I always wondered something similar. Think of the worst, most horrible people in the world. Say... Hitler and Stalin. You can't get much more evil than them.

But most people don't really understand what "forever" means, just like non-mathematicians don't understand what "big numbers" mean. It takes training and a lot of thought to truly appreciate how much a million is, let alone a billion. We glibly say "billions" but the magnitude of the number itself is lost in this kind of usage.

Well, forever is a lot of billions. It's an infinite number of billions.

I wonder if even Hitler and Stalin deserve to be tortured forever, let alone non-believers (which would, I think, include miscarried babies since they haven't been baptized yet --- original sin and all that).

I’ll answer your question as a Christian. My answer is not trying to convert you, only to help you understand my point of view.

I as a Christian don’t think anyone should get tortured eternally. And I don’t think anyone should be punished for what they believe. Actions should be judged, not thoughts.

I don’t interpret the New Testament as saying that non-believers get eternal torture. Rather it states – in a metaphor of a forever burning sea (Gehenna) – that people not willing to become a member of the kingdom of Christ will forever die in an eternal non-existence, since they cannot live without the help of God. God, for some reason, respects people’s choices to live by their own. Hence it’s not God killing them, rather him stopping to nurture them (with the result of death) by their own choice.

The Bible uses the metaphor Gehenna, which was the burning grave outside Israel where all criminals and unidentified bodies was burned, as in forever forgotten by not getting a marked grave. I don’t believe Hell (Gehenna) is a literal place of fire where you cannot die and are being tortured forever. According to the Bible not even Satan himself will get eternal torture; he will be put away. Why should any human get an eternally worse punishment then Satan himself?!

One interesting question is: if this is true why isn’t God presenting this choice more clearly for everyone?! I believe he is presenting it clearly. If not in this life, he probably will present it to us after, in some way. God is just; hence he will give everyone a way to make a sober choice. I wouldn’t be surprised if persons devoted to good all over the religious spectrum (including atheists) have a personal relationship with the same God, but seeing him differently. In the life after this we will hopefully meet this good God, and then we will be judged by our actions, not our believes.

What it all boils down to is not the dogmas, but the culture – how we treat one another. “Whatever you have done to the smallest of humans, you have done to me.” Jesus

/ A generic guy from Sweden

this video is aweosme

ZJ,
Neither Christians nor God himself would ever will that someone be tortured for eternity. Yes, I do believe in a literal Hell, but God did not create Hell for the pleasure of watching people burn. Hell was originally created for the angels that left Heaven. Sin, which is anything that departs from the holiness of God, must be punished. It's not that God wants to punish, but He must because He is just. That's what is in his character. "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission." Knowing this, God created an alternate way for us to escape Hell. "He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance." Immediately following the first sin, God arranged that one day Christ would come to pay for sin. Salvation was based on the belief that one day the messiah would come, and now, believing in the blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sin.
This is truly a gift. I know that I am so far away from the holiness of God. To know that he loved me enough to send his own son to die on a cross is the ultimate sacrifice. Ultimate love, for you and for me. I pray that you let go of your hate and accept the gift that God offers.

well. i don't.
i know you don't like my religion for a lot of various reasons, but saying that all forms of christianity believe in hell is like saying all atheists believe in the big bang. Mormons do not in fact believe in 'hell' as is commonly believed by general christians. we believe everyone will go where they best fit in... as if there is a spectrum of 0 to 100 and while technically anything less than 100 could be considered hell... that doesn't mean it is 'bad'. it is also important to mention that even a 1 is better than this life (that is in accordance with our beliefs; hell is this life.)
in fact in order to go to the 'worst place possible' you must accept everything, and KNOW (like see god in essence) then deny it all. so no hell for you.
also i wish to take the time here to say that i am sorry about your experiences with god. if i were in your situation i would probably believe similarly. and in gods defence i can only say that he knows more about us and our situation than we do. you don't know what 'could have been' all you have is what is. but god knows what we /would/ do in a situation and thus he nudges us toward the path that best suits us. maybe you wouldn't like heaven level 90 or 60 but he knows that level 82 is just perfect for you. so he is giving you your own path to that point.
i don't disagree with any moral codes that teach to be good. and i don't support any religion that preaches grace saves in spite of blatant sin. hitler is bad, even if he were mormon he would still be bad. gandhi is good, even though he is not mormon he is still good. god is much more merciful that you may believe. but then all you have is my opinion, and i recognize that i have no proof to show the world. i am fine with believing without that proof, and i am fine with you disbelieving because of a lack of proof.

ps. my opinion is probably VERY different than most other mormons, you must forgive them, they are (as a general rule) incredibly ignorant of their own beliefs.

pss. i do not support what happened with the gay marriage prop in california. i do recognize the reasons why the church did the things they did... but i disagree with the acts preformed by the members. get married. but don't expect any religion to recognize that marriage, for that is the real thing that they were attacking.

hope that this has been informative! peace out, and love what you are doing, even if i don't always agree.

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I always wondered something similar. Think of the worst, most horrible people in the world. Say... Hitler and Stalin. You can't get much more evil than them.

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