Without the fear of eternal damnation, would there be much less religious people today?

Deep down, a lot of people fear God more than they love him. That is just my opinion.

not really, it's just that people would adopt a different religion with some other form of eternal damnation... people already want to believe in something like that and from a salesman perspective selling religion is pretty much a done deal, things like heaven and hell are only there as further incentives to resist the competition, so without them, someone else will steal your customers!

Oh yeah.

@ghostodoofus2: Your opinion is incredibly dumb as unless you produce statistics backing it up. It is a terrible assumption of religion itself.

It's something that you can only understand by becoming a Christian. It's not really or just about the fear, but, in the the peace of mind and tranquility that the Holy Spirit brings to you, as well; this only happens by becoming a Christian; it's not really in being religious or following a religious routine, as is the case with following a religion; that misunderstand is a side effect of a stubbornness to explore what is really about being Christian, as you're guided to places like Answers in Genesis, simply by not simply listening to what you read about Christianity from Christians instead of others. He's there in your time of need to bring comfort to you, is another example. One side effect would be an extreme spike in the suicide rate among people.

hell yeah

I would say its more because nihilism doesn't appeal to them.

Naw, take the religious or the spiritual people that talk abput karma and esotherik with that holier-than-thou attitude of not believing in damnation and guilt even if they clearly do, I feel like the majority that talk about damnations and consequences can be split into three factions those that grew up that way and don't question it, those that use it to tell people what to do and arrogant jackasses that use that sort of shit to act like their better than everyone else. The people that actually believe god or the universe or whatever will punish anyone are so few and far between they don't even register.

Yes, I know many religious people who're mainly afraid of what happens after death. They often bring up this point whenever talking about their justification for their respective faiths. Also, nearly every religion throughout history uses fear of what happens in the afterlife to enforce its values. If human beings weren't afraid of eternal damnation or what happens after death, then I wouldn't be surprised if there were less religious people. Whether it would be much less or just a small percentage of people that give up faith is hard to say.

I can only speak as a Christian but in my mind the reason I strive to live a life that pleases God is because he saved me from the eternal damnation you mention. I owe my life to Him and therefore my service to Him is out of gratitude rather than fear. I have nothing to fear now that he saved me. The Bible says that perfect love casts out all fear. A child of God has nothing left to fear because they know that no matter what happens, their eternal destiny is secure in Heaven.

Hope this helps.

Yes alot less almost no1 even.

only those who read and actualy believe what is written makes sense.

and out of 100 ppl how many you think actual read any of the books?

even now most ppl believe in religion as something they simply grew up with.

you can call yourself a religious human as much as you want but if you barely do the basics on a daily basis , you aint.

You can fool me but not god.

most ppl are parttime believer.

im a muslim but im ashamed of the muslin ppl who do anything aslong they dont eat pork.

a mulsim terrorist kills innoocent ppl but doesnt eat pork lmao.

In short , most ppl dont take it seriosly even knowing the punishments.

so yh, probably no1.

I believe a human is religious if he reads the books on his own and believes that they make sense.

if every single religious human on this planet would read and pay attention and for those who cant read are told(the whole thing and not parts you like or dont like)by ppl they trust and not some random guy on a screen than you will have peace with religion.

Ppl dont like god becouse of harsh punishments but accept the fact that when you go against our corrup system they will make your life a hell.

hypocrisy without even realizing that you are a hypocrite.

you go against religion and god by default becouse of the “bad things“ written.

god atleast gives you your whole life time before punishing you.

the ppl in charge have:

1 given you laws and orders without actualy asking you.

im talking about you , the one who‘s living conditions dont add up with some laws and orders.

2. acting like the god you dont want.

3.gave you paper that literaly is more worth than a human life.

4. are factual not fair, the system is not fair.period.

i can keep going all day long where and how the system we live in is far worse than anything written in the books.

but these 4 points are enough.

the ppl in charge are like the god you dont want to believe in.

Basicly not existent for us.

For me, I am a believer but not because of eternal damnation. But the way people act, white supremacy, how Trump got votes from evangelicals, to how people fear being wrong about something(like creationists) people are afraid more than loving, or how crusading was a thing.. Of course there are the people who do actually do it out of logical faith instead of blind faith. I grew up around those people and that is one of the things I loved about how I grew up. But I can’t deny that there would be less religious people some, no faith, some believing in a higher power, or some considering themselves spiritual.

But the fear of damnation isn’t going to change much really.

I'm not religious, but eternal damnation is a selling point. If there is a truly an afterlife with eternal suffering, I would commit my entire life into taking as many of you down with me to hell. It would be the ultimate troll.

Also by logical faith more or less faith with understanding, also I don’t think what the op described is what will happen. People would still use it as a moral code. It happens if it didn’t there wouldn’t be such thing as a Christian atheist (which is real google it)

I'm a Christian, and the Bible teaches that we're saved by the mercy of God, not by keeping the law. That's the common misconception by many (including many believers). The elect believe in a pleasing way because God has saved them, not because their believing (or obeying God) somehow gets them in a right relationship with God. Salvation isn't based on works (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 9:15-16).

I'm sure there are people who think that their faith or other works keep them out of damnation. But I think these folks would believe in God regardless. Some are deists, for example, who don't believe anything about an afterlife (though are open to one existing). They still believe in God even though there is no fear of eternal damnation. There are some, like militant atheists, who claim that the idea of God is laughable. But these are few and far between. Most believe in God or are open to His existence. I don't think it's the idea of eternal damnation that convinces people, but rather the understanding that complexity requires a designer, and the universe is greatly complex. To think that it could be the result of accidental forces is absurd, and deep down everyone knows it.

No, ive never met anyone who's main reason for being religious is fear of hell

No, because the prospect of Hell or Eternal Damnation is avoided by Religious Person via Faith, Works or Mercy of GOD or a Combination of such. At least to the Religious.

There are far more prosperity messages now that are popular are far less fire and brimstone talk. So no, to answer your question

@reaperthegrim: They would not admit it anyway.

@mimisalome:

A lack of belief in a specific religion does not immediately make one a nihilist. Nihilism suggests a total rejection of any and all moral principles.

I'm not religious, but I believe in kindness, empathy and humanitarianism.

Not really no but it's a part of it for sure.

@ghostodoofus2: No, I don't think so. Several religions have no concept of eternal punishment. Do you think that religious people have no good reason to be religious other than wanting to avoid hell?

Lol, it's literally the exact opposite.

Societies that focus on pleasure seeking become weak, also, their birth rates plummet. They become easy to conquer, easy to enslave.

It wasn't that people of the past were tricked using the hell concept into becoming slaves, it's that current people are being tricked with libertarian hedonistic ideas to destroy themselves. Not to mention the political correctness mechanism is ideal when oppressing anyone who speaks against it.

These are ur choices:

1.seek debauchery, never argue against it, submit to banks

2.speak against it, lose ur job