Hellish Jiminy Cricket:
(A discussion on the effect of Hell as a moral propaedeutic) As we face our morality, our minds begin to ask the question, what occurs after our demise? There are three general beliefs associated with afterlife. The first is that there is nothing after this life; we live, die, and that is it. The other two believe in events to follow this life. One of these beliefs, the linear belief, is that there is a reward punishment system that is associated with our actions during our lives. This is the Heaven or Hell belief system. The other system commonly believed is the cyclical; this belief system believes that our soul is reincarnated after we die. Dante’s Divine Comedy describes a linear belief system. The first part of the poem, Inferno, is his journey through
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An example in historical times is the Crusades. In the name of Religion they plundered, murdered, raped, and destroyed. Scott A. McGreal MSc. wrote an article called Belief in Hell: Does it Benefit or Harm Society; this article points out important arguments against the belief of Hell in a society. Conflicting theories have suggested that, “…religion has often been a divisive force that promotes in-group loyalty and out-group derogation. That is, religion can foster an “us versus them” mentality that often escalates into sectarian violence and extremism. Jensen has argued that religious cosmologies based on the belief in a cosmic struggle between good and evil forces, such as God and the Devil, Heaven and Hell, facilitate lethal violence by promoting intolerance and a disinclination to negotiate or compromise.” Throughout history people have prosecuted and been prosecuted in the name of religion. Believing in Heaven and Hell becomes ridicules when the preachers of religion are hypocrites. If you don’t believe in Hell because of the hypocrisy of religion and religious professors, it renders Hell an ineffective means of righteous