I tend to commonly baffle my christian friends and family (not mention those I encounter online) with my statement "If heaven was real I'd rather not exist than go there, heaven is immoral". I'd now like to expand on to what I mean by that. As such for the remainder of this post I will be assuming Heaven is real (taken from a Christian perspective).
Firstly even the concept of a heaven/hell scenario seems horrible to me. IF we get our sense of justice/mercy from a god, how then does infinite punishment/reward for finite crimes fit our understanding of justice/mercy. True justice is when the punishment meets the crime exactly and mercy is alleviating punishment based on empathy/compassion/forgiveness. What crime could we possibly commit in a finite life that would justify infinite punishment?
Assuming heaven exists, I strongly believe that being there, for me, would either be a form of torture or completely immoral. It would be torture for me, mentally, for me to enjoy the "joys" of heaven while I know people I care for (or just people in general) are burning in hell. I care too much about the well being of the people I love to idly sit by and worship a deity that has deemed billions of people unworthy of "paradise". Based on my actions here on earth I know that I would begin a petition to release those in hell and if that didn't work I would out right revolt (is it possible Lucifer did what he did because he is more moral than God?) IF a god is truly responsible for our sense of empathy and compassion why allow me the ability to care for others on earth if for a far longer time (forever) I have to suspend those emotions?
The only way I could enjoy heaven is if God fundamentally changed who I am as a person in such a way that I am no longer me. This, in my opinion, is an immoral act. We would not abide by those standards here on earth. Can you imagine the outrage if we tampered with someones brain to the point where they could no feel empathy (or any human emotion)?
If I die and a god tells me I have done well enough to receive the "gift" of eternity in heaven I will gladly and without remorse reply:
"Thank you for the offer sir (assuming male here) but I respectfully decline and would rather be non-existent"
I guess I can only hope he would be merciful and accept my request.
thank you for reading
thoughts and comments are always welcome
-Moon Walking Unicorn
Heaven as a concept has always confused me. For it to truly be paradise we would never have to disagree with people, or come into contact with those we disagree with or dislike. Sometimes however those people can be people we love, such as members of our family. But isn't heaven supposed to be the place where we once again find our long lost loved ones? This then makes me think that heaven would be more like the dreams in the film inception, where characters and places in the dream are just projections of the dreamers imagination. Every one's idea of heaven would be different, and the people there would favor our views even if in reality they did not. So would heaven, if it did exist, just be a lonely place where the people surrounding us are just projections of the real people, with those people themselves being in their own little realm of heaven in their own version of paradise.
ReplyDeleteI want to first thank you for your comment (as you are my first!)
ReplyDeleteI agree either we lose the very qualities that make us human or its just a figment of our imagination. Either way nobody is really there
This is awesome. I struggled with this exact thought myself. Going to write up something to respond later. If by chance there is a God gets the say in how things go, whether you can come to heaven, perish, or go to Hell then He would be in absolute control no matter how our minds can justify what is moral and right and wrong. If we really have no control and Christianity would happen to be the actual code to follow - then were lucky that "Love covers a multitude of sins" and "Loving your Neighbor fulfills all the law" In Luke a woman who is known as a huge sinner in the town is looked down upon by the others Jesus said "Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven - for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." So going to hell over these minor infractions you speak of might be countered more than you think because God makes it about love, or atleast this is the real context of the bible. Plus judge not and you will not be judged. Forgive and you will be forgiven. God's teachings make sense more if you look at how the good drives mankind to be better, than to just focus on the negative aspects that are without full answer. But I got much more on topic to bring up!
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