What if you died and found out there was heaven and hell ?

[Lychee]

Originally Posted by nosussbeliefs

I think modern understanding of physics and the understanding of how consciousness works, the ego, the search for contentment is enough for me to draw a conclusion on how the universe operates.

Isnt it interesting that the more we have evolved in intelligence the more everything points to science?

That's right I have consiously not chosen a belief system to "maximise my contentment level" If you knew how understood how belief worked you probably wouldnt be a slave to it.

Why dont you analyse things from a scientific stand point? See why you desire there to be a heaven, or God. It provides you with security, hope, love....All thoughts that ultimately create sensations in the brain that provide you contentment. It comes down to a physical level. An ego that needs to be satisified, What is life without contentment?

You care more about whether someone in your family dies then some starving kid in africa because you are more attached to your family member. That family member provides you more contentment(physical reaction in the brain) then some kid in africa.

Modern understanding of physics, mathematics, and philosophy also was assumed to draw accurate conclusions about phenomena. But they were not all correct.

Religion and science do not contradict each other.

You are very concerned with freedom and you think that holding yourself to a particular belief system is enslavement. That's fine. But it's just like saying someone can deny that they can mess around with many people without any discretion and think that they will not risk contracting any diseases. They may believe that they have nothing to worry about to "maximize their contentment level." But if the belief system of prudence protects someone from the risk of contracting such disease where the former does not, whose belief system is more aligned with reality? Can anyone reasonably say that the former is logical?

What IS life? What is the point of life? Could you explain that using science? Everything in life has a purpose. A keyboard as a purpose. A car has a purpose. A mother has a purpose. Therefore, what is our purpose? To just survive? Science cannot answer that question. It only uses Darwinism and evolution to explain the process of human development, and not the purpose behind it.

[Namaste]

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

Faith is a device of self delusion. Its only purpose is to trick people who are afraid. It plays on the desires of the mind and creates a reality too good to ignore.

The same can be said about the self-actualisation/PD/LoA movement. It all depends on what you do with the information you are presented with.

[Nelson]

Hey there - just to let you know the Bible doesn't just say "believe and recieve". There's even an objective method of looking past that, without God being all-powerful.

The truth is that the bible says that you must believe in Jesus. This is not soelyl for the sake of belief, it is for us to become humbled and recognize the need for grace. In almost all relgions, esspecially pre-modern religions, there is a need for grace in the afterlife. Ancient egyptians needed charms and spells cats upon them so they could be spared from judgement. So the point of Jesus is to recognize that you are, at this point, imperfect and in need of slavation. It is to help you realize that you must improve.

The second part of the truth is dedication to improvement. While you might never become perfect in your life on Earth, the goal is to slowly but surely, follow the teachings of God so that the world you live in will become a better place. If we truthfulyl look at the teachings of the Bible then we would see the design for utopia. Imagine if all people were kind and generous. Imagine if there was no murder or rape. This is God's design for the "New Jerusalem" (which is "heaven").

However, you will not be allowed to enter Heaven if you have not attempted these. Christainity is about making the effort to make the world better. It's about releasing yoour selfishness and ego so that you may live in a better world. All who have recognized their need for grace (have realized that they have done immoral deeds) and have dedicated themselves to pursuing good character will enter heaven.

So please, do not just use Christianity as an insurance policy. It won't work and I don't want you to end up in hell.

If you truly wish to find God, but you have great doubts then here is my advice to you: Go directly against the bible's teaching. Be completely selfish, use people, fulfill all your earthly desires as quickly as possible through any method that you can get away with. You will soon see the fault in that way of thinking. You will find your existence will become hollow, your friends will no longer love you but instead they will fear you, you will feel no remorse for doing evil, you will begin to hate those around you who do good and you will obsess over petty things such as revenge. I guarantee it will turn you around quicker than anything I have said here today.

[Ree]

From The Tao:

He who knows when he has got enough is rich,
And he who adheres assiduously to the path of Tao is a man of steady purpose.
He who stays where he has found his true home endures long,
And he who dies but perishes not enjoys real longevity.

And I believe the above

[Ijin Kaion]

if is if.

but here we go.

would you rather go to heaven or hell?

my answer:

i`d rather not go to heaven to avoid the cold draft under my nuts and go to hell instead, to sit on satan`s throne with a nice fire going.

[The David]

There's a little axiom I like to propose in debates such as these: Faith is the suspension of discernment, so that a foolish idea may seem not only plausible, but divinely inscribed and therefore not to be questioned. Faith is logic, and faith is reason--very selective logic and reason.

Now, faith can also mean hope, and trust. But blind faith, and/or fundamentalism, generally fall into the first category.

[JoeBlogs]

I don't "believe" in God, because there is no evidence leading me to do so. However, if there is a heaven and a hell then I still think I would go to heaven because I am a good person and if God exists, and God is perfect, then he should be reasonable enough to understand why I didn't blindly believe.

I think that religion is wrong to say "if you don't believe in God, you don't go to heaven". Why would God make this the case? Why would God punish a good person who likes to think things through logically and form opinions based on evidence rather than based on what he has been told by a book and a priest?

If God is so desperate for me to believe in him, and I'm not sure why he apparently is, then he should make available some evidence which suggests to my scientific brain that he might exist. Otherwise, when I have a mass of evidence from one side (science) and zero evidence from the other side (religion) why should I "believe" in God?

I'm not saying that I'm testing God and he should prove his existence as if he's on trial, but I am saying that you can't hide away in a cupboard all of your life and then come out when you're old and shout at people for not knowing you were definitely in there.

Correction - you can't hide away in a cupboard for most of your life, come out briefly, speak to a few people who have no way of proving you visited....then get get back out again and shout at their great-great-great-great....-grandchildren for thinking that maybe the cupboard is just an empty cupboard.

God, if he exists, should be perfect, he should be logical, he should be reasonable and therefore I see no reason why he would make the flawed arguments that the church and some religious people make in his name....blindly believe, don't question that believe, or burn in hell.

It's primitive and closed-minded.