will we roast in hell?

[Heno]

i've read so many books about it all. but the trouble is that they are all written by historians. not contemporaries. and that inevitably means theres interpretation rather than fact. what i do trust is the fact that religion was created to answer questions of the unknown. to explain things like nature and death. hence its fantastical stories. now that the unknown from years ago is actually known then religion looks stupid to some. 

[Bunny]

I dunno. In some ways its a search for understanding. I dont think mankind has all the answers to our existance. Religion is just one.

[Heno]

I dunno. In some ways its a search for understanding.

there ya go

[Pol]

Am gonna keep my answer simple and not get into a big debate whilst respecting everyone's view point.
For me when your dead that is it ,there isn't any heaven or hell do not forget that only christians believe in the devil.

[szmurf]

Im not entirely convinced the spirit we talk about isnt just some brain function or chemical compound.
But then we'll never know til it happens 

There are tons of non-religious references to a person's soul.  Whether it carries over in an afterlife is another story.

I'm a big fan of Bad Religion and love the line from The Handshake:

I believe in unity, and I am willing to compromise,
But I'm not gonna lie or sell my soul

[Johnz]

I used to take issue with the Christian teaching that those who do not believe in God won't go to heaven.

Over the years I have come to understand that they are right, for if what you believe shapes your entire life why wouldn't it also shape your afterlife. Especially if your afterlife may simply be your last thought or emotion which without the constraints of space and time may well be never-ending.

I'm not explaining this very well but it makes sense to me.

[garyah]

I was brought up a devout catholic, and I have visited some places that have put me spiritually at peace with myself.
However, I am now lapsed very lapsed and have little faith in any organised religion, primarily because of the hatred and mistrust that extreme and fundamental beliefs in religion seem to bring out in people who believe and those that don't.

Do I try to be a good person who values and treats  others as I hope to be valued and treated , I'd like to thinks so. To I have hatred of any particular religion? No. Do I have a dislike of people who commit atrocities in the name of one god or another or who use their place in the world to hold down others - absolutely

Do I think that we are the highest intelligent life forms in the the Universe….no probably not , but I don't believe there is an old bloke with a long white beard be it Jehovah , Mohammmed , God, Buddha what ever you want to call him/ her waiting to cast me in to eternal damnation because I don't believe or worship.

Man as a species requires to be able to explain their existence and will still be doing the same long after I have gone

[szmurf]

I used to take issue with the Christian teaching that those who do not believe in God won't go to heaven.

Catholic teaching used accept that, but Vatican II changed that.  We accept that we're not the only true religion and now believe that other Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths will go to heaven.

And I really like this new pope.  He opens the door for Hindu, Buddhist, etc ... as well as atheist and agnostics.

Given that — and this is the key point — God’s mercy has no limits, if you go to him with a sincere and repentant heart, the issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience.

Sin, even for those who have no faith, is when one goes against their conscience.

To listen and to obey to (one’s conscience) means to decide oneself in relation to what’s perceived as good and evil. And this decision is fundamental to determining the good or evil of our actions.

The question for those who do not believe in God is to follow their own conscience. Sin, even for a non-believer, is when one goes against one's conscience.

To listen and to follow your conscience means that you understand the difference between good and evil.

[Bunny]

I was brought up a devout catholic, and I have visited some places that have put me spiritually at peace with myself.
However, I am now lapsed very lapsed and have little faith in any organised religion, primarily because of the hatred and mistrust that extreme and fundamental beliefs in religion seem to bring out in people who believe and those that don't.

Do I try to be a good person who values and treats  others as I hope to be valued and treated , I'd like to thinks so. To I have hatred of any particular religion? No. Do I have a dislike of people who commit atrocities in the name of one god or another or who use their place in the world to hold down others - absolutely

Do I think that we are the highest intelligent life forms in the the Universe….no probably not , but I don't believe there is an old bloke with a long white beard be it Jehovah , Mohammmed , God, Buddha what ever you want to call him/ her waiting to cast me in to eternal damnation because I don't believe or worship.

Man as a species requires to be able to explain their existence and will still be doing the same long after I have gone

Ive also been to spiritual places but usually these are remote places, where Ive come to realise there is a greater purpose and we're a very small piece in a bigger picture. Ive also met very religious people who have an aura about them. Maybe inner peace is the key to spirituality?

[garyah]

I was brought up a devout catholic, and I have visited some places that have put me spiritually at peace with myself.
However, I am now lapsed very lapsed and have little faith in any organised religion, primarily because of the hatred and mistrust that extreme and fundamental beliefs in religion seem to bring out in people who believe and those that don't.

Do I try to be a good person who values and treats  others as I hope to be valued and treated , I'd like to thinks so. To I have hatred of any particular religion? No. Do I have a dislike of people who commit atrocities in the name of one god or another or who use their place in the world to hold down others - absolutely

Do I think that we are the highest intelligent life forms in the the Universe….no probably not , but I don't believe there is an old bloke with a long white beard be it Jehovah , Mohammmed , God, Buddha what ever you want to call him/ her waiting to cast me in to eternal damnation because I don't believe or worship.

Man as a species requires to be able to explain their existence and will still be doing the same long after I have gone

Ive also been to spiritual places but usually these are remote places, where Ive come to realise there is a greater purpose and we're a very small piece in a bigger picture. Ive also met very religious people who have an aura about them. Maybe inner peace is the key to spirituality?

I know exactly what you mean I've watched the sunset in Formentara looking out to Es Vedra and felt a great tranquility, sat at the Grotto in Lourdes at Midnight and known that  inner peace and watched the monk who walked the roads of Yorkshire fully at peace with himself and the world

[rick a.]

Do I try to be a good person who values and treats  others as I hope to be valued and treated , I'd like to thinks so. To I have hatred of any particular religion? No. Do I have a dislike of people who commit atrocities in the name of one god or another or who use their place in the world to hold down others - absolutely

There's my philosophy in a nutshell.

[Amandistan]

i'm an atheist and i think i am somewhat spiritual but that's a personal thing. i dislike organised atheism as much as anything

for the record i think agnostics should get off the fence 

  We have absolutely no proof whether God/creator/gods etc. exists or does not and never will.  It's impossible to kill/disprove abstract ideas that have been around since the beginning of humanity.  If nothing comes from nothing, then where does nothing come from?

 It's this reason why I can not be an atheists. It's not really being "on the fence" but the fact that we will never be certain of this . Though I very strongly believe that there is no hell or a God who controls everyone/everything. I personally believe that "God" is more than likely a metaphor for nature/universe and does not need to be worshiped. It just is. However I am not 100 % sure of this.
 
 What people don't seem to grasp is that atheism also takes faith. It takes faith to be 100 Percent certain that nothing exists beyond this world. Agnosticism take none because it is basically uncertainty. If you are certain that God does not exist , then do we really even exist?

I was also brought up in a very Catholic house-hold and was a priests nightmare as an adolescence with all my  unanswerable questions.

[sozbot]

Fine words, Heno... for the record, I was referring to the awful acts that I think we all know about and in the name (misguidedly) of what religion...

My opinion about 'going to hell...'?  If you have led a decent life, been good to your fellow people and, basically, been a good person, then it doesn't matter what religion you tied your flag to, if any.  You should take the upward staircase.  Enjoy, I'm told it's nice up there.

Anyone who says otherwise has an agenda that probably doesn't relate to anything decent in the human world.  So **** 'em.

IMO, anyway...

I was going to respond to this post, but Master Ray, you've said everything I'd have wanted to say, anyway!

[Wessexy Witch]

Will we roast in Hell ?

I'm blummin roasting here now thank you !

[Heno]

   What people don't seem to grasp is that atheism also takes faith. It takes faith to be 100 Percent certain that nothing exists beyond this world. Agnosticism take none because it is basically uncertainty. If you are certain that God does not exist , then do we really even exist?

I have to disagree with that first line. atheism is "without". it is without the concept of god. not without god. so no faith involved.