Are Palestinians and Israelis going to hell?

Since I don’t like being trapped in a bubble, I meet Christian priests or have chat with believers. It allows you to have insight into something different. While I am stunned sometimes by claims that I do not agree with, this was exceptional: Are Palestinians and Israelis going to hell?

“The attack on 7 October was the most heinous crime,” it went like this by the priest. “But what Israelis are conducting is a genocide and they are going to hell!” I was like: “What?” I was told: “Well, there is purgatory.” “Netanyahu? Why isn’t there someone who will kill him?”

Thirty Years’ War: Evangelicals or Catholics going to hell? What we can learn from that?

With all the absurdities religion brings, during the horrible Thirty Years’ War, Catholics were convinced Protestants were going to hell and vice versa.

During the war, the conflict between Protestants and Catholics went beyond politics – it was about salvation. Protestants saw Catholics as corrupt, clinging to false traditions like papal authority, indulgences, and sacraments. They believed Catholics were headed for hell. On the other side, Catholics viewed Protestants as dangerous heretics who rejected core doctrines of the true Church. In their eyes, Protestants were also destined for eternal damnation. This mutual belief in each other’s spiritual doom intensified the war’s violence. Both sides weren’t just fighting for power – they thought they were defending the path to heaven.

While in 2024, the situation is calm between Catholics and Protestants compared to those struggling years, the similar question, however, can be attributed to Israelis and Palestinians.

Palestinians are convinced Israelis are going to hell and Israelis think Palestinians are going to hell.

In the conflict between some Palestinians and Israelis, religious beliefs add another layer of complexity. Many Palestinians, rooted in Islamic teachings, see Israelis as oppressors of their people and violators of their sacred land. From their perspective, those who stand against Islam, or who wrongfully claim the Holy Land, risk eternal punishment in the afterlife. Meanwhile, some Israelis, particularly those with strong Jewish religious convictions, view Palestinians as enemies of God’s chosen people and believe that opposing Israel’s divine right to the land could lead to damnation. This mutual belief that the other side is spiritually doomed amplifies the intensity of their conflict. It’s not just about territory – it’s a struggle that, for many, carries eternal consequences.

It is the same narrative and – guess what – religion in an underlying factor.

The moral question

There is neither heaven nor hell. No religion possesses the truth. But even though morality isn’t given by some higher power, it doesn’t mean we can act immorally (let’s say from some common moral standpoint).

Morality evolved through two main perspectives. First, it could be a by-product. The theory of the selfish gene suggests people are fundamentally selfish. Morality, in this view, grew alongside intelligence but didn’t change our selfish nature. Second, it could be an adaptation. Morality may have developed because it helped survival through cooperation, but self-interest remained the core. Even in moral actions, people act out of selfish genetic drives, shaped by cultural beliefs.

Total utilitarianism, which is my favorite, is a moral theory that seeks to maximize the overall sum of happiness or well-being across all individuals. It aims to achieve the greatest total good, regardless of how that happiness is distributed among people.

Humanity (if it won’t destroy itself) is not at the final point of its development. A new moral system will hopefully be applied, with religion and its hateful intentions eliminated.