Can the christian (or muslim for that matter) doctrine of hell

[kryptic]

ever be justified?
I have a friend who started to attend a pentecostal church a couple of years ago. Some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth is frankly alarming.
We got talking the other day about the afterlife (which I dont believe in) and he seems to think that it is perfectly justifiable that I will spend my eternity in hell because I dont believe in God. (at least not in the religious sense). I have lost a fair few loved ones over the years, all good people but not religious, and he seems to think that its justified in some way to believe that these folk are burning in a fiery lake. If it wasnt for the fact that I believe he has been brainwashed (and the fact that we have been friends a long time) I might be tempted to clock him one when he comes out with stuff like this.
Any thoughts on hell or on how to deal with this kind of indoctrination?

[kryptic]

keyplus,
I honestly dont know what you are talking about, sorry.
Your god threatens to torture people for eternity if they dont believe in him, thats not free will, thats an ultimatum.
Free will allows others (in the example I cited, my wife) to make mistakes without the FEAR of retribution...especialy eternal retribution that involves unimaginable suffering.
This is NOT the same as punishment for breaking the law of the land.

[kryptic]

actually, change the word mistakes in my above post to choices.

[beso]

Birdie, the holy books make it quite clear that Abraham's monster loves the smell of seared flesh. Of course He wants most people to end up in Hell.

[venator]

Two things Kryptic -

There are plenty of other religions who believe that your Pentecostal friend will burn in Hell, if that's any comfort...

Is there a religion that doesn't ask for your money or whatever? Even Buddhist monks seem to manage without working.

[keyplus90]

/////keyplus,
I honestly dont know what you are talking about, sorry.////

Exactly as I expected.

And in that case I would go back to my very first post and finish off. Why are you worried then? Hell does not exist for you. So relax. And probably same goes to my ood friend birdie.

[kryptic]

keyplus, I'm not worried about going to a non existant eternal torture chamber. But I do find it rather worrying that some people actually do believe in it and furthermore seek to show thats its a fitting punishment for non believers. Anyone who believes that its a just punishment to torture souls for all of eternity for the sin of non-belief, displays a rather disturbrd psyche in my opinion.

[keyplus90]

That's your opinion so just keep it that way. Others may have their opinion too which you may not agree with. So if you believe your opinion is right then that does not mean other's is wrong. However if you have an opinion about other people's opinion being wrong then you need to face and answer the questions asked instead of saying that they do not make sense. Or at least think about the questions in your own spare time and see if you could stick to your opinion that you were not worried.

[kryptic]

Eh?
Are you always this opinuated on this forum?
And do you always avoid answering questions put to you?

[starone]

After reading this I am glad I am not religious and have not had to go through life thinking such horrible things. This world is so beautiful and we are so fortunate to live here. O.K. so horrible things happen but most of them are man-made and now and then Mother Nature gets up and snarls. But most of the time life is lovely. IMO

[RATTER15]

I agree Starbuck, Nature is a fantastic thing. I don't need a god, its so freeing not having one.

I have my own set of moral standards that appear to be far higher than most Christians!!

When I die I know it is the end, no Heaven, No Hell, No fear. just the end, finito. Im totally happy with this!

[starone]

Me too, RATTER. It is the Earth that is important, not us. We just go back into it when we die and supply a little bit of nutrient for the next thing that grows where we are buried or our ashes scattered. The thing is to enjoy as much as you can while you have a chance.

[RATTER15]

Starbuck, I agree >>>The thing is to enjoy as much as you can while you have a chance<<<< I make the most of this life as I know its the only one im getting.

Dont assume a second chance!!! :-)

[Cowtipper]

I'm an oddball Christian. I don't believe we go to heaven or hell. I can back it up but I'm busy drinking white russians and shouldn't be arguing philosophy.

[keyplus90]

My birdie - Without going to all other meaningless things you have written I would only ask you to clarify one you said at the beginning of your post.

///Keyplus – In my last post I stated that it seemed unfair that people go to Hell because they lived before Mohammed revealed the Islamic faith to the people of this planet.////

Where did you get that from? And so far I was ignoring you as most of the time your posts are better ignored because they do not make any sense. But whenever you would claim or put a reference about Islam (baseless of course, as that is your speciality) I would ask you to prove that. So explain that why do you believe what you said there?