My belief in heaven and hell is thus:
Heaven is not a place, but simply a state of acceptance of God after life.
Hell is also not a place, but simply a rejection of God after life. Since this rejection can never be satisfied (God is everywhere, therefore leaving his presence is impossible), it is an undesirable fate.
This belief follows from the assumption that God exists in a timeless state with spacial boundaries that exceed the physical world's. Also, it depends on the assumption that our souls ascend to this state after death. (I've also kicked around the idea that our physical bodies are simply physical manifestations of the soul which still exists on a higher level, sounds a little buddhist though).
That's the theory that I'm running with right now. Feel free to ask me to exapnd upon it. I love a good theological/philosophical discussion.
As for Hitler, I can only assume that he would not have wanted an association with God, given their moral differences....
19-Jun-2006