re: What do people get out of going to church on Easter once a year?

Im saying devoting your life to worshipping a god you cant even know is there. The bible demands a lot more from the true followers of Jesus than most American christians are ever willing to commit to, much less someone who is skeptical of god's existence to begin with.

If the bible is right, even a lot of christians arent going to heaven. If hell is no worse than our time on earth, and plenty of believers arent truly saved anyway, whats the point? If given the choice between existing as I am now or jumping through a bunch of hoops just so I can worship god for eternity in "paradise", I choose this.

Hell being fiery and painful is a crucial component of christianity's success. Id argue a lack of belief in hell is a bigger driving force behind our declining belief in god than a lack of belief in god himself. If people dont fear hell, theres no point unless you just really really love Jesus.

That being said, the bible very clearly says that hell is real, it is painful, it is full of eternal suffering and that most of humanity will go there. This idea that hell is just a "separation from god" is a soft way of breaking the story to people. If the bible is true, and I of course dont believe it is, hell is not just a separation from God.