Where does an atheist go?

[saxy_jag]

If an atheist dies and discovers that, after all, there is a heaven and a hell, and if the only thing he's ever done wrong is not believe in God (if indeed non-belief is a sin), where does he end up?

Also, would it matter whether he was someone who had just never known about God (therefore couldn't have believed in it), or was someone who had been told about God and rejected the idea?

[chakka35]

Naturally, I agree with Ratter15: the whole thing is nonsense, an insult to, a betrayal of, the intelligence that evolution has given us. But I sometimes have fun thinking this way:

I may have mentioned before that on my shelf is a book listing over 2500 deities that mankind has invented over the millennia, the Abrahamic 'God' being just one of them (and one of the least interesting, by the way).

So when I get to Celestial Reception, if there is a deity there the chances are very small that it will be 'God'. It might be Zeus, Epimethus, Lu Tong-Pin, Herysaf or Baal. In which case I reckon to be treated with a certain amount of tolerance. I expect him, her or it to say something like:

"Well, at least you were impartial:you didn't worship a false god like these Jews, Christians and Muslims did. They, I'll tell you, are going straight to El to suffer for ever for their infernal cheek! Mm..I'll give you a little bungalow out in the suburbs of Paradise. Quite comfortable but lacking some of the amenities my true worshippers have. Cheerio!"

D'you reckon?

[RATTER15]

I wreckon!!

[saxy_jag]

Ratter, you've got me thinking about playing the harp. I play the saxophone. That has been nicknamed 'the devil's horn' in some circles. So I think hell's a given, then?

Bosschester, seriously, I've no worries. I believe that my body, whether cremated or buried or even fed to the dog, will be absorbed back into the earth and, over time, will undergo such physical and molecular change that I may become part of any or many other life forms. That is how I believe I will live on. That and the difference I can make to people's lives and attitudes whilst I am here.

[keyplus90]

And those who believe and do good deeds, they are dwellers of Paradise, they dwell therein forever. (Quran, 2:82)

Nowhere in Quran it says that you would go to paradise ONLY for believing. You have to do good deeds too.

[saxy_jag]

As I've always said, you don't have to be a Christian to be good, and you don't have to be good to be a Christian. I think you could take out the 'Christian' though and substitute just about any religion. Terribly sad that a few get such a bad name for the others.

On the other hand, I know a good number of Wiccans and Pagans, and I can't say I've met a single one that I didn't trust.

[naomi24]

Isn't it rather hypocritical to do good only for selfish reasons - like you'll go to heaven?

[saxy_jag]

I am of the opinion that we do good from selfish reasons whether we think we're going to heaven or not. After all, doing good usually makes us feel better about ourselves - otherwise we wouldn't do it.

There's also so the underlying agenda, namely that if we do some good for someone, then they or someone else will reciprocate.

In this case I'd say it's not bad to be selfish. We just need to accept that we are.

[naomi24]

Saxy, I think that's true for some - certainly in the case of one or two Christians I know. Their halos are practically strangling them! However, some people do good because that's just the way they're made, and they expect no reward and no reciprocation. Others are, for one reason or another, compelled to do what we perceive as 'good' because there is no alternative, and they often either resent it and do it under sufferance - or wear themselves to a frazzle in the process. I don't think they get any special personal satisfaction from it. They're just pleased when they can stop.

[saxy_jag]

Don't get me wrong here. I have no problem with anyone doing good deeds in order to feel better inside. It's why I do it and I also know some incredibly good people who help others simply because they are able to and feel morally impelled to do so. Whether or not such people consciously think about the 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' idea, I wouldn't know.

Quite honestly, if people do have these subconscious agenda, it's not a bad thing. After all, when someone has been good to you, you'd like to think you can help them in return and if they get a good feeling from what they're doing, well, they deserve to.

[jomifl]

That's a lot of ifs.

[jomifl]

He or she could end up anywhere but it won't be in heaven or hell unless there are burial grounds with these names, which I doubt.