Just a rant I wrote to read to myself during my deconstruction that I've added to with time. Sharing it here to help whoever might find it useful. Feedback or discussion is always welcome.
We're not going to burn in hell. There is no hell. The idea is ridiculous on it's face, its just so scary that most religious folks don't dare think to hard on it but when you do, it totally unravels.
The length of your life on earth is minuscule compared to eternity and your human life happens at the very beginning of this infinitely long span of time.
Some omnipotent, all knowing god came along and decided it was fair to make your fate for eternity dependent on this blink of an eye we call human life? And that god is supposedly loving and fair? How does that make any sense at all? It's crazy anyone believes it.
In reality, a loving god would never put us in such a situation. Only some truly evil entity would devise a system whereby a soul would be tortured for hundreds of millions more years than the person's life. Picture yourself as god. Would any of that be ok with you?
Also a loving god would make him or herself known. No reasonable god would rely on the corrupt mouthpieces that are everywhere. Joel Osteen - Kenneth Copeland, et al. God with power would have a clear voice. These people say whatever will keep the most followers. A God that cared would smack them with lightning on live TV.
No reasonable god with power would allow so many different religions to exist that didn't believe in him. God would know that just being born to parents of the wrong religion would make it near impossible for that person to leave theirs to go find the "one true religion." If Christianity were real, god would be dooming 99% of the Muslim children that are born each day, just by letting them be born into the wrong religion/family/region.
Hell and Heaven are constructs created specifically to keep people having doubt from leaving the fold or voicing their ideas. Fear works well. But we have reason to see through the lies.
It is time to be free from the fear of hell. It is just a boogeyman story. Some of the most moral people I know are atheists. We know there is nothing more precious than right now and our current world.
Hug your children. Fix your issues or start toward the fix at least. Worry about today, and tomorrow, but don't worry about hell. It doesn't exist.
Furthermore, the fear of hell was taught to you, a product of the indoctrination that's probably been ingrained into your mind since before you learned how to talk. It's meant to do exactly what it's doing now: make you afraid to question the faith.
The best way I know how to deal with fear is to confront it. What, exactly, do you fear? Why do you fear it? What concrete, verifiable sources do you have to confirm that your fear is based on reality and not just confirmation bias and habitual thought? Did you ever wonder why scientists don't fear hell?
When worrying about "what if" bear in mind that Pascal's Wager is a bad bet. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. We're wrong about things all the time. Do I have the chicken or the fish? Let's say I choose the fish and it makes me sick. I had no way of knowing the fish was prepared improperly so I was wrong because I didn't have enough information to make the right choice. There are things we can't know beforehand that necessarily impede our ability to choose.
So if I'm wrong about this and I end up in Hell it won't be because I'm rebellious or obstinate. It will be because the god who puts me there doesn't care enough to make sure I have the information I need to make a good choice. That's his fault, not mine. I don't believe in auras, elves, unicorns, leprechauns, gods or the afterlife. If it turns out I'm wrong about any of those assumptions then I'll be wrong because I have no reason to believe in them, and that's the right reason to be wrong.
I know this is easier said than done so please be patient with yourself; no one overcomes a lifetime of fear and indoctrination overnight. If you feel you're not making much progress on your own, find a good therapist. The Secular Therapy Project can help you find who might be close to you, and I've learned that many therapists are willing to prorate their services based on your ability to pay. Religious Trauma Syndrome is no joke.
Thank you so much for this well written text!