Hell's existence seems incorrect

[hmkpoker]

As some of you know, I'm an atheist. And somewhat serious, even proud about it.

However, there are rare occasions every here and then, sometimes when I'm by myself for a long period of time and alone with my thoughts, when I think "man, what if those Christians are right? What if God and Heaven and Hell are all true and I'm going to be damned for eternity unless I accept?" The worry (although, I can honestly say, it is minor) gives a brief adrenaline release, I toss it over in my mind for a few seconds, know where and why I stand on things, and then my mind goes on to something else.

In no way is this logically affirmative of Christian beliefs. This happens mostly when I am stressed. Maybe I have a lot of work to do tomorrow or I'm worried about bills; lots of irrational thoughts can occur in a person's mind when he's paranoid. Plus the righteousness and confidence of the believers, the number of the believers, all these things can activate the survival instinct in a person and make him want to do whatever is necessary to escape the potential danger. (Y2K comes to mind)

I think every atheist, no matter how strong, has a little shred of worry every now and then. Heck, I remember feeling the same way after a fiery discussion/debate from a guest lecturer in my Islamic Philosophy class.

I can confidently say that, in the unlikely event that I were to eventually become a Christian, it would not be out of the love of God (I've never thought of God as anything but a prick for a decade now), it would be out of the fear of eternal damnation. I'd be doing it purely to save my own ass.

And I doubt I'd be the first.

So here's the problem: from what I gather, "God has a plan for us." That is, love him, love his works, love what Jesus did, glorify him out of your love, and you will recieve eternal life. I think the rationale behind creating us (NotReady, help me out with this) was that it brings more glory to God, since we accepted him out of our free will. However, if a person can be threatened into believing in God, then I fail to see how that glorifies him.

Another question is why not non-existence for non-believers? Why doesn't God just obliterate the soul of an atheist upon death? Non-existence is a much, much easier concept to handle...after all, I believe that that (more or less) is my post-mortem fate! Without the terrifying threat of damnation, people would not choose Christianity out of fear.

And, it should seem like a more fitting consequence for atheists [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]