Is There a Hell?

Pointy-tailed devils with pitchforks. Naked souls writhing in a lake of fire. The acrid smell of brimstone. (What is Brimstone anyway?) These are the familiar and iconographic images of Hell with which most of us are familiar. But does Hell really exist? Almost all religions believe in a place of future punishment. For some religions the concept includes eternal damnation and an eternity of sado-masochist torture. For others like Buddhists, Hell is just a plateau where the human soul stops off to be cleansed before moving on to another life. For those of you who believe in God and I know you’re out there because you’ve been sticking The Lighthouse in this sinner’s mailbox for years. The big question is whether or not believing in Hell means believing in accountability. Will people really get their props or be dissed for a minutia of earthly misdeeds come Judgment Day? (Just in case my bro Steve broke that window in 1971 not me.) Answer me this believers; Is your God and maybe my God just some kind of big heavenly accountant in the sky recording sins in his/her/ one trillion terabyte brain?

The notion and nature of Hell has been the subject of debate for religious folk, philosophers, and scholars for eons and eons. I know I’m not making any serious headway here, but it is an interesting topic for a reprobate to contemplate on a Saturday afternoon while avoiding real work.

In Spring ’92 the New Agers had their say about Hell when in the Journal of Near-Death Studies P.M.H. Atwater described some very interesting interviews with individuals who had experienced near death. These interviews revealed that for some folks the near death experience wasn’t all hearts and flowers and a tunnel of light.

“I had been looking up into the big glass cupola over the operating room. This cupola now began to change. Suddenly it turned a glowing red. I saw twisted faces grimacing as they stared down at me. Overcome by dread I tried to struggle upright and defend myself against these pallid ghosts, who were moving closer to me.I could no longer shut out the frightful truth. Beyond doubt, the faces dominating this fiery world were faces of the damned. I bad a feeling of despair, of being unspeakably alone and abandoned. The sensation of horror was so great it choked me, and I had the impression I was about to suffocate.” Curd Jurgens, actor in James Bond films revived after a heart attack.

You can take what you want from that bit o scariness but I think it was all about the hospital drugs. The concept of Hell in popular culture is a curious one and Hell has turned up in the movies including What Dreams Will Come, Little Nicky, Constantine, and Deconstructing Harry. If you feel like living dangerously you can put those bombs on your Netflix Q. In comic art Hellboy is a demon conjured up by Nazis in DarkHorse Comics. (Now there’s an imagination)

Hell is also a popular bar on Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Now didn’t I really take the long way around to get to that?