02-11-2015, 01:18 PM
What is Hell?
Ask a six-year-old that question, and she'll respond with sweet naivete that hell is the place where bad people go when they die, and that it's a very hot place where you can get the ultimate tan, full of fire and lava and even brimstone, whatever that is. She'll tell you about that great ole being called The Devil, who is a very bad man, a very bad one indeed, the king of all bad men, who makes occasional trips to Earth and tries to get people to come on down to hell with him. If you asked her to describe him, she might tell you that he's big and red and has horns and a black goatee and a pointy tail and goat's feet, but you can't see him, because he's invisible, but apparently someone saw him, because that's how he's always shown in pictures and portraits and cartoons. She'll tell you that he has a bunch of little, somehow lesser devils, called demons, that torture the people who are unfortunate enough to live in hell. She'll tell you that they make sure that the torturing goes on for a long, long time, though her six-year-old mind isn't going to have much of an idea of what eternity is yet.
Ask someone a little older, like, say, seventeen, and you might get a variety of answers. For instance, he might respond that hell is the negative side of the afterlife, according to certain religious beliefs. He might say hell is a place full of fire and lava and brimstone, yes, where suffering is ultimate and there is much weeping and ga-nashing of teeth. There are demons there, but now he might say that these demons are really fallen angels that were cast out of heaven along with the Devil. At the age of seventeen, he might give him a name, and call him Satan, among other things. Then, as his attention span begins to wander, he might begin listing references. If you would like more information, he will say, look, listen and read such books as the Bible and Dante's Inferno. Movies like The Exorcist, Children of the Corn Pt. III, What Dreams May Come, and, well gee whiz lady, like a thousand others. Or just go to church and the subject will come up eventually. Ask a West Virginian what hell is, and they'll respond that it's their favorite cuss word. Ask someone who isn't from West Virginia who has lived there over a year what hell is, and they'll tell you that it is the State of West Virginia. Coincidence?! I think not!!
Ask someone over the age of thirty what hell is, and all of a sudden, the answers become real different. Hell (they'll tell you) is right here on Earth. To find a demon, you don't have to look any further than that uptight bitch filing a lawsuit against you because your car was idled too high and bumped her car, or that guy from the IRS notifying you that you're being audited. Hell (they'll say) is getting into bed with the woman of your dreams, only to find that you can't perform. No, hell is the feeling of betrayal you get at finding out that the person you thought was your soulmate has turned their attentions to another. No, hell is poverty, not having enough to eat or a roof over your head, or never being able to stay warm. Hell is feeling cancer eat away at your body and knowing that no matter what you do, it's still gonna getcha in the end. No, hell is being without cable TV when they're showing the new season of The Walking Dead. No, war is hell, and anyone who's been there will tell you a thing or two about that, bay-bee.
Now ask me, The Black Rose, what hell is, and I'll tell you the truth.
Hell is a hard unasked for fucking at the hands of that extraordinarily brutal rapist called life and then reliving it again...and again...and again...and again. Forget all you've heard about the lake of fire and unholy wrath and Satan and all that good shit, that's a bunch of stories made up to scare the wicked into righteousness, I tell you what. But every story has a little truth in it and so, what everybody thinks is hell is based on a little fact. Demons? Yeah, there's demons, but not the little ugly impish things or some fallen angel lashing your backside up with whips n' chains. Is it hot? Only as much as you want it to be, boss. Despair? It becomes your bedfellow. Is there betrayal? Always. But as bad as all that sounds, I think that the one thing that carries Hell's reputation as a piss-poor vacation spot is the denial.
Yeah. Come to think of it, that's about it in a nutshell. Hell is being forever denied.
And Rave will NOT be denied.
Ask a six-year-old that question, and she'll respond with sweet naivete that hell is the place where bad people go when they die, and that it's a very hot place where you can get the ultimate tan, full of fire and lava and even brimstone, whatever that is. She'll tell you about that great ole being called The Devil, who is a very bad man, a very bad one indeed, the king of all bad men, who makes occasional trips to Earth and tries to get people to come on down to hell with him. If you asked her to describe him, she might tell you that he's big and red and has horns and a black goatee and a pointy tail and goat's feet, but you can't see him, because he's invisible, but apparently someone saw him, because that's how he's always shown in pictures and portraits and cartoons. She'll tell you that he has a bunch of little, somehow lesser devils, called demons, that torture the people who are unfortunate enough to live in hell. She'll tell you that they make sure that the torturing goes on for a long, long time, though her six-year-old mind isn't going to have much of an idea of what eternity is yet.
Ask someone a little older, like, say, seventeen, and you might get a variety of answers. For instance, he might respond that hell is the negative side of the afterlife, according to certain religious beliefs. He might say hell is a place full of fire and lava and brimstone, yes, where suffering is ultimate and there is much weeping and ga-nashing of teeth. There are demons there, but now he might say that these demons are really fallen angels that were cast out of heaven along with the Devil. At the age of seventeen, he might give him a name, and call him Satan, among other things. Then, as his attention span begins to wander, he might begin listing references. If you would like more information, he will say, look, listen and read such books as the Bible and Dante's Inferno. Movies like The Exorcist, Children of the Corn Pt. III, What Dreams May Come, and, well gee whiz lady, like a thousand others. Or just go to church and the subject will come up eventually. Ask a West Virginian what hell is, and they'll respond that it's their favorite cuss word. Ask someone who isn't from West Virginia who has lived there over a year what hell is, and they'll tell you that it is the State of West Virginia. Coincidence?! I think not!!
Ask someone over the age of thirty what hell is, and all of a sudden, the answers become real different. Hell (they'll tell you) is right here on Earth. To find a demon, you don't have to look any further than that uptight bitch filing a lawsuit against you because your car was idled too high and bumped her car, or that guy from the IRS notifying you that you're being audited. Hell (they'll say) is getting into bed with the woman of your dreams, only to find that you can't perform. No, hell is the feeling of betrayal you get at finding out that the person you thought was your soulmate has turned their attentions to another. No, hell is poverty, not having enough to eat or a roof over your head, or never being able to stay warm. Hell is feeling cancer eat away at your body and knowing that no matter what you do, it's still gonna getcha in the end. No, hell is being without cable TV when they're showing the new season of The Walking Dead. No, war is hell, and anyone who's been there will tell you a thing or two about that, bay-bee.
Now ask me, The Black Rose, what hell is, and I'll tell you the truth.
Hell is a hard unasked for fucking at the hands of that extraordinarily brutal rapist called life and then reliving it again...and again...and again...and again. Forget all you've heard about the lake of fire and unholy wrath and Satan and all that good shit, that's a bunch of stories made up to scare the wicked into righteousness, I tell you what. But every story has a little truth in it and so, what everybody thinks is hell is based on a little fact. Demons? Yeah, there's demons, but not the little ugly impish things or some fallen angel lashing your backside up with whips n' chains. Is it hot? Only as much as you want it to be, boss. Despair? It becomes your bedfellow. Is there betrayal? Always. But as bad as all that sounds, I think that the one thing that carries Hell's reputation as a piss-poor vacation spot is the denial.
Yeah. Come to think of it, that's about it in a nutshell. Hell is being forever denied.
And Rave will NOT be denied.
![[Image: tumblr_mhs2w5TXkJ1qzxkpfo1_500.gif]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/e7e5c93426cf3974bb69e320dc4ce9db/tumblr_mhs2w5TXkJ1qzxkpfo1_500.gif)