ALL Religions believe that no humans deserve to go to Heaven (right away)

 I am currently doing a short series on some of the common confusion about what a Christian can or cannot do. The first topic that I am doing is "Can a Christian hold joss sticks?". I have been reading a few articles written by different churches pastors. Then I realised something.

The Chinese funeral rites, be it Buddhism, Taoism or other religions, have rites that need to be done by their family members to help the deceased to crossover to the next life. While I was reading, something captured my attention, it says that the eldest son is required to carry a lantern and circle the coffin 10 times. This is done to lead the deceased to pass 10 levels of hell. That means starting from level 1 hell, all the way to presumably reincarnation to a better life or Heaven. 

Then suddenly it gets me thinking, Most religions have the same beliefs with Christians: by default, what we deserve is hell. What we have done on earth do not hold any weights in the after life. No matter how good a person was, how many volunteer work or donations they made, during the funeral, they still need to be helped to cross to the after life, to pass the judgement of hell towards Heaven. Basically, WE ALL NEED HELP IN THE AFTERLIFE. 

One problem, has it been proven that whatever is being done during the rites, do hold any grain of truth? Does our rites procession really do help our loved ones be able to cross to a better world? Who dares to swear on it? 

I know that this is an extremely sensitive issue. I do not wish to upset anyone who is reading this. However, if you are a Christian reading this, be confident of your belief. If you are non-Christian reading this, I hope this short writing encourage you to learn more, instead of being offended. I myself do not know very well about other religions, except Christianity, but I like knowing the traditions and reasoning behind some of the well-known religions rites. 


for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:23 (NIV)

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