Over the past two years I have had a fairly large change in religious beliefs and in my outlook on the world in general. In my opinion, I went from being optomistic, religious, narrow-minded, and opinionated to being more open-minded, disappointed in our world, and more accepting of others in general.
From all of this, the one thing that really gets me thinking is the question of WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME WHEN I DIE?
As of right now, I truly feel that when you die, that's it. That's the end. No god, no heaven, no hell, no 72 virgins, no reincarnation, no purgatory. Zip zero nada.
Depressing, right?
I think that religion had kept me more positive and re-assured that things would work out, that life wasn't so bad, that I had something to look forward to. With the loss of my faith I have found myself feeling liberated, but so much so that it is scary.
For this reason, although I do not believe in a god, I feel that religion can be a positive thing for mental health purposes.
I mean, I know that I can do good deeds and be a good person without having a religion or some form of god to answer to. Yet, the fact that I now know that there is nothing after this crazy world does leave me feeling fairly scared.
So, I was wondering what my fellow bloggers here on ProgressiveU thought: What do YOU think happens after you die and why? Can you prove it?
Also, I don't know how many of you listen to the band Brand New, but here's a good song by them called "Jesus Christ" and it relates fairly well to this topic.
"Jesus Christ, that's a pretty face
The kind you'd find on someone that could save
If they don't put me away
It’ll be a miracle
Do you believe you're missing out?
That everything good is happening somewhere else
With nobody in your bed
The night is hard to get through
And I will die all alone
And when I arrive I won’t know anyone
Well, Jesus Christ, I’m alone again
So what did you do those three days you were dead?
Because this problem is gonna last
More than the weekend
***Well, Jesus Christ I’m not scared to die
But I’m a little bit scared of what comes after
Do I get the gold chariot?
Do I float through the ceiling?
Do I divide and pull apart?
Cause my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark
This ship went down in sight of land
And at the gates does Thomas ask to see my hands?
I know you're coming in the night like a thief
But I’ve had some time alone to hone my lying technique
I know you think that I’m someone you can trust
But I’m scared I’ll get scared and I swear I’ll try to nail you back up
(everyone now)
So do you think that we could work out a sign
So I’ll know it's you and that it's over so I won't even try
I know you're coming for the people like me
But we all got wood and nails
tongue tied in hate factories
We all got wood and nails
tongue tied in hate factories
We all got wood and nails
And we sleep inside of this machine"
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I think that after I die, I would go to purgatory in front of God; if he can't find any bad things that I done on Earth, then he'll let me enter Heaven and I'll see my grandparents, my first dog, and all of my deceased members of my family again. Also if I can't find "Mr. Right" here on Earth, then I'll meet him in Heaven and we'll live happily ever after. Sorry, I can't prove it because I haven't passed away, but what I said is what my mother told me while I was growing up.
Read my blog!
You should use your imagination more. Or try to find your own opinions on things. The "because thats what my mom said" thing is cute and good enough for middle school.
C'mon, you can do better than that ;)
"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
&
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the crowd."
when I die I will go to heaven. Not because of any action of my own, but because Jesus Christ died for my sins so that I would not have to pay the consequences for them.
So you can do whatever you want and as long as you are sorry for your sins you go to heaven?
OR
do you not have to even be sorry?
Also, why did Jesus have to die for us to save our sins if god can do anything?
"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
&
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the
"To understand all is to forgive all"
-French Proverb
"Forgive those that trespass against you that you may be forgiven your trespasses."
-Jesus Christ
The world is causal. Everything happens as a reaction to other previous things. We are not aware of all things, so some actions seem evil, unjust, and especially if they happen to us, we harbor anger and hatred against those that hurt us. The act of forgiving is equivalent to acknowledging that if we knew WHY something was done, or occured we would also know that it was inevitable.
If we have this faith we can also forgive ourselves, for we know that the one who knows everything forgives us.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
Oscar Wilde
So you can do whatever you want and as long as you are sorry for your sins you go to heaven?
OR
do you not have to even be sorry?
Also, why did Jesus have to die for us to save our sins if god can do anything?
"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
&
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the
Well, when you have faith in God you are indwelled by the Holy Spirit part of what that means is that you will fill guilt. Also God gave us the law because he loves us and he knows following the law is what is best for us. It is like Joseph said when his master's wife tried to have an affair with him.
"How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"
If you follow God you will not want to break his law. Although we all still do because we are imperfect and sinful.
"the fact that I now know that there is nothing"
That includes you.
Man is a superstitious creature. We peer out of eyes that see a tiny angle of the world, from one limited perspective. To survive we must imagine that the little we know applies to things we cannot see. The truly unknowable questions force us to make up answers. Our imagined world when it has dark areas frightens us. So we fill in those areas.
I am a Christian, and the Jesus I understand told me to love the TRUTH. He called this truth God. God is defined as the being that created and controlles the universe. All things exactly as they are were made so by the truth. His law is the same as all natural laws. It is HIS nature. I am not the truth. I must repent (greek: look and look again) against falsehood, and seek truth. When I find the truth I am commanded to Love it with all my heart and all my soul.
Every moment is exactly like it is forever. If I love the truth this world is a paradise. If you live in the moment and love the truth, you have found heaven. "the joy that passeth understanding."
I do not have to believe in any miracle, or life after death to have this faith. It is entirely self supporting to me, however poorly I explain it.. Yet I have seen enough to know anything is possible.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
Oscar Wilde
You Said:" the Jesus I understand told me to love the TRUTH. He called this truth God. God is defined as the being that created and controlles the universe. All things exactly as they are were made so by the truth. His law is the same as all natural laws. It is HIS nature. I am not the truth. I must repent (greek: look and look again) against falsehood, and seek truth. When I find the truth I am commanded to Love it with all my heart and all my soul."
When and how exactly did jesus tell you this?
I used to believe, but then I realized that the only people telling me what to believe and how to act and what to do and how to worship were exactly that PEOPLE. God has never spoken to me, jesus has never spoken to me. I highly doubt he has spoken to you.
I am awaiting a response something a long the lines of "He works in mysterious ways" or "He reveals himself in..." such and such a way.
OR
"YOU just have to have FAITH" and "I know its hard but _______"
all of which you have been taught by other humans to say.
Indeed the "truly unknowable questions force us to make up answers." Just as you have here.
Or maybe your religion made them up for you.
"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
Again, no superstition.
Every word in the bible was written by men. There is no reason to believe that any man is infallible. There are 3 eye witness accounts of Jesus' teachings, and one collection of eyewitness accounts that is more thorough than the other three. Those words are all I have to base any understanding of what he was saying.
God is often pictured as an old man in the clouds, or some such limited fashion. In actual ancient Hebrew tradition he did not even have a name that could be said aloud because any image was forbidden (because it was inaccurate and limited understanding). The definition I gave is just that a definition. Any word you use has one or it is worthless for communication. You should not place any expectation on God. The only pure evidence you have is the world around you. God is revealed to us puny humans by the universe he authored.
I am a very unworthy person to explain this. Try reading just the words of Jesus without trying to believe any miracles you were not there to see. He calls himself 'the son of man' often and even refuses to be called 'good' reserving that for God. The stories in the Old Testament contain many parables that are like riddles to help you understand.
I would even go so far as to say read this as though God=Truth=Nature was the entire meaning. Don't assume that God has a personality that might speak words. Even if you heard those words you could not be sure where they came from. It is a little presumptuous to think that eight pounds of protein can be self aware, and millions of galaxies cannot.
There is no 'proof' of this, but faith is not impossible. I was an agnostic when this way of looking at it was suggested to me. It took some personal experience and time before I accepted it.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
Oscar Wilde
So basically,
God can do whatever he wants, and does so... but we arent smart enough to understand why he does some things and not others?
is that the jist of what you were saying?
because that seems like an easy way out...
In one breath you give him an easy out by saying that we cannot possibly understand god, but in doing so you in fact do say that you understand him, otherwise one could not describe him as thus.
Wisdom is not knowing everything. It is knowing what you know and what you don't.
I do not know anything about miracles that happened before I was born. Why would I have to?
The teachings that I'm talking about are availiable from many sources. Trite as it may seem:
'How to Win Friends and Influence People.' By Dale Carnegie
"The Power of Positive Thinking" By Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
A great deal of practical Christian teaching is availiable. I have found that there is faith to be had despite the fact that I do not accept superstition. Go into your 'prayer closet' and PRAISE the truth for what you have. Treat it like an experiment, you have NOTHING TO LOSE. Just like the authors of the bible these authors and I have plenty of flaws, but we are all going through the same life. The things we have found might not be ones that help you, but you asked..........
"Invisible Sun"
-The Police
-Lyrics by Sting.
I don't want to spend the rest of my life
Looking at the barrel of an Armalite
I don't want to spend the rest of my days
Keeping out of trouble like the soldiers say
I don't want to spend my time in hell
Looking at the walls of a prison cell
I don't ever want to play the part
Of a statistic on a goverment chart
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
That gives us hope when the whole day's done
It's dark all day, and it glows all night
Factory smoke and acetylene light
I face the day with me head caved in
Looking like something that the cat brought in
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
That gives us hope when the whole day's done
And they're only going to change this place by
Killing everybody in the human race
And they would kill me for a cigarette
But I don't even wanna die just yet
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
It gives us hope when the whole day's done
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
Oscar Wilde
You are talking in circles and dancing around the questions.
Can you answer these point by point please:
1. Do you think that god can do whatever he wants, and does so... but we arent smart enough to understand why he does some things and not others?
2. How is this not an easy way out... BECAUSE In one breath you give him an easy out by saying that we cannot possibly understand god, but in doing so you in fact do say that you understand him, otherwise one could not describe him as thus.
1. Do you think that god can do whatever he wants, and does so... but we arent smart enough to understand why he does some things and not others?
Yes, how could we be. Think about how little the smartest, best educated human knows compared to all knowledge there is in the universe. Our Hard Drives just are not big enough.
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2. How is this not an easy way out... BECAUSE In one breath you give him an easy out by saying that we cannot possibly understand god, but in doing so you in fact do say that you understand him, otherwise one could not describe him as thus.
It is an easy way out compared to having a Pope that is a final authority for ALL TRUTH. I have decided to try praising God(Truth). That is how Jesus told us to pray. The description of God as the TRUTH is a definition. Just a starting point that does not presume unnatural knowledge of the truth. Like any hypothesis the next step is to test it. Prayer is the test. Not prayer asking for things for yourself or others, just thankfullness and praise. This is not PROOF, just an experiment, the results of which will be entirely subjective. By praising the truth, even when it works against you, it is amazing how much changes. Your milage may vary, do not try while operating heavy machinery, etc.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
Oscar Wilde
When you die, you die. I have no reason to believe that a spiritual part of me is preserved and will spend an eternity in some sort of afterlife. Why? We can see the body decompose. We know that when a person's brain is messed up, their personality can be destroyed. No evidence has been found to support the idea of a soul. Why? There is no evidence to support the existence of god.
That being said, I don't really fear death, not any more than the next guy. I mean sure, at this point in my life, I'd rather be alive. I can imagine though, that after a while, life can grow stale. I'd rather live a full life and then die, than live forever in boredom.
"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"
Douglas Adams
"That is not dead which can eternal lie / And with strange aeons even death may die."
H. P. Lovecraft
"As of right now, I truly feel that when you die, that's it. That's the end. No god, no heaven, no hell, no 72 virgins, no reincarnation, no purgatory. Zip zero nada."
I'm with you. All that other stuff is myths and its main purpose was to control you. Religion offers you promises of comfort and rewards in the future for your submission and compliance now. A monetary contribution is also appreciated. And then there are the threats of eternal torture and hell if you don't comply.
You only get one life. Make the best of it. No fear! It is pointless to be afraid of that which you cannot avoid. Try to be a good person because that is who YOU want to be. Some people live short lives and some people live long lives. When your life comes to an end as is inevitable for all of us, try to be in a position where you can look back and smile and think that you have made the most of it and that even your regrets led to something positive. That will be the last memory that you don't remember after you are just a memory.
Some people take a great deal of comfort in religion and that is fine with me. It's their choice and their life and while I am very dubious about their beliefs and faith, who am I to be critical?
I think that when I die I'll be separated into the elements. Once I slipped into a trance and I was conscious but I was wind and just floating over the grass in a meadow. I'm pretty sure my consciousness survives and I'll be able to exist without the burden of a singular form.
I'm gonna write a nonsensical book and leave it in a cave. 500 years later people will worship me
Actually, if you go back to the original text it does not say virgins. That is a mis-translation.
What you actually get is 72 Virginians. I know its not as good a deal but that is what you get.
/bs
As long as they're female.
I'm gonna write a nonsensical book and leave it in a cave. 500 years later people will worship me
haha, and it doesn't say male or female.
"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."