In the article, “666 and the Power of the Pen”, I related the history of the development of the idea of Hell in Persia. The creator God Marduk defeated the monster and exiled him. The "place of exile" idea was transmitted to the Hebrews, to Christianity, and to today. This concept of Hell was greatly modified between AD 1000 and AD 1600 by "embellishments", lurid paintings, and the invention of the printing press. The printing press allowed two major works of FICTION to generate widely accepted ideas about Hell that are not contained in scriptures. This is an illustration of the real power of mass marketing and good advertising. In this article, I will concentrate on Hell as it is portrayed today. Repeat, I do not believe Hell exists, except as I will define it later. God doesn't need Hell. Some people need it, psychologically. Most people don't need Hell. A few people are well served by Hell. By promoting Hell, they get theirs. Most of what most people "know" about Hell comes to us from imagination and works of non-divinely inspired fiction. Most of what most people "know" about Hell comes to us from imaginary FICTION. Hell is an evil joke. Hell is a concept of fantasy. This is not the same thing as saying that Hell serves no purpose. As a ploy of psychology and self delusion, it is powerful. Some few people are well served by a concept that has been used to cause enormous numbers of people to suffer unnecessary physical, mental and emotional anguish. Those who use Hell, take the natural occurrences of Nature: earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides, avalanches, forest fires, blizzards, lightning strikes, bee stings, animal attacks, and snake bites to use as examples for their own advantage. They use the bad things that do happen to people. Things that hurt and kill and change our lives, like car accidents, illness and old age. They attempt to gain advantage to themselves by saying things like, "See, there's proof. You have been bad. God is punishing you. You are going to Hell." Dealing with the death and destruction caused by natural events is difficult enough. Adding to a person's pain in such circumstances is exactly the same as kicking someone who is already down. It is taking pleasure in the pain of others. It is deliberately increasing that pain for still more pleasure. Enjoying the mental, psychological pain of others is not the mark of a healthy mental state. Threatening someone with Hell, "You are going to roast in Hell (because of some belief, or behavior)" is improper, and I think extremely impious unethical behavior. Threatening someone with Hell, for whatever reason, is really an attempt to manipulate that person for another's benefit. Threatening someone with Hell, is hubris. Taking "the power of God" to one's self, and making a God-like condemnation. That manipulative, coercive threat has a lot of power. How else could such a totally improvable fallacy survive and be so persuasive for a thousand years? Answer, a constant stream of people found it useful in deriving a personal benefit from its use and continuation. An obvious example of this kind of hubris is when Rev. Pat Robertson warned the citizens of Dover, PA that God might forsake the town. He was quoted in newspapers as saying, “I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover. If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don’t wonder why He hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for His help because he might not be there.” This pontification from the pulpit works on several levels. The "bad things" that come into someone's life are natural events. However, they can be said to have happened because of causative "bad" behavior, or even because of lack of certain other behaviors. The next step is to say that the "bad things" are therefore "for your own good", or "you deserved to be punished" (by God). This turns into a prescription to endure incredible pain and deprivation and suffering "because you deserve it", "you made it happen", "it is your fault". Don't do anything to change your suffering. Don't do anything like revolt against an oppressive ruler. Pay your taxes on time. You can starve, or "Let them eat cake." Thus we get the "divine right of kings", an unholy alliance of church and state. The state oppresses the people, and the church tells the people that "they deserve it". The church gets to run up a tally of "saved souls" and collect "offerings'. Hell does not exist. War does exist. War is as close to Hell as it is possible to get. War is an excuse for violence. There has never been an end to war because for male humans, war is "fun". War is a glorification of sexist ideals. War is a glorious time for destruction, pillage, murder and rape. “War” used to be an opportunity for young men to go out on a “raid“ to “steal” a wife, concubine, or female slave. Constant wars meant constant opportunities for pillaging, casual murder, and rape. War is also a time when one’s sense of the possibility of death’s proximity increases. This is true even on the home front. One reaction to this appreciation of the possibility of death is to be more promiscuous both at home and near the battle front. One result is the phenomenon of “war brides”. Another is the common “crime” of rape among “conquered” civilian populations. In the arena of sexual relations, the winners also win the opportunity to spread their genes among the conquered population. There are situations where this activity is not always unwelcome. Another result is an increase in births during and after the war. War is a young man’s game. It requires the strength, flexibility, and reflexes of youth to survive. Soldiers are constantly confronted with chaos, surrounded by an alien society, containing both real and imagined enemies. Soldiers on battlefields are trained as pro-active warriors, not as restrained, reactive policemen. Their job is to stay alive and to instantly apply death dealing violence. The first requirement is a willingness to kill and to take a chance at possibly being killed. Soldiers and armies are skilled deliverers of applied killing and destructive force. Soldiers are trained and taught to advance and attack the attacker. Soldiers take the fight to the enemy. Often the difference between life and death on the battlefield is the difference in reaction speeds between the combatants. The fast trigger wins and stays alive. Overcoming fear and fast reactions are the constant suppliers of adrenaline. The middle of a firefight is a very good definition of Hell and it is not particularly religious. War provides a wonderful adrenal "rush". It is addictive. People seek to repeat that feeling, just like a coke, crack, or meth addict tries to repeat that "rush". Chemically, the adrenal flood, coke, crack, and meth all affect the brain in the same way. Like coke, crack, and meth heads, we endlessly spend huge sums to "do" war just one more time. Get another "hit". Make another "score". We want a regular and more intense addictive "rush". We humans organized war to make more of it. To do war on a national scope. To rise above tribal war events that were hardly bigger and more dangerous than a soccer match. Bigger war is better war. Bigger war with better weapons is more exciting. Bigger war adds the huge element of chance and is more thrilling. Bigger war means even more destruction, pillage, murder and rape. Our human "habit" continues to grow, and grow. The problem of "hitting bottom" with war, is that it may be the apocalypse, or the end of our species.
(c) Copyright 2006: George Wallace recently published a book on religion which lashes out at nearly all of the comfortable ideas about God, the trappings of organized religion, and the priesthood. His pithy comments and suggestions for a return to a God-centered personal religion will interest everyone. This article may be freely reprinted so long as all copyright attributions, and the full content of this resource box are included. www.OhGodIsThatYou.com
Article Source: http://www.writerspenarticledirectory.com
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
Powered by Article Dashboard
Sign Up
