Give me Hell

"I don't believe in an afterlife, so I don't have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse." - Issac Asimov

So, I found this quote the other day. And well it being Easter tommorow and what not I decided what better and more coinciedntal time to discuss Heaven and Hell. I'll preface this all by saying up front I don't know how I feel about heaven and hell. I once believed in heaven and I figured I was a shoo in at the time. Actually, that isn't true I always feared hell. Always thinking I was one monumental fuck up from an enternity of unpleasentness. Well, since my youth I have turned a critical eye towards heaven and hell and found the theory behind it all, lacking and unconvincing. Frankly, I don't know if there is a heaven or a hell and I honestly don't spend a lot of time worrying about it anymore. I've choosen to believe a life lived for fear of hell or believing in God because it is more conveniant to go to heaven is absurd and a waste of our time here on earth. That is kinda were I stand. But, this isn't really what I want to discuss.

"I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse." This is the line that caught me. I like it because it gave me a thought I have never contemplated and I want to throw it out for the debate I believe it presents.

To start off I want to discuss life here on earth. I think life right here on earth is awsome. I wouldn' trade it for anything. I think the thing that makes life so special is its finiteness and trials. In other words if we never died then life would have no urgency and if we were never tested (i.e. pain, struggle, etc.) Life would have no specialness. For it is only through life's struggles do we discover ourselves and our strengths.

So basically, the main theme of the Christian religion (Maybe not main theme but, stick with me here.) is you believe in God and Jesus dying for our sins and in return you are rewarded with eternal paradise. Nothing ever bad happens to you again and you live forever. Well this reward flys smack in the face of what make life here and now so special. So why is heaven so special then?

This quote made me think of what eternity would be like if you never had anything bad ever happen. No more underdog stories. Where you face fear, failure, and in the face of allof it say fuck it and fight your ass off and in the end realize why victory is so sweet. A life where you never grow because you can't discover the sweet taste of pain that comes with growth. Overcoming tribulation creates the greatest stories, creates the strongest charachter, and develops the strongest souls. Why would heaven be so devoid of the elements that created the souls that would most likely poplulate it in the first place. It is a little counter intuitive really.

As I said I don't know if there is a heaven but, I could see why Asimov would choose to see it a place of eternal boredom. A life devoid of struggle is pointless in my opinion. I think God knew what He was doing when He created a world full of pain and trial. There is a lot of debate between believers and non-believers about why God if He was all caring would create a world such as this. I don't really debate it. I know what my life would be like if everything always went my way. If I never struggled, had to pick my self up, put the pieces back together, and conquer my inner demons. It would be boring. And I would be a spoiled brat. God didn't create us to become spoiled brats, why would He reward us so that we could become them.

Okay this is all a little devil's advocate reasoning (no pun intended). I suppose if God is all powerful He could create a paradise in which we could grow without pain. But, again doesn't that sound a little boring when you think about it. This idea caught me so off gaurd I had to blog about it. I am not saying I am correct and the odds are I am not. But, I believe it present a very interesting debate and something to talk about before Easter. Seeing as the odds of me going to church tommorow are slim. Here is a little philsophical spirituality so maybe just maybe I won't go to hell for not going to church on Easter.