-up to frighten childen into behaving. We have the same evidence for both, i.e. none - so they are not worth your despair. If you're interested, Narnia is a much more exciting make-belief place...I focus my attention on other fantasy genres that peak my interest and leave the bible alone. Next time somebody brings up hell, bring up Middle Earth... in my experience reading the Lord of the Rings is far more worthwhile and coherent than the Bible. Trust me, I come from a religious family and background, and when I start hearing about the devil, I say 'but Frodo threw the ring into fires of Mordor and Sauron was vaquished - and we all lived happily ever after.' NEXT!

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