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Heaven or Hell

Posted on October 15th, 2010 by Staks

There are lots of different types of believers in the Abrahamic God and they all have different reason for why they believe. But at the end of the day, whenever they are advocating for belief it almost always comes down to the carrot and the stick. Belief basically amounts to a threat of eternal torture or a bribe of eternal bliss.

Fundamentalists tend to focus on the threat of torture so much that there really is nothing more to be said. That tends to be their first and usually only line of argument. But more mainstream and progressive believers, the lure of eternal bliss has a much stronger appeal. This covers the arguments of what happens when we die, purpose, revelation, etc.

Either way, believers in both camps tend to focus on the after life rather than on this life. Even when a believer does talk about how their belief has changed their life… while they are still alive it is almost always in the context of giving them direction to get to the blissful Heaven or scare them straight away from the torturous Hell.

This is a real difference compared to Humanism. We have no threats, no bribes. Why believe in a god, just be good for goodness sake. The focus is on reality and our common desire to live a good life and to help others live a good life. If you don’t, you will not be tortured for all eternity. The only bribe here is that you live a life that you can be proud of and that others can be proud of you for living.