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| Metaphor | 46% | 1014 votes | Total: 2210 votes | |
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Metaphor
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Add to FavoritesHell, 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.
Learn more about this author, Joseph Whalen.
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Real
Is Hell real? Ask the heroin addict who can see nothing but the next fix. Ask the man in prison serving a life sentence for murder. Ask the husband who is watching his life partner fade away in front of his eyes. Ask the mother who has to bury her only child. Hell is real and we all experience it at least once in our lives.
The idea of Hell is a creation of religions that came from the Middle East. Their definition of Hell is a place where hopelessness and misery abound. Throughout history, painters have portrayed Hell as a place that can be either the center of the earth or an extra-terrestrial prison because that is the best way to put it on canvas. It is the writers, however, who can truly give Hell a proper address.
Dante Alighieri's is the literary world's most renowned and most resourced version of Hell. He takes the most disreputable people he has ever heard of and gives them a punishment that fits their crimes. It's allegorical and it's symbolic but he does it in a way that makes the reader suspect that the evil man suffers these consequences while he is still alive. And that's what makes it possible to believe that Hell is really a state of mind that people experience in the course of a single lifetime.
The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe, is another literary rendering of the reality of Hell. Having sold his soul to the Devil, Dr. Faustus is forced to deal with the rewards from doing nothing good in his life. Although many might wonder why a man would feel guilty about being rich and successful without actually benefiting anyone or anything, it's probably because that person has no problem being "evil". Dr. Faustus, however, struggled with the issue. He wasn't really comfortable with being an "evil' person.
By the time we had all read "The Diary of a Young Girl" by the late but very young Anne Frank, we understood that Hell is right here on Earth. We, as a species, finally understood that both Heaven and Hell are choices each and every one of us make in our daily lives. We can choose to continue the old policies of conquest, racism, hate, and war or we can choose peace, understanding, and unconditional love. It's completely up to us whether humans experience Heaven on Earth or Hell on Earth.
Pope John Paul II caused quite a stir when he stated that Heaven and Hell were not physical places outside of earthly life but were actually states of mind within an earthly life. For the literary person this was not a surprise. As writers, we can see more than two or three dimensions in the world and are often challenged to find a way to express this in a way that others can also see the deeper realities within any given situation. Dante did it with allegory. Marlowe did it with Elizabethan tragedy. Anne Frank did it with realism. No matter the literary style of the day, the writer will always find a way to tell you that Hell is right here. All you have to do to find it is to walk in someone else's shoes.
Learn more about this author, Sandi Crain.
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