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ericcoleman mentioned Hell.
See, to me Hell is one of the biggest reasons why I don't believe. It makes no sense at all.
Let's examine it for a moment, with a particular and straightfoward presumption: God exists, and He created humanity to be as we are. The whole Adam & Eve thing is legit. Cool?
Recall that one of the very first lessons of Eden is to be ashamed of knowing too much.
So. Hell.
First thing is, after you're dead, you're judged. Good enough score? Heaven for you. Not so good? Maybe Purgatory (the Catholic plan). Bad? An extradimensional torture chamber of infinite size, filled with demons of unspeakable evil and exquisite perversion, for torturing people after they're dead.
And part of the fun in Heaven is being able to watch friends and family members suffering in Hell.
Many of the sins that put you in Hell involve following the hardwired instincts that God gave us. Trying to resolve the conflict between Free Will and Original Sin gets you five-to-eternity in one of the Bolgias.
And let's be clear on that, as well: Screw up during your threescore and ten, and you go to Hell for a gazillion years. Eternal torment.
No wonder they had to write the New Testament. Jesus Christ might as well be called Jehovah: Extreme Makeover.
See, I'm quite convinced there is no afterlife. No evidence, apart from some grainy photos in the Weekly World News, which may have been taken by Batboy. The Christian God is a sociopathic megalomaniac (and I did once point this out to a street preacher, who countered that it was different from just any insane person acting like that, because, well, he was God) who rules through terror, intimidation, and ignorance. The good teachings of Jesus (who I doubt was an historical figure -- again, no evidence for, lots against) get lost in the grim need to celebrate death and torture.
How can a god of love say "be fruitful and multiply" and "sex is Original Sin"?
How can a god of love say some kinds of love are forbidden because of a chromosome? Or are unnatural when they are performed by His creations? What is "unnatural", anyway?
How can a god of love let criminals renounce their acts at the last moment just so they can get into Heaven, but not (as a for-instance) let unbaptized babies in?
How can a god of love basically say to every single person, "Don't follow the instincts that I gave you or I'll punish you for eternity"?
To me, these are not the works of any kind of god who deserves respect or worship at all. These are the works of the nasty old men who perpetuate the superstition of God, to keep their flock afraid, ignorant, and in line... and to hold them with the carrot of eternal life. Don't be afraid of death -- be afraid of Me.
Because, no one really knows what happens to your intellect after you die.
Perhaps it dies as well, lost in the degenerating biochemistry of your brain, and that's it.
Perhaps it becomes part of some cosmic All, assimilated into the aether, a soft grace note in the Music of the Spheres.
Perhaps you are reborn, with or without knowledge of your prior life, or lives.
Perhaps you end up on the banks of a river, age 25, with food provided in tubes every day. Perhaps you recline in a marble palace, fed ambrosia and nectar. Perhaps you sit in a mead hall, waiting for the battle that will decide the universe. Perhaps you float in an endless, quiet stream with all the other souls, guarded by a three-headed dog. Perhaps you get seventy-two virgins and your own palace. Perhaps you're seated with everyone at a huge table covered with food, and you can't raise your hands to your own mouth, and the difference between eternal glory and eternal suffering is whether or not you can learn to feed each other. Perhaps there's a watchmaker, a sculptor, an artist, a metalworker, crafting new life and letting it free. Perhaps you go Beyond The Veil, or Beyond The Rim, or Beyond The Fields We Know.
Perhaps there is a Christian Heaven, and a Christian Hell.
But no one knows.
It's what they believe.
Reference links: The Skeptic's Annotated Bible, and The Internet Sacred Text Archive.
So. Very serious question here, and I of course compel no one to answer it:
If you believe in an afterlife, what do you believe, and why?
ericcoleman mentioned Hell.See, to me Hell is one of the biggest reasons why I don't believe. It makes no sense at all.
Let's examine it for a moment, with a particular and straightfoward presumption: God exists, and He created humanity to be as we are. The whole Adam & Eve thing is legit. Cool?
Recall that one of the very first lessons of Eden is to be ashamed of knowing too much.
So. Hell.
First thing is, after you're dead, you're judged. Good enough score? Heaven for you. Not so good? Maybe Purgatory (the Catholic plan). Bad? An extradimensional torture chamber of infinite size, filled with demons of unspeakable evil and exquisite perversion, for torturing people after they're dead.
And part of the fun in Heaven is being able to watch friends and family members suffering in Hell.
Many of the sins that put you in Hell involve following the hardwired instincts that God gave us. Trying to resolve the conflict between Free Will and Original Sin gets you five-to-eternity in one of the Bolgias.
And let's be clear on that, as well: Screw up during your threescore and ten, and you go to Hell for a gazillion years. Eternal torment.
No wonder they had to write the New Testament. Jesus Christ might as well be called Jehovah: Extreme Makeover.
See, I'm quite convinced there is no afterlife. No evidence, apart from some grainy photos in the Weekly World News, which may have been taken by Batboy. The Christian God is a sociopathic megalomaniac (and I did once point this out to a street preacher, who countered that it was different from just any insane person acting like that, because, well, he was God) who rules through terror, intimidation, and ignorance. The good teachings of Jesus (who I doubt was an historical figure -- again, no evidence for, lots against) get lost in the grim need to celebrate death and torture.
How can a god of love say "be fruitful and multiply" and "sex is Original Sin"?
How can a god of love say some kinds of love are forbidden because of a chromosome? Or are unnatural when they are performed by His creations? What is "unnatural", anyway?
How can a god of love let criminals renounce their acts at the last moment just so they can get into Heaven, but not (as a for-instance) let unbaptized babies in?
How can a god of love basically say to every single person, "Don't follow the instincts that I gave you or I'll punish you for eternity"?
To me, these are not the works of any kind of god who deserves respect or worship at all. These are the works of the nasty old men who perpetuate the superstition of God, to keep their flock afraid, ignorant, and in line... and to hold them with the carrot of eternal life. Don't be afraid of death -- be afraid of Me.
Because, no one really knows what happens to your intellect after you die.
Perhaps it dies as well, lost in the degenerating biochemistry of your brain, and that's it.
Perhaps it becomes part of some cosmic All, assimilated into the aether, a soft grace note in the Music of the Spheres.
Perhaps you are reborn, with or without knowledge of your prior life, or lives.
Perhaps you end up on the banks of a river, age 25, with food provided in tubes every day. Perhaps you recline in a marble palace, fed ambrosia and nectar. Perhaps you sit in a mead hall, waiting for the battle that will decide the universe. Perhaps you float in an endless, quiet stream with all the other souls, guarded by a three-headed dog. Perhaps you get seventy-two virgins and your own palace. Perhaps you're seated with everyone at a huge table covered with food, and you can't raise your hands to your own mouth, and the difference between eternal glory and eternal suffering is whether or not you can learn to feed each other. Perhaps there's a watchmaker, a sculptor, an artist, a metalworker, crafting new life and letting it free. Perhaps you go Beyond The Veil, or Beyond The Rim, or Beyond The Fields We Know.
Perhaps there is a Christian Heaven, and a Christian Hell.
But no one knows.
It's what they believe.
Reference links: The Skeptic's Annotated Bible, and The Internet Sacred Text Archive.
So. Very serious question here, and I of course compel no one to answer it:
If you believe in an afterlife, what do you believe, and why?
