I'm curious about how does your culture explain the existence of a soul.In Chinese mythology，there is a world where people go after death,and hell is a part of it.After death, the soul(or the ghosts) will be captured by the police of hell.In hell, there will be a king of hell to judge the good and evil of a person's life.The king of hell also has the power to let the good man be born in a rich family, and his life will be happy and lucky, while the evil man will be punished in hell, or his next life will have a bad fate.(It based on the buddhist theory of reincarnation).After drinking the soup that let you forget everthing in your past life,you will cross the bridge to the human world, enter the fetus and be reborn as a baby.So we have many stories that lovers make an appointment to meet again in the next life，or pay some price to find his or her lover in the next life.
But it is certainly not like this in Western culture.Though we were all educated at school in modern science, I think traditional culture will definitely influence people's worldviews imperceptibly.Life is like an endless circleI in Chinese culture, but if it is not in Western,what will it be like.I roughly know the stories that God created the world in seven days,and some Greek mythology.But this is not enough to construct my understanding of western mythology.Please tell me some stories or fairy tale,how does your culture or religious explain the birth and death,or something of your life you think were influenced by your culture.Please tell me where are you from or what religion do you follow.
I hope my unidiomatic English doesn't prevent you from understanding the sentence.

Question

I'm curious about how does your culture explain the existence of a soul.In Chinese mythology，there is a world where people go after death,and hell is a part of it.After death, the soul(or the ghosts) will be captured by the police of hell.In hell, there will be a king of hell to judge the good and evil of a person's life.The king of hell also has the power to let the good man be born in a rich family, and his life will be happy and lucky, while the evil man will be punished in hell, or  his next life will have a bad fate.(It based on the buddhist theory of reincarnation).After drinking the soup that let you  forget everthing in your past life,you will cross the bridge to the human world, enter the fetus and be reborn as a baby.So we have many stories that lovers make an appointment to meet again in the next life，or pay some price to find his or her lover in the next life.
But it is certainly not like this in Western culture.Though we were all educated at school in modern science, I think traditional culture will definitely influence people's worldviews imperceptibly.Life is like an endless circleI in Chinese culture, but if it is not in Western,what will it be like.I roughly know the stories that God created the world in seven days,and some Greek mythology.But this is not enough to construct my understanding of western mythology.Please tell me some stories or fairy tale,how does your culture or religious explain the birth and death,or something of your life you think were influenced by your culture.Please tell me where are you from or what religion do you follow.
I hope my unidiomatic English doesn't prevent you from understanding the sentence.

sgbowen · Answer

I understand your English very well! :) I'm Protestant Christian, which is very common in the US. Most Christians believe there is Heaven and Hell. People who are saved by accepting Jesus and becoming Christian go to Heaven and live there eternally. Heaven is supposed to be a perfect place where there is no pain or sadness. When people die, they prepare to meet their family members who have already died in Heaven. Traditionally, most Christians say that if someone hasn't become a Christian then they go to Hell. Hell is being separated from God forever. It may involve fire, torment, and punishment. I, and many other Christians these days, think this is a cruel belief. It's certainly very scary to think about, especially when you have loved ones who aren't Christian. Many Christians have tried to create alternate beliefs about what Hell is like or who goes there. There are also different Christian beliefs about what you need to do to go to Heaven. Some say you just need to accept Jesus, others say you also need to do good things in life. Some say you can lose your ability to go to Heaven by doing unforgivable sins, others say this isn't possible. There isn't any next life or reincarnation. Once you die, you go to Heaven or Hell and stay there forever. Each person who is born is an entirely new person created by God.

Thanks for explaining your mythology and culture. It's really interesting to me! I like the idea of living future lives.

Thanks for explaining your mythology and culture. It's really interesting to me! I like the idea of living future lives.

sophiejelbert · Answer

That's so interesting! Thank you for telling us about your beliefs. There are so many wonderful ideas from religion.

In the US, there are many religions but probably the most common one is Christianity which was explained beautifully already by @Demixx and @sgbowen

One that is becoming more common is atheism which isn't exactly a belief - it's a lack of belief. I personally identify as an atheist (I used to be Christian but I left the church) and there's no unifying theology or practice that atheists have. I don't believe in any religion.