I want to further elaborate on my views of heaven and hell... I really have no idea if there is a heaven or hell, and more then likely will never know until the time comes that I pass on to whatever lies beyond this life (if anything). That being said:
If there is indeed a heaven and a hell, I believe that we are actually in hell right now. I don't think of hell as being an Alcatraz for evil spirits, I look at it as being a proving ground. I believe that the purpose of hell (again, if it does exist) is for people to prove themselves worthy of entering the "great kingdom of God." That is my explanation for why there are good people in the world, and why there are "evil" people in the world. Those who follow the side of good I view as being more enlightened then those who give into the insidious desires for carnage that sometimes flow through all of us.
I hope I explained that halfway decent. It's kind of a hard thing to put into words, but I did the best I could.