GardenerGal Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 In the hindsight I can say the only grab Christianity had on me was the fear of hell. It wasn't because I so desired to be in heaven. Like many of you already said deep down I found the Christian concept of heaven boring. I got bored in church because we used to have worship for 1-1.5 hours before AND after every sermon. To do that for an eternity? What a horrible existence would that be! I might have mentioned to a person or two that heaven sounded boring, and I think the response was something like "God will change us all so that we enjoy worshiping him for eternity." I'm sorry, but you would have to change my entire personality so much to make this possible, even before I deconverted, that I just wouldn't be me anymore. I'd be someone and something else. If I would be so different from what I am now, then what's the point? Why not just make a bunch of ass-kissing heavenly beings to start with, instead of screwing around with humans here on earth? Oh, wait, I forgot. <droning christian voice> Because God works in mysterious ways. </droning christian voice> Thanks for the laugh this morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam5 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Can anyone direct me to verses in the bible where heaven is described? Having never been religious, past the age of 10, my only concept of heaven was a place where I would be happy all the time. Revelation 4:5-6, 8. http://www.thebricktestament.com/revelation/heaven_revealed/rv04_05-06p08.html All day and night singing 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty, who was, who is, and is to come.' I dont know about you but I would find that a tad annoying after a while and very needy of Bible God. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qadeshet Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Does St Peter guard the Pearly Gates to keep people out, or to keep people in? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser01 Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 Does St Peter guard the Pearly Gates to keep people out, or to keep people in? Profound question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TrueFreedom Posted June 29, 2012 Moderator Share Posted June 29, 2012 The thought of eternal existence always disturbed me. But I was kinda hoping for a massive orgy, interrupted by limitless opportunities for creation and exploration. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivingLife Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Well according to the Universalists we all end up there, the LoF is for purification IOW you are not deep fried, just simmer a bit till all teh sin bugs die and then you are allowed in. I hope they are wrong as we are then all phucked to spend an eternity with the folk we despise so much. That IMO would be hell. Plus where are we gonna roast our marshmellows? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake49 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 when I was a Christian, I couldn't stand the music... "worship music"... after a particularly cringy morning of it a friend said with genuine sincerity, "Just imagine! in heaven we will worship God like this for eternity!".... That made shivers run down my back.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddbird1963 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 When i was a child under Christianity i of course like everyone else, was taught that heaven was a place where everyone wanted to go. I however did not want to go to heaven because even as a small child it just seemed like another hell to me, a very boring conceded hell where i spend all my time on my knees and praise God for an eternity. I certainly did not want to go to hell but i didn't want to go to heaven because it seemed so boring and uneventful. I never asked anyone about this because to claim i didn't want heaven would of been blasphemy. Did you dislike the Idea of eternal worship? I also find it funny how Christians will use the idea of heaven to get people in the door almost claiming that they can do what ever they want in heaven but when you get into Christianity you learn your not free in heaven but all you will be doing is praying for an eternity. As a teenager, I used to dislike the idea of heaven and it's eternal church music concert a lot. I think it had to do with the phase of life I was in - - a whole life of milestones to look forward to. How could a perpetual church service seem somehow desirable? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConureDelSol Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I wasn't so afraid of heaven as I was of who wouldn't be there when I got there. My best friend wasn't a Christian, so would she not be there? People tend to believe that animals don't have souls and thus, don't go to heaven and that just pissed me off. Why would God create animals that humans can have real, loving relationships with and then say that you can't see them ever again? I was more afraid to leave my pets than anything. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser01 Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Im sure most people hate the idea of heaven but they wont admit it for fear of retribution, at least on some level. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcdaddy Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Ummmmmmmmmmmmm. No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser01 Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Ummmmmmmmmmmmm. No. You didnt fear the eternal church service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Valk0010 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Any idea of heaven has seemed absurd to me since, realizing how much Christians harp on free will as a explanation for suffering. If god is god and heaven is where he wants us, why couldn't he just create us there. Any real rationalizations against that, to me seem contradictory to their idea of god being perfect. If he wants us all to be drones, only someone who isn't god beforehand would have to worry or need to kind of shit the bible describes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcdaddy Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Call me crazy but I thought heaven would be......heavenly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Droptail Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Well, I certainly wasn't ouranophobic. Like a good Christian zealot, I wanted to go to heaven, but I definitely hoped it wouldn't be as dull as an eternal worship service. I grew up never singing hymns & praises more than 30 minutes in a week (that is, if we even went to church), and that amount more than sufficed for me. I had a curious thought that one could lose their salvation in heaven and be banished to hell if they committed thoughtcrime there. That fear was a tormenter of mine throughout my teens. I was told once that I should write down a list of questions for God in heaven, which I promptly forgot to do, but later I wondered, if all that stuff were true, wouldn't one destined to heaven instantly know everything upon dying? Not that there's a clear Christian answer on that...that was just my impression at the time. Now knowing that the mystery won't be revealed at the end, I'm disappointed but also relieved not to be forevermore regaling the cosmic tyrant with lavish syllables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser01 Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Well, I certainly wasn't ouranophobic. Like a good Christian zealot, I wanted to go to heaven, but I definitely hoped it wouldn't be as dull as an eternal worship service. I grew up never singing hymns & praises more than 30 minutes in a week (that is, if we even went to church), and that amount more than sufficed for me. I had a curious thought that one could lose their salvation in heaven and be banished to hell if they committed thoughtcrime there. That fear was a tormenter of mine throughout my teens. I was told once that I should write down a list of questions for God in heaven, which I promptly forgot to do, but later I wondered, if all that stuff were true, wouldn't one destined to heaven instantly know everything upon dying? Not that there's a clear Christian answer on that...that was just my impression at the time. Now knowing that the mystery won't be revealed at the end, I'm disappointed but also relieved not to be forevermore regaling the cosmic tyrant with lavish syllables. I was told that when you got to heaven you wouldnt want to ask questions because you would be to busy worshiping God for an eternity because you would be so happy for what he had done for you. At the time i didn't have the vocabulary to express what i felt about this, now i do. What a shit deal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Well, I certainly wasn't ouranophobic. Like a good Christian zealot, I wanted to go to heaven, but I definitely hoped it wouldn't be as dull as an eternal worship service. I grew up never singing hymns & praises more than 30 minutes in a week (that is, if we even went to church), and that amount more than sufficed for me. I had a curious thought that one could lose their salvation in heaven and be banished to hell if they committed thoughtcrime there. That fear was a tormenter of mine throughout my teens. I was told once that I should write down a list of questions for God in heaven, which I promptly forgot to do, but later I wondered, if all that stuff were true, wouldn't one destined to heaven instantly know everything upon dying? Not that there's a clear Christian answer on that...that was just my impression at the time. Now knowing that the mystery won't be revealed at the end, I'm disappointed but also relieved not to be forevermore regaling the cosmic tyrant with lavish syllables. I was told that when you got to heaven you wouldnt want to ask questions because you would be to busy worshiping God for an eternity because you would be so happy for what he had done for you. At the time i didn't have the vocabulary to express what i felt about this, now i do. What a shit deal. LOL! Me too, I was also told that we would be so overcome with emotion from being in the presence of god that we wouldnt have anything else on our mind. I dont think that heaven scared me as much as "eternity" scared me. like for EVER. Imagine saying "you remember like 10 trillion years ago when we tried the earth thing". It would get BORING and is there a maximum capacity imagine how many people would be there if it went on forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rain Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Can anyone direct me to verses in the bible where heaven is described? Having never been religious, past the age of 10, my only concept of heaven was a place where I would be happy all the time. Revelation 4:5-6, 8. http://www.thebrickt...4_05-06p08.html All day and night singing 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty, who was, who is, and is to come.' I dont know about you but I would find that a tad annoying after a while and very needy of Bible God. that is scary, thanks Adam5 ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith666 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Yep. My fundy father said we are gonna worship Gawd and sing praises to him all day. Now I like to sing, but that would get old. I imagined a giant, white, shiny space populated by blond men in white dresses. Everyone sings about Gawd's greatness and we are all very happy, which doesn't make sense because that version of heaven would give no one any reason to be happy. I figured they put all the souls on drugs. God, I am so glad I quit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailBlazer Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Irrelevant. I always believed one needs a brain for consciousness. No brain = no conscious awareness. Therefore, who gives a rip if one's soul will go to heaven or hell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith666 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The Lovely Bones' heaven sounds better, which is why I almost liked that book. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I didn't like the Christian idea of heaven. Mansions and golden streets. I thought it was boring. I wanted to explore the universe, something like Star Trek. See things and go places no one had ever seen before. That is my idea of heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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