Quote from: DoomRulz on May 26, 2011, 12:30:46 AMThat boils down to simple convenience I think. Based on what is known of God, I'd rather go into an afterlife and have fun rather than face judgement.
Not saying that God exists, but if he did, you'd be facing judgement one way or another. And, depending on which way the scales dip, you could either get rewarded with fun or with misery. Of course, there are a few sticking points one might keep in mind.
First, the Bible says in many parts that if you displease God you'll be tormented in Hell for all eternity. Another part of that same Bible also says that since Jesus had died for your sins, you've been pardoned. Secondly, as many times as the Bible has been translated into many languages and edited(!), one cannot be too sure to know what God is really all about and what pleases him and what pisses him off. After all, the Abrahamic god is worshiped differently by the Jews, Christians, and the Muslims. And, to add more to the confusion, there are various sects within each of those religions that do things differently from each other. One (or more) of these groups is (are) bound to f**k up and get roasted. (Or will they be forgiven as that one part of the Bible says? Too bad that part isn't in the Pentateuch or Koran. But then, Moses and Muhammad were given instructions on how to behave to avoid eternal punishment; albeit in different books.)
One could dismiss all this and say that that if they live decent and moral lives, they'll make it into Paradise. But, disregarding the Word of God is a big no-no. There are sections of the Bible that tell about people who lived moral and decent lives but did not accept Jesus and Bad Things had happened to them. So, just doing your own thing and worshiping God in your own way is not good, either.
To add even more to the confusion, there isn't any more evidence pointing to Yahweh (or Allah) as there are to other Gods. Sure, Yahweh said that we should have no other gods before him, for he is a jealous god [his words!], but that doesn't mean that other gods do not exist. There is mention of a
Divine Council in the Bible, over which Yahweh presides. (Be careful not to worship
Asherah. Yahweh would have
even more reason to be jealous as she was once his wife!) Even though there are hints of this still in the Bible, they are just holdovers from the days when Judaism was polytheistic. And then, we have other pantheons to consider. Who knows? Maybe it's been Zeus all along who's been zapping Yahweh's churches with lightning?
Even if the heavens weren't that crowded, and there is only one god up there, most of what's been credited to him has been explained by science and reason. Not everything, mind you, but a lot of it. Science doesn't pretend to know all the answers (like some religions do), but it doesn't take something abstract that can't be verified in some way and plug the holes with it. Sure, some like to ask, "What if it's God?". Great. I would like very much to see if a god was responsible for that. Not something inconclusive that could be attributed to anything, but something that actually points to a being that has the attributes that matches the definition of what God is. The hard part is, as much as people think they know about God, they really don't know that much after all. "God works is mysterious ways!" is just someone's way of saying, "I don't know how/why/when/where/what, but I just
know it's God!" If they don't know how he works, what he looks like, sounds like, smells like, tastes like, feels like; they can't know for sure it's God.
I believe that I have only one life to live, and that it is very special, and that I am going to enjoy it as much as I can for as long as I can. I am going to live it as if I am not getting a second chance here or someplace else and not worry about someplace that
might exist and that I
might be invited to if I follow the rules
whatever they may be...
