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Old 04-18-2008, 11:54 AM
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aperio aperio is offline
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Again, I'm not sure I can give you all the exact specifics I think you are grasping for, but I'll do my best.

My understanding is that hell was actually created to cast Satan and the angels that followed him into.
Quote:
Matthew 25:41, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
I think it could be said that God doesn't send people to hell, they choose to go. If you make a conscious choice to reject God then you have equally made a choice to follow Satan. There is a saying that "the door to hell is locked from the inside". An interesting little piece to nibble on anyway.

God does not want us to choose hell. He chose to send His only son so that we could be saved from exactly that. If you had children, would you not set rules and boundaries to keep them safe? Let's say you told and taught your children how to live good lives and do good things and you taught them the difference between right and wrong and you loved them with all of your heart.

In spite of this they basically spit in your face and told you that they were going to do what they wanted to do and that your words and actions meant nothing to them. They left your house and went out on their own. They quit speaking to you, they didn't visit. They chose to do bad things, follow bad people and eventually destroyed themselves.

Did you want it to happen? No. Did you send them to where they chose to go? No. Could you force them to do as you wished when they have adamantly chosen the opposite? No, because they have free will and they are allowed to make their own choices. Does that mean you don't love them? Of course not. Does it mean that you are cruel and heartless and punishing? Absolutely not. It means that they chose their own path and destination in life in spite of all the teachings you tried to instill in them. It's free will.

As a parent you love them, nuture them, teach them and hope they allow those seeds to grow and that they will choose to make healthy choices, much as God does with His children. You don't brainwash them, you don't force your will on them and make every single choice in their life for them. Why not? Because that isn't how life is intended to be - we are all given our own free will and basic moral rights as individuals (but how would you actually prove that if someone asked you to do so?) I think it takes a bit of that blind faith without logical proof to believe that people have moral intrinsic rights and free will, doesn't it?

Do you have any pictures of your ancestors? The really old black and white photos that at this point are probably held together by tape? Have you ever been with a grandparent or even a parent who takes you through family albums and points out their parents, their grandparents, cousins you've never met, the family tree and so on? How do you know those pictures are of your relatives? You don't have solid proof in front of you. You have faith that what you are being told is truth because you trust the people telling you, much like Christians have faith in the written word of God. The irony of it all is I think it takes more faith to believe we were created as a mere unexplainable accident in the universe (and where did the universe come from by the way) than by that of a divine creator who created the universe and everything in it with logic and order.

You sound a bit angry about your feelings about God and religion for somebody that doesn't believe, and you quote the bible a lot for somebody that claims no faith. I know you will roll your eyes and get frustrated at me for saying this, but I feel like you are digging feverishly for reasons NOT to believe. Don't take that the wrong way cc.. you know i have nothing but love for you

You will be hard pressed to convince me that there isn't even a speck inside of you that believes God exists.
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