NationStates Jolt Archive

Why? I'm quite happy if, when I die, it's over. No heaven, no hell. But for most religions this seems to be the most important point. Christians keep saying that "if you believe in god, and you're right, you get to heaven. If you're wrong, nothing happens." I fail to see why I should want to live forever in somewhere? (Just wanted to rant.)

One point more. If I remember right, Buddhist try to not be born again by living as good lives as possible. Correct me if I'm wrong.

According to the bible, you do not go to heaven or hell when you die. When judgement day happens, we are judged. The good ones go to heaven and the rest suffer death, that is they are forever away from God, they remain dead. No where in the bible does it say that Hell is full of fire and all that.

Why? I'm quite happy if, when I die, it's over. No heaven, no hell. But for most religions this seems to be the most important point. Christians keep saying that "if you believe in god, and you're right, you get to heaven. If you're wrong, nothing happens." I fail to see why I should want to live forever in somewhere? (Just wanted to rant.)

One point more. If I remember right, Buddhist try to not be born again by living as good lives as possible. Correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Exactly. What I really want is an eternal nap after all this bulldshit.

2. Eh. Its to avoid being reborn on earth. After you reach enlightenment, you will go to Nirvana (no, not the band *exasperated sigh*).

Don't Buddhists try to get ultimately reborn, free from suffering in Nirvana?

And to your original point, same. I find the idea of living forever somewhere more scary than death. Death doesn't scare me one bit, just the pain that might come with it. There's some famous quote about not fearing something which is not (ie death) but I can't remember it.....

According to the bible, you do not go to heaven or hell when you die. When judgement day happens, we are judged. The good ones go to heaven and the rest suffer death, that is they are forever away from God, they remain dead. No where in the bible does it say that Hell is full of fire and all that.


What bible are you reading? i believe in revelations, it speaks of the lake of fire and eteranl suffering in hell. I don't believe such a place exists myself but it is in the bible. I believe that when I die, my soul doesn't just sit in my body and rot for the rest of time, it will go somewhere. I won't physically be alive though.

I like what Marilyn Manson said about the subject: Why would you want to go to heaven and be surrounded by millions of @$$holes?

Seriously. Being surrounded by millions and billions of bible-thumpers for all eternity would be the worst hell I could possibly imagine.

If it looks like urine and smells like urine, then by god, it must be urine!

Or beer!

I like what Marilyn Manson said about the subject: Why would you want to go to heaven and be surrounded by millions of @$$holes?

Seriously. Being surrounded by millions and billions of bible-thumpers for all eternity would be the worst hell I could possibly imagine.
that is so true, I would go insane. Dealing with them while here is shitty enough

Or beer!

When we understand the motives of this post, we will know a lot more about the reality which we live in. :D

The purpose of going to Heaven is to praise God and increase the glory of Heaven. The purpose of Hell is not to punish unrepentant sinners, it's simply some place to put those who's presence would dilute the beauty of Heaven.

Sheep go to heaven. Goats go to hell

What bible are you reading? i believe in revelations, it speaks of the lake of fire and eteranl suffering in hell. I don't believe such a place exists myself but it is in the bible. I believe that when I die, my soul doesn't just sit in my body and rot for the rest of time, it will go somewhere. I won't physically be alive though.


King James version. Hell means seperated from God for eternity. The lake of fire is not eternal suffering. It is the suffering to occur on Earth. The ultimate punishment that God is supposed to give is total seperation from him.

Sheep go to heaven. Goats go to hell
my dad loves that song, and he's 58

King James version. Hell means seperated from God for eternity. The lake of fire is not eternal suffering. It is the suffering to occur on Earth. The ultimate punishment that God is supposed to give is total seperation from him.
If thats the best he can do then that is my goal, total seperation from your so called god

If thats the best he can do then that is my goal, total seperation from your so called god

I didn't say I believed in it, moron.

BTW if it is true, you wouldn't be missed.

I didn't say I believed in it, moron.

BTW if it is true, you wouldn't be missed.
I already am hated by enough people, so I'm prepared. But I do know a few people who would miss me

I already am hated by enough people, so I'm prepared. But I do know a few people who would miss me


A "Few" is the key word.

A "Few" is the key word.
exactly, and I don't care for people other than that few.

I believe that when I die, my soul doesn't just sit in my body and rot for the rest of time, it will go somewhere. I won't physically be alive though.
That is one of the things that I most curious about. Whether there is a soul or not. I personally don't think so, since if a human has a soul, well, we're just macrorganisms made up of smaller microorganisms. If we have souls, then bacteria and protists must then also have souls. Or where is the line drawn? Animal? Do amoebae have souls? Central nervous sytem? Do anemones have souls? Brain? Do centipedes? Or you could say that anything able of propagating itself has a soul, in which viruses and prions have souls. Even silicates if you believe in certain theories. There is just no scientific way to describe a soul. What we consider to be a soul is really just chemo-electric reactions.

Seriously. Being surrounded by millions and billions of bible-thumpers for all eternity would be the worst hell I could possibly imagine.
Aha! The best argument against Pascal's Wager I've seen yet!

If thats the best he can do then that is my goal, total seperation from your so called god
Perhaps. Though I suspect if Earth is targeted for being separated from God one day, things would be quite a bit worse than today. Christians say the only reason there are laws and stuff, is because of a little something called the Holy Spirit. Now if God is scheduled to remove his Holy Spirit because He's like, disgusted enough with the world or something (doesn't matter if He made us, it's our responsibility to make sure we do good and not evil as we and He understands it. He cannot/will not force us to choose good or evil, but can only guide us to the right path.), then there will be no 'guiding principle' for humans except what they want to do. That will soon turn us into no better than animals. So God is effectively saying, "So you want to do what you want and not listen to My advice, go ahead. I shall respect your decision and leave you to your devices. Goodbye."

Perhaps.
-snip-
Goodbye."
sounds fine by me

That is one of the things that I most curious about. Whether there is a soul or not. I personally don't think so, since if a human has a soul, well, we're just macrorganisms made up of smaller microorganisms. If we have souls, then bacteria and protists must then also have souls. Or where is the line drawn? Animal? Do amoebae have souls? Central nervous sytem? Do anemones have souls? Brain? Do centipedes? Or you could say that anything able of propagating itself has a soul, in which viruses and prions have souls. Even silicates if you believe in certain theories. There is just no scientific way to describe a soul. What we consider to be a soul is really just chemo-electric reactions.
I'm of the opinion that there are two kinds of soul. There is the 'life soul', of which all animals and plants and anything that can be regarded as 'alive' possess. That will be the essence of all life that is created whether from evolution, or creationism. (I believe in evolution myself)

Then, there will be a special kind of soul, a soul reserved for a species that manages to reach sentience, ie, become self-aware and start thinking "Who am I?" "Why am I here?" etc. Example: Homo sapiens. That will be something that I'd like to call a 'Conscience' for lack of a better name.

That's just my theory, so take it what you will.

I personally am fully athiest, i belive in the big bang, and evolution and all that, but i don't force it on people like retarted extremists :mp5: . like the roman catholics did. but if i had to be one religion it would have to be the Jewish religion, the mtother of all religions. And the most sensible one too. Makes more sense than all that cristian stuff with the holy ghoust and whatever...no offense.

I'm of the opinion that there are two kinds of soul. There is the 'life soul', of which all animals and plants and anything that can be regarded as 'alive' possess. That will be the essence of all life that is created whether from evolution, or creationism. (I believe in evolution myself)

Then, there will be a special kind of soul, a soul reserved for a species that manages to reach sentience, ie, become self-aware and start thinking "Who am I?" "Why am I here?" etc. Example: Homo sapiens. That will be something that I'd like to call a 'Conscience' for lack of a better name.

That's just my theory, so take it what you will.
Alright, I accept that. Though that still doesn't answer the question of whether virions have souls. I believe the Stoics had a certain belief that everything is made of a certain intangible energy, kind of like in FFVII, which is close to your first point. However, there does not seem to be distinct line for sentience, so I'm not quite sure how that'd work. Zoology is not progressed enough to really have that down. I'd like to establish the fact that I am so, so happy that someone finally used binomial nomenclature in its proper formatting. Why can people not respect Linnaean taxonomy, and keep doing things like Homo Sapiens? But not only did you use the proper majuscule and miniscule letters, but you also did the proper italicisation! Underlining would also be acceptable, but really should only be used calligraphically.

I personally am fully athiest, i belive in the big bang, and evolution and all that, but i don't force it on people like retarted extremists :mp5: . like the roman catholics did.
To put it shortly, you don't proselytise.

but if i had to be one religion it would have to be the Jewish religion, the mtother of all religions. And the most sensible one too. Makes more sense than all that cristian stuff with the holy ghoust and whatever...no offense.
Woah! Holy fecking monkey cocks! Did you seriously just call Judaism the mother of all religions? Granted, it is the basest of all Abrahamic religions, but there have been so many religions that predate Judaism that...that...Christ Jesus that's off!

Alright, I accept that. Though that still doesn't answer the question of whether virions have souls. I believe the Stoics had a certain belief that everything is made of a certain intangible energy, kind of like in FFVII, which is close to your first point. However, there does not seem to be distinct line for sentience, so I'm not quite sure how that'd work. Zoology is not progressed enough to really have that down. I'd like to establish the fact that I am so, so happy that someone finally used binomial nomenclature in its proper formatting. Why can people not respect Linnaean taxonomy, and keep doing things like Homo Sapiens? But not only did you use the proper majuscule and miniscule letters, but you also did the proper italicisation! Underlining would also be acceptable, but really should only be used calligraphically.
Maybe viruses are the 'demons' of religion (thinking of how they "possess" and afflict)? :D
I know it's fiction, but Star Wars also seems to have a similar idea of a 'living energy'. If you watch The Empire Strikes Back, there's a scene where Master Yoda teaches Luke about what the Jedi are in simplest terms. "Luminous beings, we are, not this crude matter." Or something to that effect. Stargate has it's Ancient beings, who made the Stargates and used Atlantis as a flying city/resort. In fact, a lot of fiction seems to have a running theme of humans 'evolving' to a 'higher plane of existence' and becoming powerful glowing people.
Yeah, there isn't any clear line of sentience. Are dolphins sentient? What about the apes? Pigs, dogs and cats? We'll probably never know. We do know what constitutes sentience, but we probably won't know what it takes to cross that threshhold.

Maybe viruses are the 'demons' of religion (thinking of how they "possess" and afflict)? :D
Well, almost. The main thing about viruses are that they can not reproduce without "commandeering" another organism's processes. But there are many organisms that do indeed also possess and afflict. *cough*pathogens and parasites*cough*

Why? I'm quite happy if, when I die, it's over. No heaven, no hell. But for most religions this seems to be the most important point. Christians keep saying that "if you believe in god, and you're right, you get to heaven. If you're wrong, nothing happens." I fail to see why I should want to live forever in somewhere? (Just wanted to rant.)

One point more. If I remember right, Buddhist try to not be born again by living as good lives as possible. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Your wrong. Buddhist want to reach Nirvanna which is being one with the universe.

i have to say i agree with Pershikia. So why waste my life beliving in something that i have to follow rules to get their, if theres a possibility it doesn't exist.

You know, sometimes, when I'm really depressed, I think about that question. Do you have an eternal black-out; like sleeping without a dream? I just can't imagine that.
Rebirth? Not knowing what your previous life was all about. How are you then supposed to make it better?
A soul going to some place? It sure would be crowded there, wouldn't it? And how would you supposed to find anybody there?
I know this leads nowhere, I just wanted to share the thought.

[QUOTE=Gnostikos]That is one of the things that I most curious about. Whether there is a soul or not. I personally don't think so, since if a human has a soul, well, we're just macrorganisms made up of smaller microorganisms. If we have souls, then bacteria and protists must then also have souls. Or where is the line drawn? Animal? Do amoebae have souls? Central nervous sytem? Do anemones have souls? Brain? Do centipedes? Or you could say that anything able of propagating itself has a soul, in which viruses and prions have souls. Even silicates if you believe in certain theories. There is just no scientific way to describe a soul. What we consider to be a soul is really just chemo-electric reactions.

Gnostikos, I think you can and have felt your soul. I believe it is unique to humankind. I am sharing this from baha'i Faith. Hope it helps.


God, in His Bounty, has given us a foretaste here, has given us certain proofs of the difference that exists between body, soul and spirit.

We see that cold, heat, suffering, etc, only concern the body, they do not touch the spirit.

How often do we see a man, poor, sick, miserably clad, and with no means of support, yet spiritually strong. Whatever his body has to suffer, his spirit is free and well! Again, how often do we see a rich man, physically strong and healthy, but with a soul sick unto death.

It is quite apparent to the seeing mind that a man's spirit is something very different from his physical body.

The spirit is changeless, indestructible. The progress and development of the soul, the joy and sorrow of the soul, are independent of the physical body.

If we are caused joy or pain by a friend, if a love prove true or false, it is the soul that is affected. If our dear ones are far from us -- it is the soul that grieves, and the grief or trouble of the soul may react on the body.

Thus, when the spirit is fed with holy virtues, then is the body joyous; if the soul falls into sin, the body is in torment!

When we find truth, constancy, fidelity, and love, we are happy; but if we meet with lying, faithlessness, and deceit, we are miserable.

These are all things pertaining to the soul, and are not bodily ills. Thus, it is apparent that the soul, even as the body, has its own individuality. But if the body undergoes a change, the spirit need not be touched. When you break a glass on which the sun shines, the glass is broken, but the sun still shines! If a cage containing a bird is destroyed, the bird is unharmed! If a lamp is broken, the flame can still burn bright!

The same thing applies to the spirit of man. Though death destroy his body, it has no power over his spirit -- this is eternal, everlasting, both birthless and deathless.

As to the soul of man after death, it remains in the degree of purity to which it has evolved during life in the physical body, and after it is freed from the body it remains plunged in the ocean of God's Mercy.

From the moment the soul leaves the body and arrives in the Heavenly World, its evolution is spiritual, and that evolution is: The approaching unto God.

In the physical creation, evolution is from one degree of perfection to another. The mineral passes with its mineral perfections to the vegetable; the vegetable, with its perfections, passes to the animal world, and so on to that of humanity. This world is full of seeming contradictions; in each of these kingdoms (mineral, vegetable and animal) life exists in its degree; though when compared to the life in a man, the earth appears to be dead, yet she, too, lives and has a life of her own. In this world things live and die, and live again in other forms of life, but in the world of the spirit it is quite otherwise.

The soul does not evolve from degree to degree as a law -- it only evolves nearer to God, by the Mercy and Bounty of God. *

(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 64)

We all live, we all die, the only question left is when.

Gnostikos, I think you can and have felt your soul. I believe it is unique to humankind. I am sharing this from baha'i Faith. Hope it helps.
Holy crap that was convincing. That was not sarcastic at all. There is but one part that hasn't gotten me between the legs. That is the fact that a soul is specific to Homo sapiens. That would mean that there is something special about any organism over any other, which is at odds with my most core biological beliefs. There can be certain aspects, such as sentience, that have a soul, but then where were the souls before there was sentience? The more it is thought out, the less plausible it seems. It was an incredible argument, but thinking that we're anything more than animals is just fanciful. Of course, if you are a creationist, there is no point to even arguing this matter, since that would exclude one of the prime reasons I can not believe in a soul.

Nirvana (and correct me if i'm wrong) is less a life after death, and more a communal understanding. If you reach nirvana, your soul becomes part of a collective of souls, in a communal state of neverending bliss and self knowledge.

meaningless emoticon time!
:mp5: :sniper: :headbang: :gundge: :fluffle: :upyours: :D

I don't think very many people other then the divine chosen of G-d will live in Heaven in the end. Those being the true believeing Jews, that have kept to G-d's covenants and have not betrayed themselves to the death of sin. They will be the priests and holy worshippers of G-d, in the New Heaven known as the New Jerusalem upon the new Earth, where the true believers of G-d will live, with the light of G-d showing upon the face of the earth, where no sin will be present.

I feel after death everybody goes to Sheol, the land of the dead, where they will await the Final Judgement of all things. I feel there will be different groups in Sheol, based on the strength of their faith and how they lived their life. I feel there will be 3 seperations of the Rightious and there will be seperations for the sinners too. I feel that since Sheol and Heaven are outside of time, then all can be saved as long as they accept the truth of G-d.

I think the Hell of the end times will be a place for the damned that, even when faced with divine truth, still choose to turn from G-d, and they will be consumed in the fire of the burning lake and be no more. The fallen Watchers and Sammael and his fallen angels will be cast into the endless pit. They are born of immortal spirit, and their sin is immortal. Humans are born mortal and so our sin is mortal.

They key to all life on this earth is faith, and how we hold onto the true divine. The spirit of G-d will guide us, if we listen, and if we don't we wonder this world in the darkness of this world.

Holy crap that was convincing. That was not sarcastic at all. There is but one part that hasn't gotten me between the legs. That is the fact that a soul is specific to Homo sapiens. That would mean that there is something special about any organism over any other, which is at odds with my most core biological beliefs. There can be certain aspects, such as sentience, that have a soul, but then where were the souls before there was sentience? The more it is thought out, the less plausible it seems. It was an incredible argument, but thinking that we're anything more than animals is just fanciful. Of course, if you are a creationist, there is no point to even arguing this matter, since that would exclude one of the prime reasons I can not believe in a soul.

Please understand that I am not trying to PUSH this on anyone. But when I found this stuff it was like ten thousands lights went on inside my head and all the questions the priests and nuns couldn't answer were suddenly plain as the noonday sun. Even a blind man could see it plainly.

Here is some more that you might enjoy.

SOUL, SPIRIT AND MIND

Question. -- What is the difference between the mind, spirit and soul?

Answer. -- It has been before explained that spirit is universally divided into five categories: the vegetable spirit, the animal spirit, the human spirit, the spirit of faith, and the Holy Spirit.

The vegetable spirit is the power of growth which is brought about in the seed through the influence of other existences.

The animal spirit is the power of all the senses, which is realized from the composition and mingling of elements; when this composition decomposes, the power also perishes and becomes annihilated. It may be likened to this lamp: when the oil, wick and fire are combined, it is lighted; and when this combination is dissolved -- that is to say, when the combined parts are separated from one another -- the lamp also is extinguished.

The human spirit which distinguishes man from the animal is the rational soul, and these two names -- the human spirit and the rational soul -- designate one thing. This spirit, which in the terminology of the philosophers is the rational soul, embraces all beings, and as far as human ability permits discovers the realities of things and becomes cognizant of their peculiarities and effects, and of the qualities and properties of beings. But the human spirit, unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted with the divine secrets and the heavenly realities. It is like a mirror which, although clear, polished *and brilliant, is still in need of light. Until a ray of the sun reflects upon it, it cannot discover the heavenly secrets.

But the mind is the power of the human spirit. Spirit is the lamp; mind is the light which shines from the lamp. Spirit is the tree, and the mind is the fruit. Mind is the perfection of the spirit and is its essential quality, as the sun's rays are the essential necessity of the sun.

This explanation, though short, is complete; therefore, reflect upon it, and if God wills, you may become acquainted with the details.



THE PHYSICAL POWERS AND THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS

In man five outer powers exist, which are the agents of perception -- that is to say, through these five powers man perceives material beings. These are sight, which perceives visible forms; hearing, which perceives audible sounds; smell, which perceives odors; taste, which perceives foods; and feeling, which is in all parts of the body and perceives tangible things. These five powers perceive outward existences.

Man has also spiritual powers: imagination, which conceives things; thought, which reflects upon realities; comprehension, which comprehends realities; memory, which retains whatever man imagines, thinks and comprehends. The intermediary between the five outward powers and the inward powers is the sense which they possess in common -- that is to say, the sense which acts between the outer and inner powers, conveys to the inward powers whatever the outer powers discern. It is termed the common faculty, because it communicates between the outward and inward powers and thus is common to the outward and inward powers.

For instance, sight is one of the outer powers; it sees and perceives this flower, and conveys this perception to the inner power -- the common faculty -- which transmits this perception to the power of imagination, which in its turn conceives and forms this image and transmits it to the power of thought; the power of thought reflects and, having grasped the reality, conveys it to the power of comprehension; the comprehension, when it has comprehended it, delivers the image of the object perceived to the memory, and the memory keeps it in its repository.

The outward powers are five: the power of sight, of hearing, of taste, of smell and of feeling.

The inner powers are also five: the common faculty, and the powers of imagination, thought, comprehension and memory.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 207)

I don't think very many people other then the divine chosen of G-d will live in Heaven in the end. Those being the true believeing Jews, that have kept to G-d's covenants and have not betrayed themselves to the death of sin. They will be the priests and holy worshippers of G-d, in the New Heaven known as the New Jerusalem upon the new Earth, where the true believers of G-d will live, with the light of G-d showing upon the face of the earth, where no sin will be present.

I feel after death everybody goes to Sheol, the land of the dead, where they will await the Final Judgement of all things. I feel there will be different groups in Sheol, based on the strength of their faith and how they lived their life. I feel there will be 3 seperations of the Rightious and there will be seperations for the sinners too. I feel that since Sheol and Heaven are outside of time, then all can be saved as long as they accept the truth of G-d.

I think the Hell of the end times will be a place for the damned that, even when faced with divine truth, still choose to turn from G-d, and they will be consumed in the fire of the burning lake and be no more. The fallen Watchers and Sammael and his fallen angels will be cast into the endless pit. They are born of immortal spirit, and their sin is immortal. Humans are born mortal and so our sin is mortal.

They key to all life on this earth is faith, and how we hold onto the true divine. The spirit of G-d will guide us, if we listen, and if we don't we wonder this world in the darkness of this world.

Heaven is nearness to God. Hell is distance from God. What you do here on earth determines where your soul will reside--near or far. You only take into the next world your virtues, everything else is left behind. If you have few virtues you take little with you.

Heaven is nearness to God. Hell is distance from God. What you do here on earth determines where your soul will reside--near or far. You only take into the next world your virtues, everything else is left behind. If you have few virtues you take little with you.


Depends on your outlook of heaven and hell. I follow along Judaic-Christian structure to things, though with a more personal twist to it through my own encounters with things divine, as well as where the spirit guides me to find answers.

I see the Current Heaven as the place of G-d's divine essance, of which is a pure realm. G-d cannot be in contact with things that are not pure, and so the angels come into play, being "messengers from the Shadow of G-d" They travel between the realms to dive us messages.

In the end, when we are clean of all sin and it is no more, then the old Heaven is destroyed, for it is no longer needed, then a new heaven and new earth are made. G-d can then be in the physical and the spiritual is combined and opened to what we see as the physical.

Hell, a bad word in my opinion and I'm still trying to find out where the name came from, is the seperation from the life of G-d or the spirit of G-d. Its where all go upon death. Those chosen by Christ may be a different story, but I'm not sure, its kinda an open issue. The souls reside in Hell until the Judgement, and then everything is wiped away that contains sin, and the new is placed.

Hell, a bad word in my opinion and I'm still trying to find out where the name came from, is the seperation from the life of G-d or the spirit of G-d. Its where all go upon death. Those chosen by Christ may be a different story, but I'm not sure, its kinda an open issue. The souls reside in Hell until the Judgement, and then everything is wiped away that contains sin, and the new is placed.

Hades was the place Christ referred to and Hades was a garabage dump outside the walls of Jersulem. The current meaning was not the meaning that Christ gave to Hades. He was trying to help people understand a concept that they had no words for. He was using metaphor. You will spend eternity in a place like Hades. He used a physical place to explain a spiritual concept.

Luminous Beings are We...oh yes, as we are all, in essence, the stuff of stars. Energy made solid...

Death is not something to fear. Death is but another doorway, a change of state so to speak. Not an end but the beginning of another phase of existance.

An unknown place though, and that I think is why some fear death - the unknown is a frightening place to many.

Hades was the place Christ referred to and Hades was a garabage dump outside the walls of Jersulem. The current meaning was not the meaning that Christ gave to Hades. He was trying to help people understand a concept that they had no words for. He was using metaphor. You will spend eternity in a place like Hades. He used a physical place to explain a spiritual concept.

You don't think that Jesus invented the concept of "Hell" I hope.

I think Christ would have used the word Sheol, the jewish word from the Old Testament that Jesus used to teach from. Hades being Greek or Roman. Sheol is often times described as a Desert, since Water is often shown to be closer to G-d the abset of water is a desert.

Jesus didn't really bring anything new to the world, he just brought it back to how it was supposed to be. Legalism of the Torah had brought perversion to the covenant of G-d, and he came to reset it with faith, bringing it back to how Abraham and Noah had lived, before the Laws of Moses.

Death is not something to fear. Death is but another doorway, a change of state so to speak. Not an end but the beginning of another phase of existance.

An unknown place though, and that I think is why some fear death - the unknown is a frightening place to many.

For the most part, I agree. Many people fear death because simply because its unknown. That's why many religions, particularly Christianity, demand faith from their followers, often blind faith. That way, people are not afraid to die and face the unknown, because they believe that it is known.

As to the people who do believe that Heaven exists, but don't want to spend eternity there, I believe that has something to do with fear as well. A human, a being with a lifespan of almost a hundred years (if you're lucky) isn't mentally equipped to comprehend the vast size of eternity.
It simply isn't in our nature. What a person can't understand, they tend to fear. Thus, an eternity spent anywhere seems frightening to people.

Just my two cents. :)

That is one of the things that I most curious about. Whether there is a soul or not. I personally don't think so, since if a human has a soul, well, we're just macrorganisms made up of smaller microorganisms. If we have souls, then bacteria and protists must then also have souls. Or where is the line drawn? Animal? Do amoebae have souls? Central nervous sytem? Do anemones have souls? Brain? Do centipedes? Or you could say that anything able of propagating itself has a soul, in which viruses and prions have souls. Even silicates if you believe in certain theories. There is just no scientific way to describe a soul. What we consider to be a soul is really just chemo-electric reactions.

That reminds me of a theory in philosophy concerning monads, which are basically units of consciousness found in pretty much everything. Humans have a monad, but rock, for example, also has them. They aren't necessarily very smart, though. Those in rock just know they exist.

I tend to favor that view, myself, though I don't really have a definite opinion. Overall, though, one of the posters made a good point when they pointed out that Heaven will be populated by Christian fundamentalists.

According to the bible, you do not go to heaven or hell when you die. When judgement day happens, we are judged. The good ones go to heaven and the rest suffer death, that is they are forever away from God, they remain dead. No where in the bible does it say that Hell is full of fire and all that.
Well we are judged both times.
Non-believers are judged twice, while the Christians only are judged once.
And you are quite correct about Hell only the pit of fire, or lake, has fire.
You could also quote Dante's Inferno on that