Hell

Hell happens when we don't work together for peace, when we don't care about others, when we don't understand what suffering there is in this world.

Some religions believe the truest nature of hell is the absence of the Beloved. Satan's crime was not his desire for man's reverence; it was his jealousy for God's attention. This is perhaps the worst case of sibling rivalry ever recorded.

It should be said that before the existance of a devil, or anti-God, the underworld of death was not seen as a negative place. Every God had a part to play in nature, and was vital to humanity's existance. Dualism, Good vs. Evil, has led to Us vs. Them. Who wants to be Them?

Hell: A world in which everybody agrees with me.

Other people? Or really just ourselves? Must we believe in some transdimensional world of torture, all brimstone and pitchforks?

And why would the Devil punish us for being bad, when he himself embodies evil? Wouldn't he sidle up with a cold beer and say »thank you«?

Hell is not an easy topic to discuss since I have never been there-- at least not in the physical sense.

A wealthy farmer went to church one Sunday. After services he said to the priest, »Father, that was a damned good sermon you gave, damned good!«
»I'm happy you liked it,« said the priest. »But I wish you wouldn't use those terms in expressing yourself.«
»I can't help it,« said the rich farmer. »I still think it was a damned good sermon. In fact, I liked it so much I put a hundred dollar bill in the collection basket.«
»The hell you did?!« replied the priest.

»Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.« That's what Satan says to his pal Beelzebub while they lie like beached whales in the eternal lake of fire in Milton's Paradise Lost (Book I, line 262). You've gotta wonder about ambition like that.