Do atheist worry about eternal damnation?

[Caracasus]

Read an interesting book once (Okay, I lie, it was pretty boring but it had one interesting concept) that heaven and hell were exactly the same place. The only thing that happened was that on entering, you became utterly aware of the consequences of all your actions, good and bad without any of the nice little justifications everyone invents for doing selfish/wrong things. For those who had lead relatively good lives it was heaven. For those who had not it was torment.

Interesting idea, though I don't see what the point is of becoming aware of the consequences of your actions. If you're far enough gone, I doubt you could give a rat's ass about the consequences..

Like I said, I don't really remember the book as I picked it up in a charity shop on a whim and got about halfway through... I guess people without a conscience would be given one? Dunno.

[Dumb Ideologies]

I'm pretty sure that asking for forgiveness/repenting of sins requires an actual desire to repent and feeling genuinely sorry for all the bad shit you did.

Well that's very unreasonable behaviour from a God that didn't create every man equally capable of giving a shit.

[Doom Legions]

Except the church isn't God, they're just a bunch of dudes that claim to speak for their god. In the end it's not the church that judges you but god.
True the church has been pretty damn corrupt, but the forgiveness of a priest means nothing. In the end it's god that has to forgive you, no?

If he's not spoken to you directly it would be pretty unreasonable for God to judge you on anything other than your relation to His representatives on Earth. Then again, the Bible is full of God being a jealous, vindictive manchild, so all bets are off.

Well god's supposedly omniscient, so he should know all there is about you and the corruptness of the church and all that.

They say he's behind all things that happen. Though that also means he's responsible for giving cancer to little children and such things, and I don't know about you but I'm not wasting my breath praying to such an abominable being.

[The Holy Therns]

No.

If I was worried about it I wouldn't be an atheist. Do you worry about Sauron?

I don't worry about Sauron because he is simply fiction. The bible isn't, so the comparative isn't exactly working.

I understand that people are attacking the assumption of the Bible being real rather than addressing the question yet that still makes me disappointed.

Well, if we agreed, we probably wouldn't be atheists then, would we?

[Doom Legions]

Interesting idea, though I don't see what the point is of becoming aware of the consequences of your actions. If you're far enough gone, I doubt you could give a rat's ass about the consequences..

Like I said, I don't really remember the book as I picked it up in a charity shop on a whim and got about halfway through... I guess people without a conscience would be given one? Dunno.

Well being aware of things is one thing, but caring about them is something else entirely. I mean how often have you killed a fly or a mosquito? Ever felt anything for doing it besides perhaps the satisfaction of ending it's annoying existence? In the end you still took a life, but I bet you don't feel a single hint of remorse for doing so. If you suddenly become aware of that would you suddenly care about the creature you killed? I doubt it. I certainly wouldn't.

[Aamaliana]

Well personally I don't believe in eternal damnation so of course I don't care.

[The Blaatschapen]

I'm pretty sure that asking for forgiveness/repenting of sins requires an actual desire to repent and feeling genuinely sorry for all the bad shit you did.

Well that's very unreasonable behaviour from a God that didn't create every man equally capable of giving a shit.

god discriminates against socio- and psychopaths. god is an ableist.

[Risottia]

Well that's very unreasonable behaviour from a God that didn't create every man equally capable of giving a shit.

god discriminates against socio- and psychopaths. god is an ableist.

I also have found the God of Abraham to be EXTREMELY sexist. Take a look at the wording of the Tenth Commandment:
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Nothing about coveting your neighbour's husband. While his wife is lumped with the list of his properties.

[Sjealand]

I mean sometimes sure. But i just dont find the idea of god to agree with me. If a god exists and im to be punished for not believing, i guess thats my fate. Here is to hoping hell is like its portrayed in ''The Journey to Saturn''

[Braecland]

Not in the slightest.

[Gim]

Not in the slightest.

There are agnostic atheists.

[Philjia]

I don't believe in a benevolent God, so if I go to hell, I'll sue whoever put me there. Not that I believe that will happen.

[5pb]

No, I think you might be getting atheist mixed up with agnostic my friend.
If not then the question is still invalid.
Since an atheist doesn't believe in a God, divine punishment doesn't exist.
An agnostic on the other hand is undecided on if they believe in a God, so the thought of eternal damnation might cross their minds.

[Ashmoria]

After reading about Pascal's wager, do atheist worry about eternal damnation, or the possibility of it occurring (according to the bible)?

Personally, fear of eternal damnation is not my reason for belief in the bible however how can people be so dismissive of infinite loss compared to finite gains? Even though you may not accept the bible, does it not worry you slightly?

no

it used to worry me some a long time ago in a superstitious kind of way. the same way you might worry that a black cat had crossed your path.

but its been a long time now and I don't worry about it or any other superstitious thing.

that, of course, came from being raised in the church.

[Gaozu]

I'm an atheist, and personally I don't. To be honest, if you're an atheist anyway, you're unlikely to even consider the possibility of eternal damnation - unlike an agnostic who may be more unsure.

[Anywhere Else But Here]

Only if they believe eternal damnation might be a thing. At which point, one might question the application of the term "atheist".

[Ifreann]

After reading about Pascal's wager, do atheist worry about eternal damnation, or the possibility of it occurring (according to the bible)?

Personally, fear of eternal damnation is not my reason for belief in the bible however how can people be so dismissive of infinite loss compared to finite gains? Even though you may not accept the bible, does it not worry you slightly?

No.

If I was worried about it I wouldn't be an atheist. Do you worry about Sauron?

I'm not worried about Sauron, I have a shiny ring here that can defeat him.

---

Not really. This life ends eventually

Speak for yourself.

[Alvecia]

Not really. This life ends eventually

Speak for yourself.

*Cough*

[The Blaatschapen]

No.

If I was worried about it I wouldn't be an atheist. Do you worry about Sauron?

I'm not worried about Sauron, I have a shiny ring here that can defeat him.

---

Not really. This life ends eventually

Speak for yourself.

How is 'this' not referring to my own life?

[Deitech Industries]

Have I thought about it? Yes. Do I worry about it? No.

[Salandriagado]

After reading about Pascal's wager, do atheist worry about eternal damnation, or the possibility of it occurring (according to the bible)?

Personally, fear of eternal damnation is not my reason for belief in the bible however how can people be so dismissive of infinite loss compared to finite gains? Even though you may not accept the bible, does it not worry you slightly?

You are atheist with respect to the vast majority of all belief systems. Are you not worried about eternal damnation for not following one of the others?

Also, I choose my beliefs based on what I find most likely to be true, not cynical attempts to manipulate the system (that wont work anyway: any being worth calling a "god" will be able to see right through that bullshit).

Agnosticism and atheism are not mutually exclusive.

This may help you understand.

Technically, agnosticism being about knowing whether or not God exists, and God, as a concept being utterly unknowable, everyone is agnostic.

But rather a lot of people claim to know, which makes them gnostic.

Technically, agnosticism being about knowing whether or not God exists, and God, as a concept being utterly unknowable, everyone is agnostic.

Technically agnosticism is a position about whether knowledge exists and is possible, and there are different types of agnosticism. Like atheism, agnosticism may have strong and weak forms. A strong agnostic would say that it is impossible to know whether or not a God exists - "I cannot know whether a God exists or not, and neither can you". A weak agnostic would only say that they don't know but acknowledge that it may be possible to know - "I don't know whether a God exists or not, but it might be possible to find out". There's also apathetic agnosticism arising from the belief that no amount of debate will ever determine whether or not there is a God, leading to apathy with regards to the subject. Not everyone is an agnostic. Some people believe not only that knowledge is possible, but that they have it. Some theists believe they've experienced God's presence. Some atheists believe evidence and logical arguments can disprove the existence of God.

To be fair, the latter is mostly a matter of exactly how you define "god". I'd say that I'm strongly gnostic in my confidence that god doesn't exist if you are defining "god" to mean "the Christian god", due to internal self-contradictions, but strongly agnostic (but still strongly atheist) in regards to deist gods.

No.

If I was worried about it I wouldn't be an atheist. Do you worry about Sauron?

I don't worry about Sauron because he is simply fiction. The bible isn't, so the comparative isn't exactly working.

I understand that people are attacking the assumption of the Bible being real rather than addressing the question yet that still makes me disappointed.

That is answering the question: to most atheists, much of the bible is fiction.

And what if you're a huge sinner? Say a murderer and rapist? I doubt any god would forgive such acts.

Donate enough money to the church and say a few prayers and anything can be forgiven.

Be a bastard all your life, leave something in the will for insurance, receive rites just before death. Optimum Christianizing.

Or pick Catharism: you don't even need to donate, just convert on your deathbed. Much cheaper.

[Gim]

Have I thought about it? Yes. Do I worry about it? No.

Set your mind to just thinking about the Heaven.

[The Foxes Swamp]

who cares about religious books and whatever they claim.

[Alvecia]

Technically, agnosticism being about knowing whether or not God exists, and God, as a concept being utterly unknowable, everyone is agnostic.

But rather a lot of people claim to know, which makes them gnostic.

Ehhh. I'd say they believe they know, which is a different kettle of fish

[Gim]

who cares about religious books and whatever they claim.

Majority of the world does.