Heaven, Hell, and Alfredo

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I just read a post by @amadeo upon which I commented, but it spurred another thought. So here I am writing a post about it. He asked if we believe in Hell. I said, I do not know and I'm confused about all of it. My faith is shaky. I want to believe in Heaven. So does that mean I want to believe in Hell? But what it made me think of is this: I think if there is a God, a truly LOVING God like Christianity believes, then people are given chances. I was thinking of my teenage son the other day & how at his age, he's learning self-control. So.... even if he does "sin," I don't think a teenage kid would be sentenced to HELL. Period. Same with an adult.... If an adult is a good person who is trying to do good things, I don't think that person would go to HELL. Again, I don't know what I believe anymore. I struggle with this a lot. I'm a very rational person who likes proof. So I love the stories that seem to prove an afterlife. But I, personally, haven't experienced any of it. Since my 13 year old son died, you betcha that I want to believe in Heaven. i want to see him again more than anything. But I think none of us know anything for sure. That's why when I see ANYONE being judge-y against someone who has different beliefs (be they religious or political or favorite flavor of ice cream), I'm not a happy camper. Example: I'm a convert to Catholicism. So I grew up Protestant. I had NO idea so many people were anti-catholic until becoming one. And when I see fellow Christians badmouth Catholics, I think, "REALLY?" Because... as a convert, I know that the beliefs are ultimately the same. One day I was on a friend's Facebook page. And saw a post by her husband who is a very strong Christian. He was totally badmouthing the pope saying, "Oh I can't wait until he's being judged and can't get into Heaven." ((or something like that)).... And I thought a couple thoughts: ONE, again, as a convert, this guy knows nothing about Catholicism and TWO, he calls himself a Christian, but he's giddy at the thought of a fellow believer NOT getting into heaven? That doesn't sound very Christian to me..... (as someone who doesn't like conflict or controversy, I didn't state that fact to him, but boy, did i want to!!!) Anyway, my point is that I don't know what I believe, but I'm not going to judge anyone for their beliefs. I may not agree, but that's ok. In a world made up of over a billion people, we are going to have some differences. I guess the important thing is how we handle those differences, right? I'm tired and this may be a bit of a ramble... Sorry!