Regarding Heaven and Hell: Some Random Thoughts

*Heaven: A celestial North Korea (an analogy that the late Christopher Hitchens often liked to make)! At least if you are a North Korean you can leave the real North Korea behind you when you die; you don't get that privilege under or with your celestial dictator, God.

*Speaking of Heaven, can you have free will in Heaven? If you're in Heaven can you give God the middle finger? Can you violate God's Commandments in Heaven? Why does God give us free will only to take it away when you get to Heaven?

*If you can't be yourself; true-to-yourself in Heaven (i.e. - sinful), then your only true-to-yourself afterlife must be in Hell.

*Threatening people like atheists with hell and damnation and eternal torment just because atheists aren't exactly like those who do the threatening (i.e. - True Christian Believers) seem to be pretty okay with those sorts of theists.

*Since atheists obviously won't go to Heaven, that just creates or leaves more room for the True Believers. Maybe that's why True Believers wish eternal Hell on the atheists.

*Anytime, or nearly anytime a True Christian Believer gets cornered by atheistic logic / reasoning and can't wriggle out of the paper bag they have taken refuge in, they often resort to, and come out lashing, striking out at the atheist with dire threats like "you're going to burn forever in Hell"; "your soul is now damned for all eternity"; "I hope you enjoy your eternal torment" or as Maude was prone to say, "God will get you for that"! That's not really the proper way to respond when you lose an argument.

*Regarding reports of those who have had a glimpse of heaven, those who have reported Near Death Experiences (NDEs), why no sightings of extraterrestrials in heaven? Is it because there are no aliens? Is it because aliens don’t go to heaven? Is it because aliens have their own heaven?

*Faithful Christians go to Heaven. Faithful Muslims also go to Heaven. But the Heaven that faithful Muslims go to is probably not the same as the Heaven faithful Christians go to. That would be awkward and somewhat complicated. (via Jason Boyett)

*Actually nobody (as in mortal human True Believers) have ever ascended up to or otherwise gone up to Heaven according to John 3: 13. I'm not sure how that jives with the story of Elijah (2 Kings 2: 1 & 2 Kings 2: 11).

*By the way, nowhere in the Bible will you find Satan's / the Devil's / Lucifer's anatomy described as traditionally pictured. No cloven hooves, no forked / pointy tail, no horns, and no goatee. As for attire, no pitchfork / trident and no red skinsuit.

*If you’re in Heaven you’re happy. But if your loved ones are in Hell, then you are unhappy. There’s a contradiction inherent in this observation.

*You tend not to care for your death because you're being forced to leave the party while the party itself goes on. On the other hand, if you die and then get an afterlife, you can't ever leave the party! (via Christopher Hitchens)

*Moral humans invented the afterlife concepts of Heaven (and equivalents) as well as Hell (and equivalents). Why? Moral humans think that people who do good things should be rewarded and that bad people should be punished. But in reality, in real life, good people don't always get rewarded and bad people don’t always get punished. Therefore...

*If humans have or get an afterlife then there is no logical argument that prohibits any and all other non-human lifeforms from also sharing in and getting an afterlife.

*Not all religions have a concept of Hell, like Wicca, Taoism, the early Vedic religion, and the Baha'i faith. Also the Greek Hades and the Norse Hel aren't similar to the Christian version of Hell.

*If God created Hell, then God should send Himself there, unless of course God can pardon Himself!

*Is an afterlife paradise that is being in Heaven, having to exist for all eternity kissing God's ass?

*Have you ever really heard a parent say that even though their beloved child has just died, they are happy and pleased for their child because they are now in Heaven with God? Not likely!

*Even a MAFIA Boss couldn’t torture you forever, but God apparently can!

*A theist threatening me with Hell and eternal punishment / torment has exactly the same degree of terror as me threatening the theist with being gobbled up by as escaped T-Rex from Jurassic Park!