Why is everyone obsessed with Hell?

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Why is that sad. Mortal sins offend God so deeply. Humans deserve eternal damnation due to their fallen state. It is only by co-operating with the gifts of God’s grace that we may be redeemed.

Mortal sins offend Our Lord so much that we do indeed deserve hell. I do not know why one would think otherwise.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Why are people so obsessed with Hell instead of wanting to be good people, loving their neighbors and building a relationship with God?

I find the never-ending obsession with Hell on this forum to be a little strange,
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I’m not obsessed with hell…

Infinitely better to focus upon the beautiful Teachings of our Lord Jesus

Problem today is that even the “belief in Heaven & Hell aka Faith” is diminishing quite rapidly
 
Because it leads to good people living terrified lives. I don’t believe there is truth to the teaching, and I certainly don’t believe God wants us to hold such a belief. I think it is sad that so many live in fear, as is evidenced by the postings we read here all the time.

I know people like this. They are wonderful people and they live lives of misery because they believe this. Very sad.
 
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I wonder whether one’s geography ever factors into these questions. The U.S., for example, has a “justice” system that is punitive in nature, much more so than being rehabilitative in focus. So the rule of law for Americans breeds the mentality that if I don’t follow the law, a judge may punish me. And American incarcerations are through the proverbial roof compared with just about any other prosperous nations today. So, doing the right thing legally, for Americans, always carries with it a “stick” motif—do the right thing, or else. The threat of a punitive judgment is embodied within the very essence of an American sense of “rule of law” (and justice). And sentencing guidelines for certain felonious crimes in the US are severe (extreme).

So folks who live in such a nation will naturally wonder whether the Judge might be similar to their legal system of judges in handing out severe sentences for not doing the right thing. At least, this is my hunch.
 
QwertyGirl said:
I know people like this. They are wonderful people and they live lives of misery because they believe this. Very sad.
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It’s their choice to live like that. I, and many of other Catholics on this forum and elsewhere, including a lot of saints, don’t live our lives like that. It takes a little bit of spiritual work and progress to get to a point of trusting God and I’m not saying I’m perfect at it, I will always be learning. But God doesn’t want us to live in a state of fear of Hell, so I don’t know why anyone would. Once you develop trust in God and good spiritual habits, you worry much less about what will happen to you after you die, which frees up your brain space to deal with a lot of other things in life.
 
Problem with your argument. God doesn’t want us to live this way. Yes, many Catholics who do their best live this way, but only because of scrupulosity or other fears that are hard to shake and can usually be overcome by the grace of God.

The fact that some people live this way certainly does not mean that God wishes them to. I have terrible scrupulosity but I know that God doesn’t wish it on me, nor would he on anyone else.
 
We clearly have a very different world view, so we won’t agree in these matters. I was once scrupulous too (as a child) , so I understand even though I don’t agree.
 
Scrupulosity is caused by one of two things: underlying mental health challenges and/or incorrect understanding of the faith. At least in the case of the latter, instruction can fix the issue.

God does not want us to live this way and neither does the Church. Preoccupation with hell to the point that you are ruining your life because of it, is not a feature of the faith. It also doesn’t make the teaching that mortal sins can send you to hell “wrong”. And, more to the point, I don’t think scrupulosity is a problem for large numbers of Catholic.

I certainly don’t despair of hell, and I’ve yet to meet anyone in real life who does.
 
I don’t take issue with your post. However, I was responding to a post that said:

“The thing is, if someone commits a mortal sin, then they deserve to go there.”

I believe that is false. The poster wasn’t discussing a life of unrepented sinfulness. He was discussing a single sin.

I find that belief very sad, for the reason I already posted.
 
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The bottom line is it’s not up to us to pass judgment. We have to take care of our souls and pray for our forgiveness and mercy. We also pray for others, but not judge.
 
And now this is going to turn into a thread about hell, instead of a thread about why people are so fascinated by talking about it.
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here what i think: because bad news “sell”. thats why people like to talk about hell
 
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catholic03 said:
Hell is eternal and everlasting torment. …This is why people worry so much. Because of the everlasting torturous punishment.
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Exactly right. This is why many people are obsessed with Hell. Even the smallest contact with fire burning your finger is horrific. Imagine having your whole self being immersed in burning fire every day for all eternity, with no chance of ever repenting or having this torture minimized. Of course, a thought that this can happen to you or to your loved one can grip and torment a person.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
I find the never-ending obsession with Hell on this forum to be a little strange, except in the case of people worrying that their loved ones might go there because we cannot control the behavior and choices of people we love.
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A few thoughts from my own experience… not particularly from this website…
  1. Edgar Allan Poe was once asked why he wrote horror stories. His reply was “because they sell…”. The point is there’s probably always some sort of romantic bloodlust-like fascination with the gloomy and macbre. Ancient Rome dedicated the entire Colosseum to it.
  2. A Chief Vatican Exorcist once said, “I fear saying the mass more than performing any exorcism.” That tells me people probably misunderstand the roles of good and evil. According to what the Exorcist said, an exorcism is a little like taking out the trash; or, in other words, its not exciting at all. There is so much awe to be seen in God, but it can be hard to have faith enough to see it sometimes. Perhaps it is just easier to blame everything on Satan, instead of appreciating God and exploring the fullness of our faith.
  3. When we read and discussed Dante’s Divine Comedy in college - everyone found Hell pretty exciting and fascinating, but most people found Heaven pretty boring. I studied philosophy at a very good and rigorous secular school, and I’m simply conveying here the general perceptions people there had.
In summary, it’s probably like evil gets a lot of buzz because people get bored with praying; but it should really be the other way around. There is so much good to be had in prayer - unless absolutely necessary, why waste one moment of one’s life thinking about the opposite?

There is a great need for mercy and forgiveness in our faith. And, if you think about it, mercy and forgiveness do safely contemplate the dark sides of our existence. But the corporeal works of mercy and forgiveness are just that - work! They require a sort of offer and a sacrifice to forego any further contemplation of sin… but sometimes it becomes hard to address those points; and, again, it is as if people hit the road, assuming the worst, when they could always just proceed in faith to cooperatively work things out…
 
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I am sorry you feel this way. I also understand that as a agnostic theist (former Catholic I assume?) you have different beliefs. I also give you due credit as in the past you have give reasonable advice in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

As @Tis_Bearself has said, it is hard to commit a mortal sin. God does not make everything a damnable sin. In fact, the majority of sins are venial. Aside from sins against chastity, or missing Mass, it is in fact very VERY difficult to commit a mortal sin unless you fully 100% do something that is so terrible and has full knowledge and consent. Event chastity sins and missing Mass are often not mortal sins if for example their was not full knowledge and/or consent. Even some minor sins against chastity can be venial if for example someone entertains lustful thoughts for a second.

It is pretty hard for a faithful, Church going Catholic to mortally sin.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I thought the whole post-Vatican II approach of fluffy “Jesus Loves You” teaching and removal of discussions of God’s wrath, Hell etc from the Sunday readings and regular prayers was supposed to get everybody’s minds off Hell and onto Love.
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There lays the problem. Not enough said in homilies to educate and inform. Worried Catholics turn to the forum to ask questions.

We need to be tolerant of and be respectful in the differences and knowledge level among individuals who seek answers from CAF members.
 
AlNg said:
Exactly right. This is why many people are obsessed with Hell. Even the smallest contact with fire burning your finger is horrific. Imagine having your whole self being immersed in burning fire every day for all eternity, with no chance of ever repenting or having this torture minimized. Of course, a thought that this can happen to you or to your loved one can grip and torment a person.
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It is telling, though, that the saints would go through fire and walk on coals, if that were the only way to holiness, to a life that comes from God alone. Hell is real, warnings about Hell are necessary, we need to be reminded of that, but we also have to remember that when we’re obsessing over Hell, we’re not single-minded in the way we were created to be.

As for those who believe that belief is enough, what do you make of these red letters?
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.” Matt. 7:21-27

If you say that belief is enough but if you don’t act the words of the Lord you must have never believed, I think that is straw-splitting. People who drive out demons and do mighty deeds in the Lord’s name are not saved because they don’t have faith? How does that work? Where are these people doing that with no faith?
 
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