Please do no be offended if you have a particularly strong Christian faith as even Jesus was fond of discussion and discussion without difference is mere dogma. Why is the concept of Hell such a popular belief in major world religions ? I was inspired to ask this question when I came across this blog post about the “discovery of hell” revealed through the lava vents in the deep ocean floors.

It is a strange thing indeed when people believe they have found a physical, material instantiation of what is surely a metaphysical and immaterial concept. It could be argued that not all people are sophisticated enough to understand such differences and that people often find a greater degree of comfort in a simple and repetitive narrative explanation of fairly grand and complex theological concepts; that concrete apparent physical manifestations of the metaphysical bolster their belief systems. Concepts of popular mythology and urban myth serve similar cultural functions.

The mistake here is first evident in thinking that the holy text or message is identical to the spiritual reality to which it points (i.e. that the physical signifier is identical to the metaphysical signified), that the Bible is identical to the spiritual reality to which it directs the Christian when it is no more this than the word “wet” is itself actually wet. Human beings are very fond of making errors in understanding the differences between a message and what the message refers to and, indeed, of inserting and proliferating their own interpretations of a message and then claiming this as the original (intended) meaning.

In any case, human beings are surely more than just a little presumptuous to assume that their own history of insecurity, hate, violence and revenge would be mirrored in the Infinite Mind of a compassionate God.

I have always liked what Jean-Paul Sartre said: “Hell is other people.” However, if people are to take seriously their spiritual obligations under Christianity - then Saint Augustine’s ”Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum.” - (”Hate the sin but love the sinner”) would be a profound phrase to carry close to your heart. Jesus was all about love, not hate.

You have to wonder why people choose to place the ultimate consequences of their actions in this world into the next world. Leaving aside whether or not there is or can be a “next world” (as this is a matter of one’s personal faith or otherwise) - do so many people place the consequences of their actions into the afterlife because they are incapable of dealing with the reality and the responsibilities of this world ? It could be an unfortunately pertinent “escape clause” for people who have no concerns that humanity is currently turning this world into hell on Earth.

William Blake’s “to see (...) a heaven in a wild flower” is perhaps a firm admonition to realise that a healthy human and ecological world are, more or less, a heaven on earth and should satisfy even the simplest devotees of religious narratives.