Do most people truly understand the Doctrine of Hell?

[Universalist Catholic]

I remember I was in that position before.  I never really thought about the doctrine of Hell, or let alone truly believed or understood such a doctrine years back.  I remember one day viewing Maurice Rawlings "To Hell and Back", and was pretty grossed out that there could possibly be such a tyrannical god who would create such a horrible place, and let most of humanity blindly walk into this place.  I remember several months later some Jehovahs Witnesses stopped over, and they bad brought into discussion the Burning Hell ideal.  They dont believe that doctrine, but I started to think that they were right, that no such burning hell existed.  I also remember being frustrated with the way Atheists would constantly degrade religious beliefs, and brought up hell, such as George Carlin.  I believed it was all ignorance on everyone elses part, until I actually came across a number of Protestant Fundamentalist sites affirming this belief that there was actually a place where most of Humanity was doomed to suffer unbearable torment.  I had also found out that the Catholic Churches official stances were the same.  Only they believed that there were several forms of torture.  The worst being pain of the damned, after having lost God completely.  The other being pain of Senses, meaning specific tortures aimed at easing the horrible pain of loss.  I could not believe that such teachings even existed. 

So I was wondering if most people actually understand the doctrine of Hell.  Because any time I point out flaws in the Church systems, people become skeptical of my claims.  Many people seem to think that the Churches are a lot better than they really are.  Then there are others who seem to understand what they really are, and 1) Become the tyrannical god they worship, or 2) Vehemently oppose that Church, and become atheist, agnostic or some other form of spirituality away from Organized Religion.

I remember I got sucked into the religion of Pop Psychology because Psychology had helped me cope with my GAD which was caused by the Hell teaching, and church legalism. 

[WhiteWings]

The other being pain of Senses, meaning specific tortures aimed at easing the horrible pain of loss.

So God punishes people with 'complete loss' but at the same time eases that pain with torture.
That makes no sense. I think such teachings emerge because people want to get God of the hook.
They teach eternal torture in a lava pit is justice. But after seen a relative with 3rd degree burns, which is childs play compared to hell, they feel Gods justice is more more wicked that Satan's worst deeds. So they feel they have to justify God's justice by some sugar coating. Deep down they find hell repulsive.
Luckily Father agrees with that :winkgrin:

[Nathan]

I've been down that road as well . . .My Dad is still a very strong ET kinda guy . . .My Mom has left his church and comes to mine . . .I still don't know how the two of them live under the same roof together without bloodshed.  Both are very confident with where they are in the Lord.  But when I've talked to Dad about these matters, he kinda shrugs his shoulders at trying to understand all of it and merely states what the Bible says on it.  And he's a big studier as well.  I don't think they're looking to try to sugar coat anything.  I think they really believe "this" is how God operates.

His love is real.  Heaven is real, it's all real, but if you reject it, if you don't ask Jesus into your heart, hell is real as well.  They're no longer upbeat about their gospel . . .they're a little sad as they sense the weight of what it is they're saying.  You are going to spend eternity in hell if you do not as Jesus into your heart.  From where they are, they just don't see it to mean anything else than how they see it.  And if you try to press it, they get defensive and if you try to force them into a corner, they get aggressive.

I still think this was why Jesus rebuked Peter for taking a defensive swing at the high priest's servant and then told him to put his sword away.  Relationship trumps religious opinions.  The Word is given to stab people to life, not to cut them to shreds with your great knowledge and leave them for dead in a bleeding pile of emotions.  If we have resurrection life in us, then as far as I'm concerned, even in the midst of battle as the dead are conveniently discarded in the closest tombs available . . .as the dead are brushed up against us, shouldn't the life in us cause them to spring back to life as well?  (Get the analogy there?  Wasn't it Elisha that this happened to?)