The old saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." is one of those point driving one liners that I think we have grown past and need to stop using. No matter how much I wrack my brain on this one, I cant see in any way how this could hold any truth other than to lay a guilt trip on someone.
I would like to dissect this statement and explain why I believe the road to hell is not paved with good intentions.
What is Hell?
Now that may seem like a simple question to some, but what is hell? is actually one of the most complex human question's that exists, right along side what is heaven? and what is God? There are hundreds of different religions on this planet that have various base or core beliefs about what heaven, hell and God are. I come from a very strong christian background, strong meaning I had family heavily involved in running a community church and I was involved several activities every week that surrounded the christian beliefs. I no longer call myself a christian or label myself any other religion or belief but in my many years experience in the christian life style I know that no two christian's themselves had the same exact belief. There was alway's some suttle difference. Sometimes these differences led to arguments where people left the church and went to a different christian denomination as there are quite a few, other times these differences were small and maybe even thought of as silly but non the less no two people are the same and no 2 religious beliefs are the same. At least this is what I have come to understand to myself. That being said there are 7.6 billion people currently on this planet and I have already established that no two people are the same, so therefore you have 7.6 billion different religions or belief systems, with or without names. So the road to hell is paved with good intentions. As you can see the definition of hell is going to be quite vast.
What are good intentions?
The definition of Intentions is: An intention is idea that you plan (or intend) to carry out. If you mean something, it's an intention. Your goal, purpose, or aim is your intention.
Good intentions would be a good goal, a good purpose or a good aim you plan (or intend) to carry out.
What is the definition of Good?
As an adjective good is described as to be desired or approved of, or having the qualities required for a particular role. As a noun good is described as that which is morally right or righteous or benefit or advantage to someone or something.
I intended to bake everyone a cake, but instead I burned the cake, now no one trusts my cooking. Am I going to hell?
I intended to get the job at the bank, but instead they said I did not qualify. Am I going to hell?
I intended to cheer up my friend, but instead I made her feel worse. Am I going to hell?
I intended to clean up my kitchen but I was to tired. Am I going to hell?
Lets go extreme!
I intended to save the planet but instead I blew it up? Am I going to hell?
I intended to be an amazing parent but instead I walked out and left them behind? Am I going to hell?
I intended to lead all the sheep to water but instead I led them all out into the dessert? Am I going to hell?
I intended to love you, but it turns out I do not. Am I going to hell?
There are many people who believe hell is a place where people go because they did to many bad things in life. Some believe that if you ask Jesus Christ into your life in a simple prayer and mean it with your heart that you are forgiven and will not go to hell no matter what you do. There are also some who think you can be saved from hell but then you can lose that salvation if you do something bad again and have to keep confessing your sins and try and repent from them to regain your salvation ticket or to skip your one way trip to hell.
There are also some out there like myself who believe hell is a construct created in ones own mind. You can experience your own form of hell for any intention if you yourself believe you have done something wrong or feel bad or if someone else you care about makes you feel bad. This is the only case in which I could see the statement having some glimmer of truth. In this case for myself a hell might be an hour or two of crying my eyes out after an argument or cause I broke something or hurt someone. A few days of egg shells and uncomfortability with those around me or in my circle. Hell might be stuck in airplane 30 thousand feet in the air for 10 hours and I cant breath and feel sick cause the seats are packed full of people, I def created that situation cause I willingly got on the damn plane. I was willing to go through my own hell, to get to where I needed to go.
So lets narrow this down. In terms of hell being a eternal burning lake of fire that a person will go to if they do to many bad things in there life, and if of course they do not ask for forgiveness and try and repent from these bad things, how can the road to hell be paved with good intentions. For repentance to work you need to have intent, so good intentions must speak louder than the bad done.
The point of this entire post is, I do not want people out there thinking especially children that every action or intention they have could lead to hell, a person should have many good intentions and if your heart is in the right place you may create your own momentary hell out of guilt or sorrow for your failure to see it through as intended but by no means are you going to leave this life and burn for an eternity in a lake of fire sulfer and ash.
The road to hell is paved in the mind, it is not paved in good intentions, some of the worst things can happen with good intentions, but without them nothing good would ever happen. I believe we are here to do good and live happy lives, to explore, learn and discover. Along the way all 7.6 billion of us are gonna make a mistake, do something we did not intend out of a good intent. We are all flawed in our own unique world lenses. Do not fill yourself with negativity but hope, when you make a mistake see it as an opportunity to do better next time. If you live your life with good intentions always your gonna make a lot of good things happen and by no means are you going to hell when you die.
lets say, God intended to create a world where everyone was happy but instead he created a world where people die in horrible accidents, where volcanos and lava rip through towns and villages, where disease spreads and poverty flourishes, where crops wont grow and rain wont fall. God made people who makes mistakes and cause others and themselves suffering. God created hell? is God going to hell?
Everything is what you decide. Life is what you make it. Don't put yourself through hell or live in the shadow of the thought of hell because of the seemingly unfair things that happen on the earth. Decide today with good intent to be the best you can be, smile and forgive yourself.
Don't worry be happy!!!
We have the same idea, Thanks for this article, if all the people open their eyes, and start to read carefully and think with their minds not words of books or words of old men, then they can find out the truth. in history, these things (heaven, hell, God) were good stuffs for abusers to enjoying life on earth and keep other people's life in misery. rule on other people and make groups who obey.
and about the ending video :D Bobby McFerrin
I also like this one so much :
Add :
(old religious books are Literature books and we can look at them that way (the only way I can accept them), we don't have to become Gandalf and trying to save people from everything (teaching people how to live better and find the meaning of life) LOL in that way we consider that people don't need their brains, they just have to listen and obey. because we want to help them to going to Disney Land (Heaven).
somehow, some people are also waiting for a Gandalf to come and save them from misery or the things that they have to do, but they scared to do so they wait for a bigger power to come and save them. (how small we humans are).
from the beginning, Humans started to creating God or Gods, with Stones, and praying them when they hear a scary sound from sky, or when it was Earthquake or other scary things ... .
and the last word for religious guys,
Religious Guy : My Religion is the True religion! others are false!!
and I heard it from different religious people :D
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Thanks for posting this, David, I have always loved Bobby, and this version of an African song totally sends me!
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Nice, Bonnie! I love these types of expressions. Such discourse enables us to think more deeply about the meaning of life, - what it means to each of us, - and how our actions or inactions affect ourselves and others.
Perhaps “intention” as it were, is but a reflection of our internal character and the manifestation of such created by our daily thoughts and actions.
“Good” is living by the universal “Golden Rule,” which is an irrefutable truth. “Evil,” by contrast, is any intentional action that goes against the “Golden Rule.”
Yes, I agree, “Hell” is indeed a construct created of our own minds, i.e. “hell on Earth.” Such living “hells” are likely to manifest or catch up with those who continually defy and infringe upon the “Golden Rule.”
Redemption, Remorse, and Humility allow each of us, if we are so blessed, to identify our mistakes, atone for them, forgive ourselves and others, - and move on in a positive direction abiding by the simplicity of “Golden Rule.”
Why did God (or whatever) put us here in this violent world? For what reason might any higher-power place such painful and intractable obstacles directly in each of our paths? Why do bad things happen?
I truly don’t know. But there are several things clear to me, and that I do know. Without sorrow, there can be no joy. Without darkness, there can be no light. Without evil, there can be no good. Without pain, there can be no pleasure, and without sin, there can be no forgiveness.
And yes, at the end of the day, given all the trials and tribulations each of us shall endure, the lion’s share of our existence is indeed a blessing for which we should all be forever grateful – and not worry – that is - until such time as true-worry and sorrow comes knocking at our door as it inevitably shall in due course.
In the interim, you are 100% correct, Bonnie – Don’t Worry – Be Happy! Life is far too precious and short to do otherwise!
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Very well said, I definitely feel I share the same opinion. As much as I feel that everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe there comes a point where It can be majorly counterproductive for society as a whole. My parents were never really that religious but for some reason decided it was best for me to have a Christian element to my early upbringing (going to Sunday school and attending church) I got fed up of it all by the age of around 9 and thankful my parents listened and said “it’s ok if you don’t wanna go anymore “
I too saw the inconsistencies of people’s belief systems and still do today.
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“The doors of hell are locked from the inside!”
— C. S. Lewis
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Aside a little proof-reading, I have minor quibbles, but you left out the ONLY useful, functional definition of hell that the people that seriously study the methodological pursuit of transcendental consciousness.
Some of them are theologians, some of them philosophers, some both, and some neither.
In essence, Hell is separation of the individual from consciousness of the Divine, just as sin is that which separates the individual- obviously a voluntary, volitional act.
So, this old aphorism is so much crap because it's lost enough meaning in its condensation from a longer form that might useful, designed to implant guilt in children and stamp out individual initiative to subordinate all to the supremacy of authority, whatever its manifestations in the status quo.
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great writing
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