Jackson Browne's closing lines in "For A Dancer" have been meaningful to me for a very long time. Other religions, such as Judaism, do not have a strong concept of hell, so your assertion that it is something special about atheism/agnosticism is not true. But where does the need in some people for some sort of afterlife come from? It is a false concept pushed by Christianity and to a lesser extent by some other religions to hook people into their faith, God is a concept created long ago by man to placate the unruly and the ignorant.

According to my neighbor, Orthodox Jew, not black suits, Hell is a Christian Construct. In torah there is no red skinned naked tormentor, no pools of molten iron or molten sulphur . Gone as well are the monsters that eat your, and then you get reborn to be used as a chew toy every few minutes.

Hell is where you go, to be forgotten. The desert can be extremely cold at night, and what we call hell is a place away from god the eternal light,(if you will). Basically you are left alone and forgotten and don't die, just eternal loneliness.

We talk religion a lot. I asked him a few times about the nazi experience of WWII. His father moved to Palestine b4 the war, 1 relative went to nyc, every other relative died in a camp.He did say many many jews gave up on religion after the war. For everyone that became more intense, another said fuck god. God may be a creator, but god does not do anything for anybody. He passed on many jews are so because as jews or of their line, they have been and will be persecuted forever, so at least by espousing judaism they have strength.

My mom renewed her christianity 20 years before her death by cancer. My dad held onto his deism/agnostacism till the day he died, with dimentia. He could not be corrupted...errr reconverted

Many times we make our own Hell during our lives. As we aren't perfect, the best we can do is finding balance between our qualities and our faults. I think that's more than enough for us.

My fear of death dropped to zero once I became an atheist. I'm in no hurry for it to happen, mind you, but I no longer fear it.

Note: surprised so many are focusing on the obvious: no hell.
That was just my starting-off point.
I was focused on what that realization MEANS in terms of liberating the mind to consider the REAL situation we find ourselves in.
All kinds of ideas about that, as I said, but at least WE are free to discuss them without being bogged down by that particular baggage (which for those with it, weighs 500 million tons, at least).

The best thing about not believing there are no gods, no religions, no hell, and not really believing in bullshit ever again is thatyour mind is free from hang ups, a sense of freedom from even thinking about bullshit ever again, bullshit is not even an issue for me and I dedicate less than one nano second in worrying or giving any kind of time to ponder about things we don't know, non believing in the bullshit is liberating indeed.

"All hope abandon ye who enter here." - Dante had it backwards.
Abandoning hope (despair for the future of Humanity and the Biosphere) can and does create Hell in one's own lifetime.

Sometimes I wish there was a hell because there are some people I'd love to send there!

I have no fear of my own death, just deep concerns of love ones suffering and dying, as It's the illusion of control. Health and what you can forget are two most important for happiest.

If people want to be led into the bronze age. Then regret Jesus and not report him to amnesty international. Then they are living in their own personal hell on earth.

Of course there is no hell. That concept came out of the confusion and misdirected developments presented in religious writings and scripture. If I do not believe these writings to be valid from any source why would I believe in a hell? Many people go around saying "yeah, but there still could be a god." Why would they want one? Are there people going around saying "yeah, there still could be a hell?" Once again, why would you want one?

Is there life after death? IDK. Is your food still there on your plate once you have eaten it? How will it be reborn? You may take this as comedy but I am answering some very serious questions.

Death is merely the cost of living. I hear it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I'm not sure if that's the case or even if love isn't some form of self-deception. However, even if it is an illusion, it makes life bearable while it lasts, or while they both last.

Life is the same, what we experience and feel is our reality, maybe it is a computer simulation or a dream, but even so it's all we've got, and we'll never know otherwise. We live in a universe full of mystery and wonder, and the only reason that death troubles me is that I won't be around to see the mysteries solved or experience all of that wonder.

I don't know if we are the only creatures that are self aware. I'm pretty sure there are many animal species that show signs of possessing traits. Beyond that, it's extremely difficult to imagine that all the life in the entirety of the universe exists on one insignificant, otherwise unremarkable planet.

I'm not "New Agey" at all, by the way. I do believe that the physical universe and perhaps a number of parallel universes are the entire extent of reality without any metaphysical other worlds or supernatural beings that cannot be scientifically quantified. I'm okay with that. Even without fairytales, this reality is more than enough.

I did a special study on hell. I consulted both Elaine Pagels, and Bart Ehrman and they both were very helpful. Last year Bart told me he is writing a book on hell. I eagerly await its release!
Long story short, I found the most evolution in the Christian religion is in the area of the hell concept. It appears that there was very little belief or even thought of hell from the early Christianites. Hell practically did not exist even as a concept to them.

I agree that being in a position to meditate on the meaning of life is a privilege not everyone can enjoy. I'm grateful I get to do it. Socrates seems a little callous when he talks about 'the unconsidered life being meaningless'. That would rule out all the people who brought meaning into their lives by their characters rather than their education. I completely see eye-to-eye with your comments on hell and the likelihood there is no afterlife in the sense of a heaven or a paradise. But I suspect those Buddhist monks are on to something....

The story of hell was meant to control. Religion has always been about a few select attempting to control the masses. Heaven is the same thing....torment or pleasure. I want the pleasure so I'm going to let your control me and tell me what to do....