Going to heaven or hell and the meaning of life

In our local newspaper today, there is a photo of a young woman with her mother . This regular column is photojournalism documenting how people in our community live their beliefs. This particular photo shows the daughter carrying a sign that reads, "TURN TO JESUS YOU ARE HEADED FOR HELL. Rev. 20:15."

The mother is working the sidewalk before the start of the N.C. State/UNC football game. The parents, three brothers and three sisters are wanting to "share the gospel of Christ" and are living out of their fifth-wheel trailer. The other quotes by the daughter under the photo are, "Man is born in sin, headed for hell. You have to be born again to head into God's Kingdom.... To see all these people who are lost, who are going to hell, I wanted to warn them."

I am often puzzled by some of the photos shown in this section of the newspaper, but this particular photo and commentary is especially puzzling. I would love to ask them, "Does the Bible not say somewhere, Judge not, that ye be not judged?"

I was raised in a very religious United Pentecostal Church environment. Let me just say that after being away from it for so many years, I can easily see similarities to other evangelical or fundamentalist religions. So when I see someone who thinks they know so much about who is going to hell, I immediately have to ask, "According to whose religion?"

If judging those in the article by the United Pentecostal doctrine, the two in the photograph are certainly going to hell. The mother is wearing shorts, short sleeves, and obviously has cut her hair. The daughter is wearing pants. These conditions alone are enough to send anyone in the United Pentecostal Church to hell. But they are judging others by appearances alone.

See where I am going with this? No one knows who is going to heaven or hell. I don't even know if there is a heaven or hell. I suspect not. Over the years I have questioned, analyzed, studied, attempted to accept heaven and hell, but my logical mind does not comprehend it. So don't blame me if I do not accept things by faith---if 'God' made me, why on earth did he not make me so my mind can believe whatever I am told whether it is rational or not? Instead, I have a mind that questions everything and it is who I am. I refuse to "believe" just for the sake of believing.

I just read an article in the Anchorage Daily News a few weeks ago about an 85 year old minister who had finally come to the understanding for himself that this may be all there is. This is one of the best articles that I have ever read documenting one's journey and his quest for self discovery of the spiritual side of life and a search for the meaning of life and death.

I suspect there are many people in the world such as this man. Not for one minute would I believe a just 'God' (assuming there is a 'God') would send a man to hell who had searched his soul and determined that he could not accept what he had always been taught in regards to religion. To condemn someone to a life in hell when he did his best to find truth would be a slap in the face by God. As humans, it seems we should strive to find truth. Otherwise, we will all be as slaves or hypocrites to whatever religion we are exposed. And with the world as it is, wouldn't it be much better if there were fewer hypocrites?