Forever Will Ye Burn
It is a general consensus among atheists and critics of religion that the doctrine of Hell — an afterlife in which wrongdoers and/or opposition of a particular religion will suffer horrific, conscious pain for an infinite amount of time — is the lowest and most disgusting fabrication of religion.
While words cannot even begin to describe the horror and disturbed “purpose of justice” behind such a place, allow me to give you an example of exactly what Hell is supposed to be. Imagine, for a moment, that you were to commit adultery, and as punishment for this, you had to live the rest of your life with a machine attached to your arms that crushed your bones, healed them instantly, then crushed them again, and so on until you died. Well, that’s absolutely nothing compared to Hell. Hell is not a two-year prison sentence for minor assault. Hell is infinite. If one lifetime of constant pain sounds horrific, multiply that by a trillion, and…well, you’re still nowhere close: any finite amount of time is infinitely small compared to infinity.
Putting the actual characteristics of this gruesome realm aside, there’s no mystery as to its purpose. The threat of eternal punishment is the most obvious method of scaring people into following you. Putting the punishment in a place where no one can ever prove or disprove its existence is the next obvious step. Then label anyone you dislike as destined for this mythical torture chamber. “Join us, or forever will ye burn!”
However, Hell’s purpose (and similarly Heaven’s) is somewhat diluted by the fact that most religions claim to have their own version of such a place. Visual representations may change (ranging from the Bible’s lakes of fire to Dante’s artistic rendition of the “nine levels” of the inferno), but ultimately each religion gives Hell the same purpose. It is only the “List of the Condemned” that really changes — each group puts forward a different set of criteria that one must follow to avoid this undesirable fate.
This is the main reason why nonsense such as Pascal’s Wager (the ”better safe than sorry!” of religion) falls laughably short. Think about it: at this very moment, there are millions, likely hundreds of millions, of people who think you are going to some sort of Hell (or at least, their beliefs dictate it; it’s not something said in light conversation). It’s possible that several people in your life are among these people. And atheists? We’re basically only being condemned to one more version of Hell than anyone else. Amidst the thousands of versions of Hell in existence, that doesn’t make us much worse off than theists in terms of Pascal’s Wager. And I for one would gladly add one more Hell to the list of supernatural realms I’m “destined” for, if I receive in exchange the life of freedom, happiness and caring that accompanies atheism.
Hell is both a disturbing and problem-causing part of religion. It is not enough that followers believe they are destined for an eternity of happiness; they must also specifically believe that anyone who thinks otherwise is not only shunned from this paradise, but condemned to suffer forever. I don’t doubt there would be a fair bit less tension between religions if they could simply believe they were headed for eternal paradise, whilst others simply faced unconscious oblivion. Perhaps then, one human being would not look into the eyes of another, perhaps a life-long friend, and sincerely tell them that they deserve to burn in a lake of fire for all eternity.
