Does Anyone Else Find Eternal Punishment Is Unjust and Unloving?
356693
This is one of the reasons why I stopped being Christian and became spiritual instead.  I don't believe in an all loving supreme being condemning his children to eternal torture and damnation. \nI especially found the "burning in the fiery pit of hell"  harder to believe after I had kids of my own.  I loved them so much, that I could never hurt them (for eternity) just because they did something I declared as wrong.
1077950
Of course I deserve to go to hell.  Everyone does.  It's only by the grace and blood of Jesus Christ that any of us are made worthy of heaven and eternal life.
31358
I dont necessarily think its hell.  I think its the median between heaven and hell.  Think about it.  You've got good and evil on earth.  Makes sense, no?
881633
I'm sorry if you're experiencing something that's upsetting you so much that you hate most all people right now.  I hope it's not the way you feel on a daily basis.  That would be a tough existence indeed.\n\nI do not choose to define you by this one question, as most the rest of the answerers seem to have.\n\nYou may be interested to know - or you may already know - God has destroyed relatively large groups of people in the past who were involved in wicked things such as child sacrifice (as in the case of the Canaanites), debased sexual wrongs (as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah) and extreme violence and physical abuse (as in the case of the flood) among other things.\n\nIt certainly is unfair that righteous, meek people must be constantly affected by people who choose to ruin themselves, others and this planet.  But the Bible, at Revelation 11:18, explains that God will soon "bring to ruin those ruining the earth."\n\nPsalm 37:10, 11, 29 says, "And just a little while longer and the wicked will be no more; and you will certainly give attention to his place and he will not be.  But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth and they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace...The righteous themselves will possess the earth and they will reside forever upon it."\n\nJust how many people on the earth today are "wicked" and how many are "righteous?"  We cannot know the number or the percentage precisely, but the Bible makes it clear that the majority of mankind is on the "wide and spacious road leading to destruction" and very few are on the "narrow and cramped road leading to life." (Matthew 7:13)\n\nHowever, you can gain a lot of peace by adopting God's view of the situation.  Though he will do what is necessary to clean up the earth and make life worth living for those who are willing to meet his requirements, "Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not wish any to be destroyed, but desires all to attain to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)\n\nIf you look at people causing you hardship or pain of any kind as people who potentially will eventually see the light of truth and make changes for the better, just like Saul who later became known as the Apostle Paul, you will find greater joy in life now.\n\nI highly recommend you get yourself a copy of the book called What Does the Bible Really Teach?  I'm sure it will help you deal with troubling situations and so far unanswered questions or unsatisfying answers you've received elsewhere.\n\nI wish you well!
1565
Think about this...I am a father of three beautiful children.  No matter what they did, didn't do or could do, I could never say to them "I'm sending you away to eternal suffering and never want to see you again".  Now, I'm not even close to being Divine- not nearly as loving or merciful as so many state God is; I'm human and prone to err.  So if I can forgive MY child for anything, how is it that an Omnipotent Divinity that is perfect cannot?  My belief is every soul is recycled until all the lessons needed are learned and then they are accepted into "heaven" or to join with The Divine.  It's the only thing that makes sense to me.
1019548
Yes it is a sin. I am a Christian, Baptist to be precise.
268853
:}\nYou are of course exactly right!\nWe deserve no better than hell fire eternally.\nWe have all sinned and fallen short of his glory\nJustice does not allow some in who and keep others out who sinned\nDeath is the wage of sin\nAll sinners go to hell\nWe are all sinners.\nPRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS BEYYER PLAN\nThats the gospel (good news)  \nthe verdict has already been carried out. the punishment for my sin hasalready been executed.\nHe paid my sin debt
904796
I agree with you completely, my brother.  I am a Christian, and I do NOT serve a god of cruelty and slaughter.  I serve the true, living, eternal God, the source of all love and compassion and mercy.  Thank you for your question.
1077911
yes and yes\n\nyou cannot hold on to your sin and and Christ. You cannot serve God and mammon (other gods). which is anything that takes priority over God. All need to turn from sin that's repent = 180 degree turn.\n1Cor 6:9-11Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor *homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.\n\nMessenger
368450
Eternal torture is perhaps a misleading term.  Eternal separation from God is more accurate.  God is perfect, and we chose (by eating forbidden fruit) to be imperfect.  It was our choice.  In making this decision, we forfeited the ability to atain perfection on our own.  No matter how good natured we are (and most people are), we are not stain free.  Even as adults, we do things that hurt others and take us further from perfection.We cannot return to a perfect God if we are Imperfect.  That is why he himself (as Jesus) sacrificed his own perfect self, so he could GIVE us the perfection we could never attain on our own.  If we refuse to accept this gift, if we refuse to admit that we cannot be perfect, no matter how hard we try, no matter how good we are, then we remain imperfect and cannot return to God.  The common notion of hell was concieved by Middle age monks and radicals and have no foundation in scripture.  By my translation (which I cannot guarantee is correct), Hell does not yet exist, and won't exist until after the End times.
915672
although beating someone, yes, i guess is moraly wrong . i can see why you might want to smack a ho every now and then.
694592
I don't believe there is a hell.  Why would a supreme being have petty emmotions like venegence?  What use would there be?  He wants us to learn from mistakes, and he forgives...so why a hell?  It's a bit harsh.
688554
sounds like your intellect is taking over the from the "brain-washing" of modern church-run christianity...I do the same as you, and gave up on the so-called christians.  do your own thing, as long as it is good, true, and beneficial to others without spite, judgement and intolerance, you will go to heaven....stay away from the bible thumpers
1187722
It all depends on if you believe in eternal life, heaven and hell.  If so...I guess that is a way to look at it...It hardly seems fair that how you spend eternity is judged by a mere 70 or 80 years...That is why I don't believe in any of it.
735458
I'm an atheist, first of all.\nI have a couple of problems with your question:\n-By what standard does the punishment fit or not fit a crime? How can you sum up the cost of adultery, homosexuality, and other sins, since their cost(loss) to society differs based on the culture.\n-You cannot compare stoning with a "possibly future punishment" of lasting torment.
996467
YES!! The judgment is that we are all guilty.\nThe penalty for this crime is our very lives (eternal death).\nBUT...\n A man walked into our courtroom and paid that fine, took our place and DIED IN OUR PLACE.\nThat man was Jesus.\n\nRepent and trust Him to save you.
643969
I'm sorry - you seem to have produced an opinionated rant rather than a question.  \n\nIf there is no God and only karma then there is no need for any morality at all because cosmically my actions will eventually all balance out.  If all actions are paid back as consequences then there there is no logical motivation to do anything remotely selfish as you will suffer for it.  And also one can not perform a good of selfless deed as you will be in a very direct way the benificiary in the long run.\nThus if one cannot perform a selfish act without it being agaisnt one's own interest and one cennot help someone without cosmically benefitting then there is absolutly no basis for ethics or morality.\nBy this thinking I could go out and murder ten children and eat their still warm innards knowing fully that I would bear the consequenes of my actions and because of this I would not really have done an act which would make the world any worse.  And conversly I could choose to become a doctor just to gain the benefits of helping others.\n\nI cannot accept this as being the case.  If karma removes morality by ensuring balanced and equal consequence to every deed I do it essentially removes the concepts of free will, and ethics and reduces humanity to cosmic automata no different to innanimate objects on any moral level. \n\nAlthough you may think me stupid I will go on in believing in things like God, freedom of choice, morality, good, evil and ethical choice, because a universe with only karma is essentially amoral and therefore, in my opinion, ethically worthless.