Comments on: Living for the Afterlife http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/ by Hemant Mehta Mon, 28 May 2012 03:44:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Caroline http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-287295 Caroline Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:52:42 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-287295 To address the issue of why a God would have created us, and how he looks at us, like fish in a tank or something... Just suppose you are God. There you are. Conscious, thinking, sitting in the void before creation, or the big bang, or whatever you want to call it. Pretty soon, you'll start to get very bored. So you decide to create something, to shake things up a bit. But you don't want a still picture, or a boring puppet that did everything you bid it do. Like Gepetto, you want a real live Pinochio boy. One who will look back at you, have his own thoughts, and hopefully, choose to love you and make you smile. It's possible God didn't even really intend to create mankind specifically, but he said, let there be light, let there be gravity, let there be electromagnetism, and lets see what happens. Man is part of it, ants another, aliens possibly another...who knows? Live fully in the mystery. To address the issue of why a God would have created us, and how he looks at us, like fish in a tank or something…

Just suppose you are God. There you are. Conscious, thinking, sitting in the void before creation, or the big bang, or whatever you want to call it. Pretty soon, you’ll start to get very bored. So you decide to create something, to shake things up a bit. But you don’t want a still picture, or a boring puppet that did everything you bid it do. Like Gepetto, you want a real live Pinochio boy. One who will look back at you, have his own thoughts, and hopefully, choose to love you and make you smile.

It’s possible God didn’t even really intend to create mankind specifically, but he said, let there be light, let there be gravity, let there be electromagnetism, and lets see what happens. Man is part of it, ants another, aliens possibly another…who knows? Live fully in the mystery.

]]> By: Caroline http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-287289 Caroline Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:42:23 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-287289 To address the question of why people who have faith in the afterlife still take medications and treat illnesses, if they expect to see a pleasant afterlife: There are many people who live in the hope of God, they believe in God, but also acknowledge that they do not actually KNOW if there is a God, and that's why they call it FAITH in God, not necessarily factual concrete KNOWLEDGE of God. If you think about it, we ALL are agnostic, to a certain degree, because none of us truly KNOWS. If you think you know, then you're just being cocky, on either side of this argument. Is it possible that the afterlife exists for those who are faithful, but not for those who aren't? What control do we have over all this? To address the question of why people who have faith in the afterlife still take medications and treat illnesses, if they expect to see a pleasant afterlife: There are many people who live in the hope of God, they believe in God, but also acknowledge that they do not actually KNOW if there is a God, and that’s why they call it FAITH in God, not necessarily factual concrete KNOWLEDGE of God. If you think about it, we ALL are agnostic, to a certain degree, because none of us truly KNOWS. If you think you know, then you’re just being cocky, on either side of this argument.

Is it possible that the afterlife exists for those who are faithful, but not for those who aren’t? What control do we have over all this?

]]> By: Caroline http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-287288 Caroline Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:40:32 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-287288 To address the question of why the faithful in the afterlife still take medications and treat illnesses, if they expect to see a pleasant afterlife: There are many people who live in the hope of God, they believe in God, but also acknowledge that they do not actually KNOW if there is a God, and that's why they call it FAITH in God, not necessarily factual concrete KNOWLEDGE of God. If you think about it, we ALL are agnostic, to a certain degree, because none of us truly KNOWS. If you think you know, then you're just being cocky. Is it possible that the afterlife exists for those who are faithful, but not for those who aren't? What control do we have over all this? To address the question of why the faithful in the afterlife still take medications and treat illnesses, if they expect to see a pleasant afterlife: There are many people who live in the hope of God, they believe in God, but also acknowledge that they do not actually KNOW if there is a God, and that’s why they call it FAITH in God, not necessarily factual concrete KNOWLEDGE of God. If you think about it, we ALL are agnostic, to a certain degree, because none of us truly KNOWS. If you think you know, then you’re just being cocky.

Is it possible that the afterlife exists for those who are faithful, but not for those who aren’t? What control do we have over all this?

]]> By: links for 2009-01-07 | Yostivanich.com http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-258345 links for 2009-01-07 | Yostivanich.com Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:04:39 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-258345 [...] Living for the Afterlife | Friendly Atheist by Hemant Mehta "People often ask, “If there is no afterlife, what is the purpose of this life?” — But wouldn’t it make more sense to ask, “If there is an afterlife, what is the purpose of this life?” " Indeed. (tags: atheism religion afterlife) [...] [...] Living for the Afterlife | Friendly Atheist by Hemant Mehta "People often ask, “If there is no afterlife, what is the purpose of this life?” — But wouldn’t it make more sense to ask, “If there is an afterlife, what is the purpose of this life?” " Indeed. (tags: atheism religion afterlife) [...]

]]> By: Allytude http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-257471 Allytude Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:57:43 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-257471 .. and what happens AFTER the afterlife? .. and what happens AFTER the afterlife?

]]> By: blackskeptic http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-257409 blackskeptic Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:11:20 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-257409 To save as many souls as possible for the afterlife. To save as many souls as possible for the afterlife.

]]> By: Jeff http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-257327 Jeff Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:03:19 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-257327 The purpose of this life (if there is an afterlife of heaven or hell) is two-fold. 1. To grovel and worship the supreme "decider" in hopes of being selected to receive the "gift" of being brought into His presence and spend eternity in utopian bliss. All those not selected spend eternity in agony separated from His presence. 2. To likewise grovel and worship on a lesser scale our earthly masters (employers and political figures) to stabilize and perpetuate the existing power system. The purpose of this life (if there is an afterlife of heaven or hell) is two-fold.

1. To grovel and worship the supreme “decider” in hopes of being selected to receive the “gift” of being brought into His presence and spend eternity in utopian bliss. All those not selected spend eternity in agony separated from His presence.

2. To likewise grovel and worship on a lesser scale our earthly masters (employers and political figures) to stabilize and perpetuate the existing power system.

]]> By: vjack http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-257325 vjack Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:55:26 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-257325 That's easy. The purpose of this life is simply to earn enough magic Jesus points to do well in the next life and rub in the face of everyone else. That’s easy. The purpose of this life is simply to earn enough magic Jesus points to do well in the next life and rub in the face of everyone else.

]]> By: hoverFrog http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-257311 hoverFrog Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:06:59 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-257311 We are free to create a purpose for our own lives. That is true whether a person is religious or not. How you choose to factor in the idea of an afterlife is similarly up to you. Personally I find the idea of an afterlife unnecessary, unnatural and unsettling so I've chosen to dispense with the idea altogether. We are free to create a purpose for our own lives. That is true whether a person is religious or not. How you choose to factor in the idea of an afterlife is similarly up to you. Personally I find the idea of an afterlife unnecessary, unnatural and unsettling so I’ve chosen to dispense with the idea altogether.

]]> By: Chris Bradley http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2009/01/03/living-for-the-afterlife/#comment-257308 Chris Bradley Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:45:04 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/?p=7399#comment-257308 It's one of my more vexing discussions to have with religious folks. That somehow the existence of a god would obviate the question of the meaning of life. They're "living for god" or whatever - but what does their god want from their life? <I>Why</i> did their god see fit to create life in this fashion? Saying that they're living their life for their god begs the question of what their god gets out of the arrangement. I mean, there's a lot there to beg! Such as . . . why would a being that is above us, intellectually, as we are above earthworms seem to love us so much? It makes no sense. To an omniscient god, we're not terribly sentient and certainly not interesting. Are we pets, beloved in the same way that people like fish in their tanks? Are we experiments? Art? They live for their god but other than following a bunch of rules - the better ones which we all follow regardless of religion - what does it <I>mean</i>? I've never got a good answer. Oh, well. It’s one of my more vexing discussions to have with religious folks. That somehow the existence of a god would obviate the question of the meaning of life. They’re “living for god” or whatever – but what does their god want from their life? Why did their god see fit to create life in this fashion? Saying that they’re living their life for their god begs the question of what their god gets out of the arrangement.

I mean, there’s a lot there to beg! Such as . . . why would a being that is above us, intellectually, as we are above earthworms seem to love us so much? It makes no sense. To an omniscient god, we’re not terribly sentient and certainly not interesting. Are we pets, beloved in the same way that people like fish in their tanks? Are we experiments? Art? They live for their god but other than following a bunch of rules – the better ones which we all follow regardless of religion – what does it mean?

I’ve never got a good answer. Oh, well.

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