Religion

by looking at it from a different perspective. The idea of eternal damnation of souls is an absurd idea but one full of power in the heads of men and women who are trying to manipulate and control others. I find this to be the most reasonable explanation for the existence of this idea of eternal punishment. Eternal punishment, however, even for the most heinous of crimes on earth, is absurd because at some point it ceases to be punishment and simply becomes sadistic.

I believe this perspective is of human origin because it serves human interests. But I don't dismiss the concept of Hell as false, I very much believe it to be real. Not as some moralistic punishment but as natural consequence of wrong action. The eternal nature of Hell isn't because souls go there and stay there forever, it's because wrong actions never lead to good results. To put it another way, evil actions never result in good, only more pain and suffering. People can and do learn from their mistakes and leave the confines of Hell. But things like envy, avarice, sadism, gluttony, abuse, neglect, etc., never lead to positive ends. And that I believe to be an eternal truth.

Sometimes it takes some real hard knocks to get the message through, and some may never get it before they pass away, but to think anyone is deserving of eternal punishment shows a vindictiveness that hasn't really thought through the immensity of eternity - or considered a better aim, redemption (to use a religious term), or just simply one who realizes the errors of their way and takes personal responsibility to learn and grow and make ammends where necessarily . As in, we must learn from our mistakes or risk suffering the consequences. Money and numbing agents can only protect someone for so long against natural consequences. It's also similar to that aphorism of doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. It just doesn't happen. It applies from the simple (i.e., me being a jerk to my sister) to the profoundly complex evil (i.e., despicable people planning and causing genocide). Never leads to good results.

The idea of a God who punishes that which it creates flies in the face of logic, reason, compassion and even in the face of practicality. The Christian church decided to tie one of its masts to this notion of eternal punishment and that is too bad for them. Their problem...walk away from it. But that our worst days and suffering through our worst behaviors can be described as going through Hell, what better description is there. Good is not possible to achieve through evil means. That is what I get out of the metaphor of eternal Hell.