Do You Believe We Are Living In Hell?

[Blade96]

according to what Bill said here I'm headed straight for hell according to christian doctrine.

and you are too Ken =]

Detroit is not Hell. Detroit exists so that people in Hell can say, "Well, at least we aren't in Detroit."

Hey. How can Detroit be hell when it has my favorite NHL team there? :angel:

 

[OnlyAnEgg]

The more I see this thread grow, the more I believe I'm in hell.

 

[Touch Of Death]

I know this is a weird question considering it's Good Friday. But here go's.

Do you think this is Hell we are currently living in? Or do you believe this is an "inbetween' where we will either go to Heaven or Hell when we die? Or do you believe something different?

A couple of years ago I was in Las Vegas and was invited to see a psychic show starring Sylvia Browne. Although, I wasn't too impressed with her psychic abilities (based on some of her answers to the individuals in the crowd) I was entertained. It was thought provoking.

She mentioned something during the show that I immediately dismissed as BS. She said that we are currently living in Hell. This is Hell, and when you die you will either go to Heaven or you will stay in this world (Hell) and hover around endlessly as a disturbed spirit.

Recently, with an event that took place in my life, I've been thinking about her words alot. Maybe there is something to what she said. Maybe this is Hell. So many questions and so few answers.

When you consider there are multiple dimensions, sure.
Sean

 

[JDenver]

I'm actually a fan of some Gnostic beliefs, which is smack dab where this question sits.

First of all, most Gnostics would say that Jesus exists in all of us. 'He' wasn't an actual person, but is a set of precepts.

Also, that we are living in Hell. That is to say, we create awful physical prisons for ourselves by not having an association to Jesus, which means to the 'One', the universe.

Sorry that I've missed so much in here already!

 

[pmosiun1]

"What most religious people call faith is in reality doubt.

Real Faith is not a belief.

A belief is a doubt. It would be impossible to hold one without also holding the other. Two halves of one coin.

If you have real faith you don't need belief. In fact, the depths of ones Faith can be measured in direct proportion to that individuals lack of beliefs. . . . . . .and the majority of people who claim a religious faith have that completely upside down the majority of the time.

Good scientists have far more Faith then most religious people do.

A good scientists will say, "my mind is open to the truth, whatever the truth turns out to be. And, I may have a hypothesis in mind as to what the truth may be, and I am going to test it."

That is true Faith.

Faith is also trusting yourself to water. . . learning to surf is an act of Faith. Swimming can be an act of Faith. . . .to stay afloat you have to learn to relax, to let go, and not to cling or hold tight. If you hold tight, if you cling, you will drown.

A person who is a fanatic in religion, who believes certain concepts, dogma, or belief systems about the universe and the idea of God, and who clings tight and holds strong to those concepts. . .that person is NOT a person of Faith.

In fact they hold no Faith at all.

That clinging and holding tight IS the dominant religious worlds actual definition of Faith. . . . and it is of course, totally backwards.

Faith is not clinging. Faith IS openness.
Faith is not holding tight. Faith IS letting go.

The trust in God, or an absolute reality, that one cannot conceive of in any way. . .is a far higher form of Faith than fervent clinging to a god or reality of which you have a definite conception of.

The Buddhist word Nirvana actually means to 'breathe out'. . .letting GO is the actual manifestation of true Faith."

Matt Thornton on Faith.

 

[Ken Morgan]

Matt Thornton on Faith.

 

[Tomu]

Hell? No.

Samsara? Yes.

To live is to suffer in my belief. Now suffering doesn't have to be starving to death or torture. Just the normal stuff. Aches and pains. Kids that dont act right. Governments. Paying taxes. All suffering. The trick is to realize that this isn't a bad/good thing. Only the way things are. For me every moment I realize this in my life, I experience pure joy.

The problem is its one of the hardest things I've ever attemted.

Well worth it though, IMO.

 

[seasoned]

No, here we have choices, there the choice is already made.

 

[Ken Morgan]

Cool, got my first negative rep for this one!!
No name alas......

 

[Brother John]

Sylvia Browne is the biggest, cheesiest fraud....bar none.
I wouldn't take advice from her on how to change a tire, let alone be swayed one way or the other on her cosmology or theology.

Hell = Christian concept. It is the easiest of 2 options, according to general christian theology. It doesn't come to the living, the dead (in their 'sin') go to IT.

Personally: As a christian, I believe in Hell, I believe it to be a state of ceaseless torment of body, mind and soul. IF you've ever had a moment to breath deep, relax and smile even once..... experienced something pleasurable or known any glimer of love either given or recieved....
you're FAR from it.


Your Brother
John