Hell

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

Hell: A world in which everybody agrees with me.

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.

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«?

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.

If indeed we each create our own hell (or heaven for that matter), and inhabit it alone or with others (like Sartre), whichever we find less happy, then my main goal will be be to bring nice drapes to either place. I figure if I am alone, I can look at my nice drapes and be happy, and if i am with others, they might like them as well. If they don't, and are just disagreeable people, those people in hell with me, then I'll just shut my drapes.

If hell is where we go to learn
It might as well be here on earth
If heaven is the place we earn
When all our deeds are judged enough
Then should your concrete footsteps stop
To watch this town go down in flames
You'll feel your feet touch grass again
Could be you'll find you're going sane