Is Hell a real place or a metaphor to deter evil-doers?

Metaphor

6 of 105

by Joseph Whalen

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Hell, in its various incarnations and gruesome depictions in scripture is simply one more tool in the arsenal of fear that organized religion has at its disposal. A uniquely Christian concept, Hell has taken on many roles and faces over the centuries. All of these incarnations were meant to strike fear in the average layman. Fear that if they fail to follow the church teachings that they will be condemned for all eternity to writhe in agony in hell.

While the prospect of spending the afterlife in the fire and brimstone laced underworld has been an effective deterrence to many people over the centuries it has surely not served its intended purpose given the crime rate we see in today's major cities. The reason we've seen a progressive increase in crime is a direct result of the decrease in organize religions influence on society. People simply don't believe the way they did even a hundred years ago. Much of that lack of faith surely has to do with the countless violations of the congregations trust in organized religion. As a result the fear tactics that once ruled the western world have simply become less effective in mainstream society. Thus Hell doesn't seem to hold the same meaning as it once did.

Hell is a Christian concept that is partially derived from concepts of ancient religions. Many religions recognize the existence of an afterlife of some type, though not all have a concept of heaven and hell as the Christians do. An underworld concept is popular in many ancient religions. In most of these concepts the underworld simply is the afterlife. It is not necessarily a place of pain, suffering or plight. Norwegian concepts of the afterlife depict their dead fighting an eternal battle with their gods. Some eastern religions downplay the afterlife in favor of reincarnation while some put the believers down a path of betterment and enlightenment by reaching a higher plane of existence. Only the Christian religions cling to the concept of a place of eternal torture for not abiding by church law.

The hypocrisy associated with Christianities fixation on threatening the living with eternal damnation should come as no surprise really. Since its inception Christian leaders have engaged in more forms of hypocrisy than most people care to believe. Whether it was selling indulgences to its flock, or the clergy of the church engaging in carnal acts in direct violation to church law or even promising redemption and eternal paradise for enlisting in the Christian crusades to kill other human beings history is replete with examples of Christian hypocrisy. The irony of the history of Christianity is that the most menacing challenge the church as face has not come from believers violating church law it is from the church alienating its own flock.

Having never returned from the dead, nor having the advantage of speaking with the dead or any divine entity it is impossible for me to say whether Hell is a real place or not. However, in light of church doctrine and the tendency of the church to invoke fearful repentance within its flock it is easy to say that Hell is a metaphor that the Christian church has stolen from other religions and twisted to its own end. Given the lack of credibility that the church and most organized religions have in today's society it's easy to say that the fear mongering will like get much worse before it gets any better as religious institutions struggle to regain some sense of control over their once devout flock. Ultimately though Hell and all of the other fear related church doctrine that has been used so widely in the past will hold little sway on a public that is finally seeing the hypocrisy that is the Christian church.

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