Thread: It seems to me

I don't think fear of going to hell is what makes someone believe in a certain religion or god. Fear of hell is why they will follow the religious doctrine and go to church on sundays or not have sex until marriage...but not the driving force of the faith in their religion. People will find many reasons to justify belief in their religion but it really comes down to faith and a conscious choice to believe. Fear of hell is not faith. Fear of hell is what keeps people from sin.

I think that weak minded people are susceptible to the fear tactics you mention. Threatening someone with hell might cause them to take initial interest in a certain religion, but ultimately their decision to join and develop their faith probably has more to do with the good aspects and community. I guess it just doesn't make much sense to me to fear something that you don't even believe in. So I would think that fear of hell would only come after you are already a part of the religion. I might be very wrong though...

Originally Posted by Aquanina

I guess it just doesn't make much sense to me to fear something that you don't even believe in.

Insurance. If there is a hell, they don't want to be there, so they take precautions. I'm sure there are other reasons, but that's a big one.

I really don't think that is a major thing at all. Because when you ask people, almost everyone says they are not going to hell, even people who outright ignore their religion don't think they are going to hell. Because steal and do drugs, and everyone lies and none of them think they are going to hell.

Well it certainly is a persuasive factor built into religion. Why would people start believing it in the first place? It must be either rewards for believing in it or punishment for not believing in it.

At one time, Christianity was a brand new concept, just taking root in society. So someone introduced some spooky god with a bunch of inconvenient rules to follow. Why would people be obligated to believe it? People probably were thinking, "well what do I get if I believe in this"? And they were probably told, "well if you DON'T believe it your going to burn in hell forever!!!"

Fear mongering is a powerful tool. People have known this for a long time, especially the ruling classes.

But first they have to believe in Hell. Does the fear of the thing they are being told to believe make them believe it? Maybe that is why I was so easily convinced in the bogyman.

Well death has always been mysterious to humans, they've always wondered about it. And I think it's easy to buy into certain conclusions especially when only one is offered. People are easily manipulated by fear. If you repeat it enough times and they see other people start fearing it it's easy to fall into the trap.

Fear mongering obviously works, it's been used for thousands of years.

I agree with the sentiment. But at the same time I have to wonder how much of it is the fear of hell and how much of it is merely learned from parents. Perhaps fear of hell convinces them to continue to believe, (because once you already believe they tell you not believing puts you in hell, which prevents you from ever even going on the path to doubt) but for outsiders, those who were never indoctrinated, I find the fear of hell to be a lackluster tactic.

Some guy wrote a book, Dr. Darrel Ray, "the god virus," I haven't read it and don't plan to, but I listened to him talk about the underlying theme of his book here http://blip.tv/file/3254265 in part of his book he basically makes the argument that the fear of hell is a tactic that can only be used on someone who was already infected with it at an early age, if they don't get you early they probably won't be able to infect you in adulthood.

Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, none of these have a threat of "eternal Hell"... unless of course you CONSIDER reincarnation into this hellhole we call "our home" hell. I think I could consider it that. It seems more "I'd like to reach God." than "I'd like to NOT go to Hell." in the Eastern Philosophies.

I would agree that reincarnation is a better way. You have infinite chances to reach God, over and over and over! If God really is all-loving, you'd have more than one chance, wouldn't you?

(Note: this does not define my personal beliefs, but yes, I follow Buddhist philosophies in some respects)