No such thing as 'Rest In Peace'
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Monday, June 29, 2009 23:37
VIEWED: 4854
PAGE 4 of 6
Quote:So, there IS hope of a re-ward?
Originally posted by OPPYH:
If you have faith in your religion, or beliefs then that's what you will be rewarded with in the afterlife.
The Jayne-like Chrisisall
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Quote:Hey RIPWash, y'know, since we're here, I'd like to ask you a serious question. The thing that gets me about your scenario is that you live maybe--MAYBE--90 some odd years (if you're very lucky) and whatever the heck you managed to figure out in your "hour upon the stage," determines how you will spend the REST OF ETERNITY.
Originally posted by RIPWash:
There's no telling what we might do in Heaven for all eternity. I'd like to think of it as going to concerts and listening to fantastic music, seeing wonderous works of art, having in-depth discussions on every subject imaginable, seeing some simply amazing sports games. It goes on and on.
Does that seem right to you?
Seems a little like getting a pop quiz on the first day of your freshman year that determines your graduate school grade and pay rate for the rest of your dang life--only, it's much worse than that, because "the rest of your life" is standing in for the unfathomable infinitude of eternity here. If life could be figured out in 90 years, don't you think that after all the human race's time on the planet (still less than a blink of an eye when compared to eternity) we as a species would be a little farther along?
Or do you think it's all as simple as "believeth on Him and ye shall be saved?" Everything else: sex, war, art, love, human trafficking, suicide bombers, child rearing, physiology, rape and incest all fall in line when you give it over to Jesus? I seriously don't mean to be insulting, but I kinda find the "christian answer" to be insulting in itself, simplistic and intrinsically evasive.
One thing I have learned, that I'm pretty dang sure of, is that living one's life according to a mechanism of punishment and reward, having any truck at all with these pernicious illusions past the age of 10, keeps us childish, keeps us dependent, keeps us enslaved, our minds closed to what life truly has to offer. I'm not here, and I'm pretty sure neither are you, to follow some rule book and get a gold star at the end of my days for being a good boy.
I mean, the very first chapter of your own Holy Bible shows that being good and following the rules is NOT what human life was ever going to be about. Trying to recapture that prelapsarian paradise through good deeds and happy thoughts seems to be nothing more than a retreat from reality, a retreat from the present, a retreat from history itself--a sort of "nya-nya-nya-I CAN'T HEAR YOU" on a cosmic scale.
Sorry if I burden you with my frustration, but my frustration is central to my question. Why in the world would a God set up His cosmos to so deeply frustrate those of us who think deeply and seek meaning?
HKCavalier
Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:Quote:I don't mean to offend (okay, so maybe I do
Originally posted by RIPWash:
a God of the universe, that he sent Jesus to die for our sins), but that is the most convoluted plot device ever. He creates everything, then allows sin into the mix, then creates & transports a sperm into Mary, has the son, & then makes sure he's crucified for the sins of man THAT HE SET UP IN THE FIRST PLACE!?!?!?!?!?!
In the cosmic publishing house, that submission would go right into the "reject" pile.
The laughing Chrisisall
I think Lazarus Long said it best:
"One man's theology is another man's belly laugh."
and:
"Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child."
as well as:
"There is no conclusive evidence of life after death. But there is no evidence of any sort against it. Soon enough you will know. So why fret about it?"
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Agreed.
I also agree with the 'law of conservation applies to souls as well' theory (I think Chrisisall said it, though I'm not 100% sure about that)
(yes I do read these threads all the way- nice to see this one's still short enough not to have done a complete U-turn on the topic)
Just the two cents from an infrequent lurker, since personally I'm kinda fascinated by discussions on theology such as this and thought I'd contribute 
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Quote:Ummm... 'cause he has anger management issues...?
Originally posted by HKCavalier:
Why in the world would a God set up His cosmos to so deeply frustrate those of us who think deeply and seek meaning?
The laughing Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by OPPYH:
Yeah, right. Before attacking what I believe, why don't you tell me what you believe.
Sorry - the parallel just struck me and I thought there was something valuable in pointing out the similarity.
If you get a chance to read any Bedouin stories, or fables from the dessert - the Middle Eastern Dessert - you will see the same story telling themes and story mechanics that you find in our modern Bible. They are full of the same sense of larger than life characters and fantastical nature.
It's hard not to see the bible after that as a kind of Aesop's Fables of the Dessert - no disrespect, it just has a whole new feel to it.
Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com Now available on your iPhone
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Quote:
Originally posted by OPPYH:
Before attacking what I believe, why don't you tell me what you believe. Keep the snide comments to yourself.
Why is it necessary that we believe anything, especially when there will never be any proof? A belief in something doesn't make it truth. I can make it through life without a belief in an afterlife, or in anything else. If there is any purpose to life it has to be to question what that purpose is, but to expect definitive answers is to be naive.
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Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
Why is it necessary that we believe anything
Ummm.. 'cause Book said we should?
The laughing Chrisisall
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Quote:
I'm not here, and I'm pretty sure neither are you, to follow some rule book and get a gold star at the end of my days for being a good boy.
Sounds like you aim to misbehave...
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Sounds like you aim to misbehave...
Misbehavin' can reserve a place for you in a special Hell...
where you get to watch Serenity for all eternity in a theatre where EVERYBODY talks during the film.
The laughing Chrisisall
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