Actually, I didn't presume the existence of Heaven and Hell, but asked if people's faith's supported the concept. There are some faiths that don't have heaven or hell, some that have one but not the other. Some that don't have an afterlife component at all.

Although I didn't specifically state it, I was more interested in people's view of the afterlife (whether they thought it exists or not and how to get there). The idea of Heaven on earth simply doesn't mesh for me because for me, Heaven is something greater than we can achieve in this world. If Heaven is the "Utopia" that we strive for, then how can we say that it is here since we have so many horrible things happening here?

From my viewpoint, I do believe in both Heaven and Hell. My faith holds that Salvation is given by God's grace as a free gift for those who acknowledge God and accept Jesus as Savior (yes, I'm a Christian). However my faith also holds that there is nothing one can "do" to attain salvation (i.e. one cannot do good works and live a good life and therefore be "good enough" to go to Heaven). One instead attains salvation by having faith and accepting the Lordship of Jesus and the gift of faith that is given.

-- Jeff

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"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." --Ronald Reagan