Thoughts on the idea of Hell... Later to be expanded

               The Origin of Hell

 We define hell in the context of imagery. A place they say. A place of gloomy darkness engulfed in mountains of flames inhabited by lost and violent spirits. A place deafened by screams and cries. A place in which the wrathful, gluttons, envious, prideful, lustful, sloths, and greedy go to suffer for their wicked lives on this damned rock we call home. Some even say that hell is other people. How weak. Blaming other individuals for their lack of self-confidence and worth. For them feeling as if they were ants under a magnifying glass. For their sleepless nights and salty tears. Pathetic. But boy, how utterly wrong they are. How can a place or people be more of a hell than what is between these ears? Capable of imagining just about anything. These fantastical formulations are far, far worse than any reality however grim or grotesque. This kettle of bone is the home of all things hell. It dreams the worst nightmares, it judges, it exudes greed, envy, narcissism. It is a virus in a hard drive contaminating the rest of the otherwise healthy machine. It loathes, feels wrath, and kills. It is the origin of every dreadful event in the history of mankind. The cause of the crusades, the witchcraft trials, the birthplace of religion. It is the birthplace of the holocaust, the seed of elitism, racism, and sexism. It's viscous and savage. It craves blood. It forces us to slow down at the sight of a car accident; our eyes scanning the surrounding street in hopes of witnessing a diseased body covered by a white cloth. It covets cruelty and brutality. If society had no rules in place that would punish wrong doing you best believe we would’ve already eaten each other. Perhaps it is because of these rules and the result of breaking them that entice us to listen to violent music, watch violent movies, play violent video games, watch UFC, football, and boxing. “If I can’t hurt someone myself I’ll watch someone doing it to let off my want of it.” These events and forms of entertainment, in essence, feed into our primal nature. We are wretched things. Our brains shielded by the mask that is our face, and that face further concealed by the mask that is the facade we wear in order to fit into a society that forces us to go against our very nature. The human mind is capable of so many wondrous things. Man, can we love. But it is also where selfishness, ego, and elitism grow. We can blame society and it's beliefs; call ourselves victims of a society disconnected with reality, yet those horrid and heinous ideas were developed in the mind of individuals. No, society isn't a monster, and hell isn't a place. Our minds are hell. The inventor of all things odious and hateful. We created a hell to fear? Our brains are much worse. What have we to fear now?