“A place where people realize what they’ve done to others; where they face every detail of it, and the realize every particle of it, so they would never, never do the same thing again; a place where souls are reformed, literally by knowledge of what they’ve done wrong and how they could have avoided it, and what they should have done…when they can forgive not only God for this big mess, but themselves for their own failures, their own horrible angry reactions, their own spite and meanness, when they love everyone totally in complete forgiveness, then they would be worthy of Heaven. Hell would have to be where they see the consequences of their actions, but with a full merciful comprehension of how little they themselves knew.” - Lestat “Memnoch the Devil
Is it wrong that the closest view religiously as to how I believe Hell should be run comes from who can be called a Pagan female author of erotic vampire tales feminine vampire character? Perhaps. But that sentence fits so perfectly for me in what I feel Hell should be like. Imagine a spiritual rehab.
I have been having quite a bit of religious conversations lately. One topic was whether or not someone that was saved should marry someone that wasn’t. I say that they should. I have spoken to people that are atheist, agnostic, Christian, and Catholic about this. I have gotten many different responses such as, “Yeah, as long as they love each other that’s all that should matter.” “No, they shouldn’t because there could be problems down the road.” “It don’t matter what two people are.”
I really do believe that it doesn’t matter what religion people follow as long as they’re good people. I don’t believe that being saved makes you a good person. I don’t believe that falling to your knees and praising God and Jesus will make you a better person. I don’t believe that every person that believes in God really believes in God. Growing up I wasn’t in church every single Sunday. I hated going to church because it meant I would miss cartoons all morning. I went a few times with friends. I went with an ex. I go with my girlfriend. I have told everyone that there is no vagina on Earth powerful enough to make me switch or join a religion. Joining or saying you believe when you really don't seems to be the fastest way to get sent to Hell (if you believe in it).
A huge misconception is that people who believe in Heaven and Hell think that people who don’t are animals or something. I discussed this on episode 51 of my Rosscast with Kiyoshi. As if you have no moral if you don’t believe in God or the Devil. This isn’t true. As someone that was an atheist, agnostic, and what I call a studying Christian, I can say that even when I was convinced there was no higher power that I still knew right from wrong. I knew what felt bad so I would try not to do that to others. I’ve never needed a bible or a belief to tell me what is right from wrong. Right and wrong existed before Jesus walked the Earth and will likely still exist if He ever decides to show up again (don’t know if you’ve ever read Revelations but when He shows up apparently the entire planet goes tits up).
One problem I have and have always had with God and the belief in Him is the lack of questioning. In the book I quoted at the beginning “Memnoch the Devil” Memnoch is Satan (which translates to The Accuser) questions God creating the Earth and humans and then pretty much abandoning us.
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