Does the thought of Hell ever scare an atheist?

[southerndog]

PASCAL'S WAGER!

[StayHungry]

Hell only scares someone ignorant enough to let christian guilt infect their mind. I've pondered hell, and I quickly realise it's somthing not worth thinking about

[StayHungry]

What I mean is, Hell is worthy of some thought, but only in reference to who thought it up. an inquisitive person will discover this and move on

[Splendour]

I also found this bit of scripture that speaks more specifically about voodoo type practices:

Isaiah 8:11

A Boulder Blocking Your Way
11-15God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:
"Don't be like this people,
always afraid somebody is plotting against them.
Don't fear what they fear.
Don't take on their worries.
If you're going to worry,
worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The Holy can be either a Hiding Place
or a Boulder blocking your way,
The Rock standing in the willful way
of both houses of Israel,
A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass
to the citizens of Jerusalem.
Many of them are going to run into that Rock
and get their bones broken,
Get tangled up in that barbed wire
and not get free of it."

16-18Gather up the testimony,
preserve the teaching for my followers,
While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding,
while I wait and hope for him.
I stand my ground and hope,
I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel,
Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
who makes his home in Mount Zion.

19-22When people tell you, "Try out the fortunetellers.
Consult the spiritualists.
Why not tap into the spirit-world,
get in touch with the dead?"
Tell them, "No, we're going to study the Scriptures."
People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
Frustrated and famished,
they try one thing after another.
When nothing works out they get angry,
cursing first this god and then that one,
Looking this way and that,
up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,
A blank wall, an empty hole.
They end up in the dark with nothing.

Note that this sounds curiously like what we are suppose to be doing today.

[MaxWeiss]

[ QUOTE ]
I also found this bit of scripture that speaks more specifically about voodoo type practices:

Isaiah 8:11

A Boulder Blocking Your Way
11-15God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:
"Don't be like this people,
always afraid somebody is plotting against them.
Don't fear what they fear.
Don't take on their worries.
If you're going to worry,
worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The Holy can be either a Hiding Place
or a Boulder blocking your way,
The Rock standing in the willful way
of both houses of Israel,
A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass
to the citizens of Jerusalem.
Many of them are going to run into that Rock
and get their bones broken,
Get tangled up in that barbed wire
and not get free of it."

16-18Gather up the testimony,
preserve the teaching for my followers,
While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding,
while I wait and hope for him.
I stand my ground and hope,
I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel,
Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
who makes his home in Mount Zion.

19-22When people tell you, "Try out the fortunetellers.
Consult the spiritualists.
Why not tap into the spirit-world,
get in touch with the dead?"
Tell them, "No, we're going to study the Scriptures."
People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
Frustrated and famished,
they try one thing after another.
When nothing works out they get angry,
cursing first this god and then that one,
Looking this way and that,
up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,
A blank wall, an empty hole.
They end up in the dark with nothing.

Note that this sounds curiously like what we are suppose to be doing today.

[/ QUOTE ]

Personally, I've always followed the Path of the Beam.

[dragonystic]

the thought doesnt scare this atheist in the least

[vetiver]

I love religious people who believe in hell and get secret pleasure from envisioning atheists burning in hell for not surrendering to their ultimate, illogical truth. The irony is that their omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent god would create humans he loved but send them into a world equipped with logic. Logic that serves them well in every aspect of life except the afterlife where they'll suffer for all eternity. Such a tricky god.

[Zagga]

To OP cause I didn't read the other topics

[ QUOTE ]
i know most atheists are confident in their belief that there is no God...especially the Christian God.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is not true. Many athiests are not especially against the christian god but that is just the religion they come across most. Or do you imply here that atheists are satanists or that hindustic people (or whatever other religion) are atheists too?
[ QUOTE ]

Does the thought of Hell ever worry you?

What if God really did create the world/create mankind, and decide that each man would have 1 of 2 destines...eternity in bliss or eternity in torment and our time on Earth would determine that. On top of that God decided there would only be one way to spend eternity in bliss(example: Belief in Jesus Christ as your savior). What if we are creations, and we will never cease to exist for the rest of eternity, and the rest of eternity will be spent in one of two places. Doesn't the slight chance that this is possible worry one just a little?


[/ QUOTE ]

This question can be reversed. Does a Christian ever worry about if he has picked the right faith? What says his particulair faith is the one that is really true? Do christians worry if perhaps after they die the muslims were correct and they go to hell becouse they didnt support mohammed? Do they worry that the catholics were correct if they were protestants? Do they worry if they wil reincarnate into a ferret? Wouldn't the slight change of that worry one just a little?

As for me (an atheist), I don't worry at all about hell. I just can't believe in the concept of heaven and hell and even if it does excist, then with quite some religions I would prefer hell simply becouse of some god being so egoistic that he demands people to worship him and only let those in. I wouldn't want to be in a heaven were terrorists are being worshipped with 7 maidens.

EDIT: beside that all, why are there so much theological debates in this forum section?

[MidGe]

[ QUOTE ]
EDIT: beside that all, why are there so much theological debates in this forum section?

[/ QUOTE ]

As an atheist my only posts about the god fallacy are in response to those that suggest otherwise. The sooner they get off their soapboxes and stay within the boundaries of their churches and homes the quieter I'll become!

[zasterguava]

Christopher Hitchens (an atheist) stated that he would now trust anyone who would not contemplate the existence of God should they be on top of a mountain top looking over some beautiful tropic (something like that anywy,). Well, on that basis he would not trust me; I tend to only marvel at the wanders of nature and dont have it in me to extend this to a supernatural belief.

However, the only time I do contemplate the existence of God is when I think about hell and the horrors that could be leashed upon someone upon their afterlife- and in this sense I am scared by the thought of hell; which is why I am an antitheist. I think this is a good testament that religion appeals to our grimmest emotions, corrupts children and is generally unhealthy. I think Thomas Paine put it best when he said "anything that scares the minds of children can not be true." (even though he's wrong; he's right in regards to religion which is what he was basing this on)