Originally posted by EverythingYouDespise
It seems to me that, if you accept Christianity as truth, one would actually prefer "damnation" over joining God in Heaven. Before I go on, of course, I should point out that I don't buy into the whole idea of eternal physical torture at the hands of demons in a lake of fire. From what I can gather, that popular image of Hell is a fairly new concept cooked up by priests in order to scare us into following orders.

So what is Hell really like? Well, since there are so many differing ideas of what exactly Hell is, I'll use the definition provided by the Cathetism of the Catholic Church:



Basically, the way that translates to me is that Hell = an eternity spent apart from God.

Now let us consider the path that leads to this supposedly miserable punishment, and the opposite path that leads to what is surely a truly wonderous reward.

To cut right to the point, let's just examine the cardinal sins. This gives us a general idea of what God considers bad behavior, deserving of his eternal scorn:

Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.

Depending on one's interpretation, as many as all seven of those could much more easily be seen as virtues when you're trying to live an enjoyable life instead of following orders, and without the first - lust - the species would go extinct within a single generation! And when should it ever be considered wrong to be proud of oneself?

I'll tell you when. When you're a subject of the most vain entity in history. God wants nothing but blind obedience and praise from human beings. He does not appear to want us to be happy at all, and explicitly commands us not to seek knowledge or strive for success and wealth.

So why would you expect him to do a complete 180 once you're dead and in Heaven? If you've spent your entire life denying pleasures and slavishly adhering to a ridiculous doctrine, do you really think the reward will be a paradise?

I'd much prefer to spend eternity in Hell, where surely all Earthly passions and pursuits are held in the highest esteem - finally free from the reach of that great party-pooper in the sky. And, as an added bonus to being eternally separated from God, imagine the wonderful company of the other damned souls! Philosophers, pleasure-seekers, artists and the like, enjoying everlasting orgies, feasts and merryment. Heaven, meanwhile, would be full of slaves and prudes.

Originally posted by EverythingYouDespise
I'd much prefer to spend eternity in Hell, where surely all Earthly passions and pursuits are held in the highest esteem - finally free from the reach of that great party-pooper in the sky. And, as an added bonus to being eternally separated from God, imagine the wonderful company of the other damned souls! Philosophers, pleasure-seekers, artists and the like, enjoying everlasting orgies, feasts and merryment. Heaven, meanwhile, would be full of slaves and prudes.

Originally posted by TheHypnoToad

Interesting... to quote a wise man named Billy Joel:

"They say there's a Heaven for those who will wait,
Some say it's better but I say it ain't,
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints,
The sinners are much more fun."