Heaven

== Criticism of the belief in heaven ==
[[Anarchism|Anarchist]] [[Emma Goldman]] expressed this view when she wrote, "Consciously or unconsciously, most theists see in gods and devils, heaven and hell, reward and punishment, a whip to lash the people into obedience, meekness and contentment."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goldman |first=Emma |title=The Philosophy of Atheism, an essay by Emma Goldman (1916) |url=http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_archives/goldman/philosophyatheism.html |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=dwardmac.pitzer.edu}}</ref>

Some have argued that a belief in a reward after death is poor motivation for moral behavior while alive.<ref>[http://daphne.palomar.edu/mlane/ATHEIST/atheist_philosophy.htm The Atheist Philosophy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113162422/http://daphne.palomar.edu/mlane/ATHEIST/atheist_philosophy.htm|date=January 13, 2007}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Einstein |first=Albert |author-link=Albert Einstein |title=A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death. |url=https://www.quotedb.com/quotes/204 |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=www.quotedb.com |language=en-us}}</ref> [[Sam Harris (author)|Sam Harris]] wrote, "It is rather more noble to help people purely out of concern for their suffering than it is to help them because you think the Creator of the Universe wants you to do it, or will reward you for doing it, or will punish you for not doing it. The problem with this linkage between religion and morality is that it gives people bad reasons to help other human beings when good reasons are available."<ref>[[Sam Harris (author)|Sam Harris]] at the 2006 [[Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival|Beyond Belief]] conference ([http://beyondbelief2006.org/watch/watch.php?Video=Session%209 watch here] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516005026/http://beyondbelief2006.org/watch/watch.php?Video=Session%209 |date=May 16, 2007 }}).</ref>