WWSD

So, anyone still have a vestigial fear of hell?

I have a vestigial fear, not of hell but of the end times. Its silly I know.

But...

Everytime I read about Pat "insanity" Robertson and his silly end times prophesizing, I feel a little twinge of anxiety. And this whole red cow business got me thinking about all that crap again.

this is all due to the fact that:

I read revelatons when I was a kid, because my cousins read it and said it was scary (so I just had to read it.) Later, when I was in high school, and still battling with the idea of god and hell, I read it again. This time it freaked me out and I suffered a prolonged period of depression and anxiety over it. "OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO HEll!" was my thought. Later I realized how irrational that thought was.

These days I only feel a little twinge, somewhere in the back of my mind. The end is near, the four horseman are coming!! Silly I know, but still there somewhere. I'd be a happier man if I'd have never known about J.C. and his big mean father.

So, newest poll, who has a vestigial fear of god and his horrible, bloodthirsty, fire and brimstone wrath? Come on, I can't be the only looney in the bin!

Mad Kally

I couldn't possibly have a fear of something that doesn't exist. I'm not scared every Christmas eve that a fat old man in a red suit is going to break into my house.

WWSD

Ahhh, but it is not a fear of something that exists. I know there isn't really an apocalypse to worry about, thus the fear is, I readily admit, very silly. But brains work in silly ways (just another bit of evidence that there is no creator.)

This vestigial anxiety is, instead, a sad testement to the conditioning of an impressionable mind by the religion that surrounds it.

I also harbor a fear about nuclear war, this stems back to the days when the Soviets still existed.
Although I'd say this is certainly a more valid fear, its a bit silly considering that it probably isn't going to happen.

Don't get me wrong, listening to Pat talk about the end times ain't gonna bring me back to Jesus anytime soon.

Rational Ag

The only time I ever feel anything like you're talking about is when I say something to the effect of "God doesn't exist. If he did he would strike me dead RIGHT NOW!"

It's silly, I admit. I don't have a problem saying that god doesn't exist, but when I test the idea vocally with a threat to myself I always look skyward a bit.

Fortunately, I didn't suffer the indoctrination or brainwashing that many of you did. I don't have any programming to overcome. It was just always taboo to speak out against god in that manner, and it's the only thing that's ever stuck with me.

Maybe a superstitious teacher in pre-school got me scared of that or something, I don't know.

-Rational Ag

Maleficus

I just fear that a clown is going to rape and kill me. o.o

I challenge "God" to strike me with lightning every time it storms... hasn't happened yet, and I'm sure it won't.

Ray K

I occasionally get the twinge. Humans are, after all, irrational by nature.

We really have to work at being rational, and I work hard at it. So when I get that twinge, I catch it pretty quickly and it just makes me madder about the years of societal brainwashing I went through.

It's not silly, it's normal. How you react to that fear that determines whether you are a human being or a hairless ape.

tronvillain

I'm not afraid of hell at all. I am afraid of zombies though. Zombies are creepy.

Maleficus

Hmph, you're scared of zombies? Try waking up screaming to nightmares about zombie CLOWNS! *shivers* It.. bad..movie.... Pennywise... devil!

Automaton

I'm more scared of a big asteroid hitting the earth. That certainly wouldn't be a pleasant way for all of human history and life to disappear.

Howard

Pro golfers tell the story of Lee Trevino who was playing in a tournament when a lightning storm came up. Naturally, everyone hustled off the course, but as Trevino left he held up a one iron. When someone asked him why he would do such a dangerous thing Trevino responded: “Even God can’t hit a one iron.”