HW 54

I chose to research Catholicism instead of Atheism because it was how I was raised. From Pre-School to the 5th grade I attended two Catholic schools, and thought it interesting to actually attempt to gain an understanding of the doctrine. Until about 6th or 7th grade I was certain that pearly gates awaited me after I died, but those thoughts vanished as soon as I started thinking logically. I did research into some texts, even pulled out my old bible, haha. I went to my former pre-k/kindergarten and spoke to the pastor about some things. I'm not sure he actually remembered me, which isn't all that bad because I don't know what he'd think if he saw that I was no longer the good little catholic that I used to be.

HEAVEN

For my whole childhood I was always told that if you were good and free of sin you get to go to the majestic place where white gates and g-d await. A huge incentive for us to be good people, is it not? "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" I found it interesting that it's a kingdom, which insinuates some sort of tyrannical monarchy, they say g-d is all powerful, but are we expected to bow down to him even in the afterlife? I spoke to the pastor about this, I asked him what his perception of heaven is to which he answered, "People tend to think too much about the aesthetics and not enough about what heaven actually means. It's not about the pearly gates or angels. It's about the purity that awaits us. We will be our perfect selves living in harmony." Even though I disagree with him, he said it with such conviction and firmness that he made it same possible and amazing. I personally think that there is no heaven. There is no physical or spiritual place.

HELL

Hell was the place no one ever wanted to go. All the bad people go there. I found a great bible quote about hell and Satanism,

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, ¹⁰The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: ¹¹And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name"

Basically if you worship Satan, you'll go to live with him and will be tortured. I found this a little contradictory. If these people worship Satan, wouldn't they want to live with him? And why would Satan torture his followers? It seems to me that g-d tortures his followers. During the Crusades and the Inquisition, people killed (a mortal sin*!) in the name of g-d, the go to heaven, but someone gets an inverted pentagon tattoo, they're condemned to hell? It shouldn't be called the bible, it should be called "The International Book of Double Standards" So hell is this really horrible place with burning sulfur (which means it smells really bad) and flames everywhere, and the ruler is a demonic looking guy,

who was an angel that fell from heaven after defying g-d,

So, you defy g-d and suddenly you fall through the sky into hell and become some demonic sadistic super evil thing? I've defied g-d on many occasions, I never got wings. I love reading about hell, it has great comedic value. I'm trying really hard to take this stuff seriously, but honestly, like really? Come on.

ETERNITY

You live your whole life, then die, and go to heaven and live more? That's my understanding anyway. I just don't comprehend how that could be in any way coveted. You've either fulfilled your life dreams or not, if you have, you die content, then wake up after an indeterminable amount of time and your in heaven watching everyone. If you haven't fulfilled your dreams, well, it's not like you get another shot at it.

"12:2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake – some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence. 3 But the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavenly expanse. And those bringing many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever."

You catch that last part? Forever and ever. Like always. Never ending. The most redundant lifestyle possible. What do you do? Live in paradise the whole time? Doesn’t that get boring after a while. Whether you either in hell or heaven, you’re still being tortured with the burden of nothing to do.

Catholicism is really intricate and requires way more time to understand, even just the afterlife part. Basically, Catholics believe you go to either heaven or hell, live with g-d or Satan forever. _________________________________________________________________________________
*mortal sin: an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace