It's sorta wierd, because I don't believe in God, but feel that if I don't believe in him, there's a chance I might go to a "hell", if it exists, which scares me even more, then I'm just wondering if I will go to hell for only believing in God out of fear.
If there is a heaven, do you think you have to believe in God to go there, or just live a good and kind life?
Surely it's better to be moral for the sake of being moral
than it is to be moral for fear of being punished?
That's something that's always bothered me about some religions, the idea that you can't be moral unless you adhere to that religion. Surely if you're only doing what's right so you'll get into heaven, you're doing it for ultimately selfish reasons? If you're being a good person because it's just the right thing to do, that's better, because you're not doing it for personal gain.
Also for the ignorant people earlier in the thread (can't be arsed to look back and find out who):
the "point" in reincarnation -- at least in Buddhism -- is that you keep living different lives until you reach enlightenment and go to parinirvana. If you live a bad life, and don't follow the noble eightfold path, then you'll come back as something lesser. If you live a good life by following the noble eightfold path and understanding the four noble truths, or if you are greatly wronged in your life, you'll come back as something greater. The cycle of birth, death and rebirth is called sangsara, and your aim should be to escape that cycle.
I can't really remember the exact details of the noble eightfold path, but read this if you're interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path
Really, the noble eightfold path applies to a much broader span of people than the ten commandments do, derp.
I still don't believe in it, but Buddhism is probably the least damaging of the religions I've read up on~
Quote: because you're not doing it for personal gain.
at least, not for any tangible, external personal gain, anyway. you could probably argue satisfaction is a kind of personal gain.
but im sure thats what you meant, so
///////
deep theory zone.
hey um
i think when you die, you just kinda lay in the ground. god knows what happens to your consciousness because that obv. dies along with you. you pretty much don't think, don't do anything. you just become an inanimate object. to a more comforting degree, we either power off or go to the "THE END" screen in life.
no, really - our ideas about reincarnation, heaven and hell, and all that are nice, but that's because we're secretly anxious about what lies ahead for our consciousness. of course, every human being has the innate fear of doing nothing when they're dead and wants to entertain the fact of their consciousness living on in another place, object or person. heaven and hell were made to address our consciousness in another life and and to ease an unsurmountable anxiety of the truly unknown (and to scare the shit out of us in the middle ages - in modern times, so many people are sinners we can assume we'll just all go to hell anyway because the slightest antichrist thought will put us there. welcome to christianity) and the idea of reincarnation to 1) entertain our consciousness into believing that something is waiting ahead for us in the next life, or 2) to calm the anxiety of imminent death in war
actually, when you boil it down, any "next life" theory embedded in a religion is pretty much there to calm the anxiety of imminent death in time of war. no one would wanna die if they knew they'd just become ashes in a mine blast - they're more comfortable dying with the subconscious promise of 50 virgins in heaven, salvation, reincarnation into a deity, 50 extra lives after inputting the konami code when they return to the title screen, etc.
this kinda makes me wonder - what do you suppose the consciousness of plants consists of?
IM SO THIRSTY I REALLY NEED A DRINK FUCK OH FUCK YES MR. SUN PLEASE SHINE DOWN ON ME
WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THE SUN'S NOT SHINING DOWN ON MY LEAVES LET ME JUST *moves to boob light*
god damn im existential today thx guy named after a pokemon attack
I dunno
A plant is still alive, even if it doesn't have a thought process.
I can kinda get what you're saying, but there's no chemical process or reaction to have when you're dead! You have become inanimate.
Like uhh. You're more akin to a rock than a plant, really.
Unless the plant is also dead.
the philosopher's resource
(07-04-2010, 11:03 AM)Gnostic WetFart Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:without an afterlife, there is no "meaning" to living at all, even if it's a superficial meaning.
an afterlife does nothing but obfuscate and confuse "meaning" in the real world - to say that this life has meaning, as an experience, when that meaning is almost entirely derived by what will happen after its over is kind of fallacious.
a trial itself doesn't have any meaning, it only exists to allow for the thing following it to exist - punishment or freedom. everything about it is defined by what comes after. in a manner of speaking, life is not defined by heaven and hell, but heaven and hell are defined by life.
the lack of an afterlife removes this obfuscation: it forces you to consider both the conditions of your existence and the meaning of your life at large. You can't just passively ride on someone elses meaning, you have to create it for yourself - what is it that you want out of life?
to be honest, being forced to live life and doing good things solely so that you don't go to hell sounds like... uh, hell.
thats exactly it though, i
dont want to live life. theres nothing want from it. why? because "in the end it doesnt even matter" (~lincoln park, 2001). if there is no afterlife, only emptiness, then what was all the work you did during your life for? you wont ever remember it, it wont be a fond memory you can look back on, especially since living isnt a particularly enjoyable experience anyway. there is no point to the struggle that you justify by reaching goals or whatever the hell other goodies you think you get at the end of the road.
wut is this thread wheres the spam wheres the groans????
jeeze when you die youre just gonna rot in the ground and have worms grow out your guts or get grinded into a pile of ashy dirt kept in some cookie jar or thrown into a river or something you wont know where death will take you when you die so no point into thinking about it youll find out eventually it can come at you at any time just wait and youll see theres no spiritual or philsologicaksldjfsdacal point behind it WHEN U DEAD U DEAD GAME OVER BATTERIES ARE DEAD LIGHTS OUT SHUT DOWN BUCKET KICK POWER OUTAGE EMPTY BOWELS BECOME LUNCH KABOOOOM
also to everyone thinks i live as a moral person just because i think im going to get my dick sucked by 100 babes everyday in heaven with god chilling by me in a beanbag chair while we play MMORPGs, your completely wrong. my belief in creationism stems form my disbelief in any other theory such as the big bang or w/e shit because it is impossible to comprehend how any of it was made in the first place and i guarantee we will never find the answer (at least in my lifetime). i am not grasping at straws desperately trying to justify my existence, i am making sense of what i have to explain, well, EVERYONEs existence. i have my own morals and honestly if things were my way i would wipe everyone of the face of the earth that didnt adhere to them (loosely) because my morals are basically the requirements to not be a giant piece of scum (aka, if i did have my way, 99% of you would pass). i am a good person for the sake of being a good person, its just nice to think that its not all for nothing.
(07-04-2010, 02:21 PM)JarJar Wrote: [ -> ]BECOME LUNCH
the true meaning of life. become lunch
also i believe in a lot of spiritual shit like everything has a spirit and ghosts and that is my choice to believe in that not yours or your logic or my own religions. my spirit animal is very real
NOW we're back in spamhaul, thank you
(07-04-2010, 02:33 PM)sexhaver1994 Wrote: [ -> ] (07-04-2010, 02:21 PM)JarJar Wrote: [ -> ]BECOME LUNCH
the true meaning of life. avoid become lunch
(07-04-2010, 02:20 PM)sexhaver1994 Wrote: [ -> ] (07-04-2010, 11:03 AM)Gnostic WetFart Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:without an afterlife, there is no "meaning" to living at all, even if it's a superficial meaning.
an afterlife does nothing but obfuscate and confuse "meaning" in the real world - to say that this life has meaning, as an experience, when that meaning is almost entirely derived by what will happen after its over is kind of fallacious.
a trial itself doesn't have any meaning, it only exists to allow for the thing following it to exist - punishment or freedom. everything about it is defined by what comes after. in a manner of speaking, life is not defined by heaven and hell, but heaven and hell are defined by life.
the lack of an afterlife removes this obfuscation: it forces you to consider both the conditions of your existence and the meaning of your life at large. You can't just passively ride on someone elses meaning, you have to create it for yourself - what is it that you want out of life?
to be honest, being forced to live life and doing good things solely so that you don't go to hell sounds like... uh, hell.
thats exactly it though, i dont want to live life. theres nothing want from it. why? because "in the end it doesnt even matter" (~lincoln park, 2001). if there is no afterlife, only emptiness, then what was all the work you did during your life for? you wont ever remember it, it wont be a fond memory you can look back on, especially since living isnt a particularly enjoyable experience anyway. there is no point to the struggle that you justify by reaching goals or whatever the hell other goodies you think you get at the end of the road.
kil urslef emo kids lol ^q^