Check out some similar questions!

animeluver06 · Feb 14, 2006, 05:26 PM

I have no religion yet and I am 15. My parents decided when I was born to let me pick my own religion but I can't decide. Is it possible for me to go to hell because I don't have a religion? I believe in god and everything but it seems every time I start to learn something about a religion it either scares me or I disagree with something. I feel so confused.

CaptainForest · Feb 14, 2006, 05:30 PM

Hell doesn't exist.

Well, hell is something that some religions believe in. Other religions don't believe in hell.

Why choose a religion?

You believe in God, that is enough. Do right in the world and that is all that is needed. All these organized religions who preach about xyz are wrong in that sense.

There are how many religions out there? They can't all be right.

NeedKarma · Feb 14, 2006, 05:33 PM

The Captain speaks correctly. Don't beat yourself up over it, you do not have to be a devout anyhting. Agnostic is a perfectly sound way to go through life:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic

orange · Feb 14, 2006, 05:38 PM

I was raised in several foster homes, and experienced several different faiths. Then I tried several religions as a young adult too. I'm now an agnostic. Whatever religion or lack of religion you decide upon, don't let anyone rush you or tell you what is best. Do whatever you feel comfortable with and don't feel guilty about it.

DrJ · Feb 14, 2006, 05:56 PM

I was raised Protestant Christian. Eventually, I got to the point where I needed to question why I believed what I did... and I did. Now, I serve no religion. Religion is a man made ideology that is useless, in my opinion.

My advice... go out there and learn. If you are interested in it, study every religion and faith you can get your hands on. Take from them what you believe to be true. Every religion and faith has a bit of truth in it, hidden underneath the propaganda that the human race has created over thousands of years.

You will find your way.

Fr_Chuck · Feb 14, 2006, 06:06 PM

Well sorry to ring the moral bell here but it really does not matter if you believe in heaven or hell, they exist, if you don't believe, it is still there.

In general it is not religion that saves you, often your religion will get in your way. For a person to find their faith they need to study and this I will agree not merely accept what others say.

And next of course you will disagree with many things in religion, if it merely told you what you wanted to hear, then you are merely creating a religion to please yourself. There are plenty of those out there if you want one of them. They do you little good, but they can make you feel good about yourself, no matter how you wish to live.

Religion sets rules and standards, that we of course may not always want to live by. In that it sets clear standards of morals and gives proper methods of living and interacting with others.

talaniman · Feb 14, 2006, 06:16 PM

As you go through your journey through life always remember to be a good human being! Be true to the God that you understand and keep your mind open to what he reveals to you,no man can tell you what to believe,but it is very important that you do believe!:cool:

CaptainForest · Feb 14, 2006, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Well sorry to ring the moral bell here but it really does not matter if you believe in heaven or hell, they exist, if you don't beleive, it is still there.

That statement is so flawed Fr Chuck. From that statement, you are saying that the Jewish religion has gotten it all wrong. Jews don’t believe in hell.

And you made my point. Organized religions do differ from Christians to Jews to Islam to etc. No one knows which one is really right. Although there will be some people who believe that their way is the right way.

DrJ · Feb 14, 2006, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by CaptainForest

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Well sorry to ring the moral bell here but it really does not matter if you believe in heaven or hell, they exist, if you don't beleive, it is still there.

That statement is so flawed Fr Chuck.

I think where many of us will butt heads is in defining the undefinable. First, we have to understand what Heaven and Hell are. Im sure all of us will have a different idea of this.

I actually agree with Chuck here. I feel that no matter what, Heaven and Hell still exist... However, I am 99% positive that Chuck will not agree with my belief in what Heaven is and what Hell is.

We have to understand that the Bible was written thousands of years ago and has been translated through different languages. Imagine what has happened to the literal meaning of things therein. In a language that only consisted of what? 13 letters? How could a man describe such things? These things were then translated into other languages with other mens interpritations. How did they know what words to use to describe such a thing?

What's the Hebrew word for Internet? Hmmm... I'll bet there isn't one. But if, by some way, Peter had a revelation of the Internet, and tried to describe it in the Bible, we would have NO IDEA that he was actually talking about THE INTERNET!

jduke44 · Feb 14, 2006, 08:22 PM

Animeluver06, this thread is going to confuse you even more. While it is interesting to hear the different views, you being so young, really need to search what or who you want to believe in. I agree with maybe one point to every post that came up:

There are how many religions out there? They can’t all be right.

This is true, I believe is can only be one absolute.

Don't beat yourself up over it

Be true to the God that you understand and keep your mind open to what he reveals to you,no man can tell you what to believe,but it is very important that you do believe!

If you worry too much about it you'll drive yourself crazy. Keep in mind that there must be a God out there. He will reveal Himself to you. Just be willing to listen.

Whatever religion or lack of religion you decide upon, don't let anyone rush you or tell you what is best.

You need to search this out yourself.

Well sorry to ring the moral bell here but it really does not matter if you believe in heaven or hell, they exist, if you don't believe, it is still there.

In general it is not religion that saves you, often your religion will get in your way. For a person to find their faith they need to study and this I will agree not merely accept what others say.

And next of course you will disagree with many things in religion, if it merely told you what you wanted to hear, then you are merely creating a religion to please yourself. There are plenty of those out there if you want one of them. They do you little good, but they can make you feel good about yourself, no matter how you wish to live.

Sometimes people focus so much on what there religion's traditions are they miss what the real message is.

Sorry guys for cutting a pasting your quotes but I needed to to make my point. Hopefully this doesn't confuse him even more.

Bottom line, search it out and study it to find it. It is definitely worth it.

CaptainForest · Feb 14, 2006, 09:26 PM

Originally Posted by jduke44

Sometimes people focus so much on what there religion's traditions are they miss what the real message is.

Yes!!

I agree with that totally. :)

Originally Posted by jduke44

Sorry guys for cutting a pasting your quotes but I needed to to make my point. Hopefully this doesn't confuse him even more.

Ahh, its okay. I don't think we are going to shoot you over it.

DrJ · Feb 15, 2006, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by CaptainForest

Jews don't believe in hell.

Originally Posted by orange

Yep that's true Jews don't have a hell... one of the things I really like about us. ;)

I don't understand this... how is it that Jews do not believe in Hell? It IS written in the Old Testament?

(sorry if this portrays a severe lack of intelligence on my part when it comes to this matter... but my understanding was that Jews are followers of the Old Testament... and I KNOW that "Hell" is mentioned there..? )

orange · Feb 15, 2006, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by DrJizzle

I dont understand this... how is it that Jews do not belive in Hell?? It IS written in the Old Testament??

(sorry if this portrays a severe lack of intelligence on my part when it comes to this matter.... but my understanding was that Jews are followers of the Old Testament... and I KNOW that "Hell" is mentioned there.....????)

No actually hell it not mentioned in the Torah. A land of the dead called Shaol is mentioned, where people go when they die, basically as sort of a "holding place" while they wait for the Messiah. But it's not a place of punishment and suffering; more like a kind of limbo or a spirit realm. According to archaeologists, it's supposed to be a carry over from the Hebrew people's tribal ancestry (the belief is common among ancient tribes throughout the world). I think Christians interpret this in-between place as hell, probably because there's lots of mention of hell in the New Testament, and Greeks, who St. Paul was influenced by, had a belief in Hell (Hades). But Jews have never thought of it as hell, even as far back as Maimonides, Rashi and Rabbi Akiba, Jewish scholars have never interpeted that way.

It's also kind of interesting that Jews don't consider the Old Testament all one book, in the sense of, every part of the Old Testament being as important as another. The Torah actually only consists of the first 5 books of the Old Testament, and the Torah is the highest in the "hierarchy". The psalms, proverbs, writings of the prophets, etc, are still somewhat important, but are considered lesser books. Much of the Jewish faith is based solely on the Torah (first 5 books) and the Talmud (the commentary on the Torah).

Oh by the way I'll see if I can find a good rabbinical explanation for you, too... online somewhere. I'm kind of rusty on all the details and don't consider myself a scholar at all!!

DrJ · Feb 15, 2006, 05:05 PM

That is interesting... what, then, happens to sinners once the Messiah comes?

orange · Feb 15, 2006, 05:19 PM

Well when Moschiach (the Messiah) comes, he is supposed to change the world so that it is a perfect place, a kind of Utopia. Then I guess everyone will live together in this perfect world... "The World To Come" is what Hasidic Jews call it. I'm not sure what happens to really bad people, such as a Hitler or an Idi Amin, but my biological mom used to say that those people simply cease to exist, and have no descendents. I think that's why some Hasidic Jews say "may his name be erased" right after they say the name of someone like Hitler.

Anyway sorry I can't elaborate anymore than that. I'm still going to look up a website for you. :)

The other thing to remember too is that within Judaism there are LOTS of different groups, just like Christianity. So some Jews might disagree with what I've said, believe differently, etc... but I'm pretty sure none of us believe in hell. ;)

DrJ · Feb 15, 2006, 05:24 PM

No problem at all... sorry to go off topic a little here but that IS fascinating!! I have never heard of that before. The closest I have come to learning the Jewish faith was from Masionic (?) Jews or "Jews for Jesus"... you know, the people of the Jewish faith that believed Jesus was the Mesiah. My ex-girlfriends family followed this.

I never gave a lot of credit to this because they followed a lot of the old traditions of the Jews but still believed Jesus was the Messiah... even though Jesus disspelled some of the old beliefs.

If you can even just give me a good website resource, I would be more than thankful!

orange · Feb 15, 2006, 05:30 PM

I found something at wikipedia that is an explanation of the Jewish concept of sin, which might be interesting to you, and might explain a bit about the hell discussion. Incidentally, Jews don't believe in Original Sin, either. The belief is that the soul is born pure, with inclinations to good and evil. So you aren't born a sinner exactly. Anyway here's the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin#Jewish_views_of_sin

orange · Feb 15, 2006, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by DrJizzle

no problem at all... sorry to go off topic a little here but that IS fascinating!! I have never heard of that before. The closest I have come to learning the Jewish faith was from Masionic (?) Jews or "Jews for Jesus"... you know, the people of the Jewish faith that believed Jesus was the Mesiah. My ex-girlfriends family followed this.

Not meaning to offend anyone here, but most Jews consider Messianic Jews to not be Jews at all, but rather Christians "posing" as Jews. Jews generally have a very low opinion of them, and think they're deceiving people and "tricking" them into becoming Christians, especially immigrants from Russia, etc, who don't speak much English and are ignorant of Jewish customs. In fact there's even a Jewish retalitory group against the Messianics called "The Jews for Judaism". Personally though I don't care too much either way as I am an agnostic. :rolleyes: But I do understand the sentiment.

If you can even just give me a good website resource, I would be more than thankful!

Oh well yeah I can give you a good site... I think that will be easier for me, haha. :p Aish HaTorah is an Orthodox Jewish website, but it's very extensive and good. They also have an "Ask the Rabbi" feature, so you could post a question or search through previous questions. And they have free email courses that you can take on various aspects of Judaism. Torah.org is another good site where you can learn a lot through browsing and email courses. Hope that helps!

http://www.aish.com/

http://www.torah.org

jduke44 · Feb 15, 2006, 06:20 PM

This is interesting and I never knew this (or maybe just forgot). I am still a little fuzzy on what the Jews believe about where sinners (or Gentiles for that matter) are going? However, this may not be the thread for this discussion since animeluver06 is seeking a religion. This may just confuse him more, unless he is finding this interesting.

orange · Feb 15, 2006, 06:38 PM

Yeah I think maybe in all fairness to animeluver, we should probably start a new thread. But to answer you question briefly, as far as I know Christians and any other religion for that matter are treated the same way as Jews... they don't receive any less "reward" for not being Jews. I guess that's why Jews don't actively try to convert others, because no one needs to be a Jew in order to be saved or whatever. Anyway, Orhtodox Jews talk about the "righteous gentiles", and basically all you need to be one, is to follow the last 7 of the 10 commandments. Gentiles don't have to follow the first 3, because those have to do with the Jewish G-d. Anyway I always thought it was a pretty good deal... gentiles only having to follow 7 commandments whereas Jews traditionally have to follow 613! Not fair! ;)