Do You Believe In An Afterlife?

[samhexum]

[BabyBoomer]

When I read the thread title I thought @Avalon was back from hiatus.

 

~Boomer~

[+ quoththeraven]

When I read the thread title I thought @Avalon was back from hiatus.

 

~Boomer~

He is and he has been. He's caused havoc in other threads.

 

His profile isn't currently available, so perhaps he's earned himself another hiatus.

[LookingAround]

When I read the thread title I thought @Avalon was back from hiatus.

 

~Boomer~

Same here!!!!!

[+ Cash4Trash]

Would someone please answer the question. At 78 I need to know now.

Edited February 2, 2019 by Cash4Trash

[+ purplekow]

Here is the answer...if you live your life right you won't need an afterlife even if there is one. So go for the sure thing. I can remember going to parties in my 20s and people saying, save some energy for the after party. Most of the time, the after party was a sloppy mess and the time to party was at the party.

[JayCeeKy]

Would someone please answer the question. At 78 I need to know now.

 

I find merit, though it is not w/out criticism, in Pascal's Wager: The wise decision is to wager that God exists, since "If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing", meaning one can gain eternal life if God exists, but if not, one will be no worse off in death than if one had not believed.

 

In other words, what do you have to lose?

[+ MasssageGuy]

In other words, what do you have to lose?

Love it! How true!

[+ WilliamM]

My brother asked my dad that question on the way to church years ago. He gave the same answer, but dad had a serious heart condition, and must have thought about it a great deal

 

He died Forty-eight hours later when home from work on a lunch break. I take comfort that our mom was with him during that fatal heart attack.

[samhexum]

I find merit, though it is not w/out criticism, in Pascal's Wager: The wise decision is to wager that God exists, since "If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing", meaning one can gain eternal life if God exists, but if not, one will be no worse off in death than if one had not believed.

 

In other words, what do you have to lose?

Love it! How true!

 

On the other hand, I've always believed that if God is truly divine and understanding/forgiving, he/she wouldn't be petty and get caught up in the technicality of whether you believed or not, and would judge you on the quality of person that you were. Thus, if the life you led was worthy of being rewarded in the afterlife, whether you were a believer or an atheist, you'd be rewarded.

[+ sync]

Are you saying this hell we're living is not it?

[JayCeeKy]

On the other hand, I've always believed that if God is truly divine and understanding/forgiving, he/she wouldn't be petty and get caught up in the technicality of whether you believed or not, and would judge you on the quality of person that you were. Thus, if the life you led was worthy of being rewarded in the afterlife, whether you were a believer or an atheist, you'd be rewarded.

 

I agree with your distinction between people who lead moral lives but who, for whatever reason, do not subscribe to any particular religion or belief system. It's been said that there are many people that God has that the Church doesn't (and vice versa). The theologian, Karl Rahner, got into hot water once by saying that many (most?) non-Christians/non-believers are, in fact, Christian in essence, if not in name (the Anonymous Christian). But there are some people who believe that, because God is "all-forgiving" that they somehow have God "by the balls" i.e. there's no way he's gonna punish us because of our weak human nature. However, most religions propose a theme of divine justice, i.e. that there will be an accounting of our deeds, and that there will a separation of "sheep from goats, wheat from chaff." I find it hard to believe that Hitler would have the same fate in the afterlife as my saintly grandmother. Christianity teaches that God is all-forgiving, but would not someone have to ask for forgiveness first? In the end, maybe we should all just hope that hell is just another literary form.

[+ José Soplanucas]

Of course there is an afterlife!

[+ quoththeraven]

I agree with your distinction between people who lead moral lives but who, for whatever reason, do not subscribe to any particular religion or belief system. It's been said that there are many people that God has that the Church doesn't (and vice versa). The theologian, Karl Rahner, got into hot water once by saying that many (most?) non-Christians/non-believers are, in fact, Christian in essence, if not in name (the Anonymous Christian). But there are some people who believe that, because God is "all-forgiving" that they somehow have God "by the balls" i.e. there's no way he's gonna punish us because of our weak human nature. However, most religions propose a theme of divine justice, i.e. that there will be an accounting of our deeds, and that there will a separation of "sheep from goats, wheat from chaff." I find it hard to believe that Hitler would have the same fate in the afterlife as my saintly grandmother. Christianity teaches that God is all-forgiving, but would not someone have to ask for forgiveness first? In the end, maybe we should all just hope that hell is just another literary form.

We create our own hells.

[+ purplekow]

I do not know if many of you are watching the situation comedy "The Good Place" It is situation comedy which examines the moral issues we are touching on in this thread. There are four main characters, flawed definitely, who, after arriving in "The Good Place" after each has had a rather bizarre death, find that each scored enough points in their earthly life to arrive in a heaven designed by a fifth major character, the Architect Michael. Well heaven is not always heavenly and moral issues are raised and discussed referencing many different philosophical thoughts. The shows give reasonable entry level information about religion, the nature of man and what is it that can be done to deserve to be in "The Good Place" It is on NBC and can easily be found on NBC on demand. It is funny and though invoking,.

One thought, about the nature of the afterlife: In response to an forgiving god: God listens, evaluates and forgives. To be forgiven does not mean their are not consequences for actions. I forgive my dog for knocking over a lamp with its tail as it wags its butt when I return from vacation/. I may forgive a friend for smashing a lamp in a fit of anger/ The forgiveness that the two receive is going to be different. Intention, it seems to me is the key factor in how forgiveness looks. Also the old saw, god hears all prayer but sometimes says "no" might also give pause to those figuring an all forgiving god can be easily maneuvered.

Edited February 3, 2019 by purplekow

[MassageDrew]

Nope, there is no life after. Some are clinging to hope that somehow it will be better after they leave this unfulfilled life of theirs.

[Guest]

As much as I wish there were an afterlife, wishes do not make reality. The way I see it, the newer the religion, the sillier it is. Scientology is the most ridiculous because it's known that the founder simply bet someone he could found a religion. The Mormon Church isn't far behind, because we know its founder, Joseph Smith, was a known criminal and scoundrel who said he could translate mysterious golden plates because of magic glasses only he could use, but when someone hid his "translation," he couldn't "translate" them again. As for Islam--yeah, I'm going to take my moral direction from a polygamist who married a 9 year-old. As one goes down the centuries, it gets harder to be positive about the fiction in religious stories, but Professor H.G. Wells wrote a scholarly book on the subject, and argues that it is quite unlikely that Jesus ever existed. The Romans kept good records, and apparently nothing was written about Jesus until after his supposed death (also not well documented by the Romans).

Of course, as one goes down the millenia, one wouldn't expect records to go back thousands of years, so I don't blame Hindus, Jews, or Zoroastrians for believing their religion as much. There's also a good case to be made for the Greek and Roman gods. After all, didn't the Roman Empire collapse soon after abandoning the Roman pantheon in favor of Christianity? Of course, one has to wonder why all of those strange things like the parting of the Red Sea, gods coming to earth and seducing mortals, and so on, happened so much back then, but hasn't happened since good record-keeping started. Of all of the world's current religions, the one which makes the most sense to me is the Zoroastrian religion. But just because I'd like to believe in an afterlife doesn't mean it exists. Our consciousness began sometime in utero, and unfortunately it won't be there after we pass away. But boy do I know what I'd be doing all of the time if there were a heaven. I would be screwing one gorgeous stud after another. I can't imagine I would ever get tired, even during an eternity....