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I guess if God was ruthless and sadistic the smart thing to do would be on his side. It shows it is pure fear which keeps you believing. So much for Jesus being the epitome of good then.
Thankfully I don't believe that to be the case.
Yes, thankfully. So many do, both Christian and Muslim. Fear is the root of evil.
The Gods of Moses and Muhammad are fabrications. They both have hirrible, murderous, racist, jealous vengeful Gods with oppressive laws. Jesus came to say that all you need to do is love God, and he was killed because of all the messed up doctrines making it a capital crime to teach anything other that their own twisted and evil versions of God. He was on a suicide mission to put right who God REALLY is and reveal the secrets of everything.
I like that phrase, 'everything is breath.' Isn't it funny how it was the ancient Jews who had the closest thing to non-belief in the afterlife?
It is heh heh! While the Egyptians were obsessed with the afterlife, and while Gilgamesh set out on his quest to find eternal life - the Israelites rejected such notions, and embraced their humanity. One could say it is reflected in the Garden of Eden story in which Wisdom is coveted more than eternal Life, and that's exactly what the humans chose. Of course it's just a story, but I've always liked it's implications when seen in that light.
That phrase ("merest breath" - better than the usual "vanity of vanities") is a great one - as is the entire little book it's from. It's so pessimistic (just ignore the later editor's later pious addition at the end) that it's amazing it ever made it into the canon of scripture. I still scratch my head over it. I mean - a book that tells everyone that virtually everything is useless because of life's fleeting nature? That nothing is permanent, so why bother? NO doubt, the editor's later gloss may be why it was eventually included.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,862,601 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whoppers
It is heh heh! While the Egyptians were obsessed with the afterlife, and while Gilgamesh set out on his quest to find eternal life - the Israelites rejected such notions, and embraced their humanity. One could say it is reflected in the Garden of Eden story in which Wisdom is coveted more than eternal Life, and that's exactly what the humans chose. Of course it's just a story, but I've always liked it's implications when seen in that light.
That phrase ("merest breath" - better than the usual "vanity of vanities") is a great one - as is the entire little book it's from. It's so pessimistic (just ignore the later editor's later pious addition at the end) that it's amazing it ever made it into the canon of scripture. I still scratch my head over it. I mean - a book that tells everyone that virtually everything is useless because of life's fleeting nature? That nothing is permanent, so why bother? NO doubt, the editor's later gloss may be why it was eventually included.
Exactly. I do like Ecclesiastes...while the Psalms have their value, I find half of them seem to be saying the same thing, it gets repetitive.
Weirdly enough, I think the ancient Jewish beliefs on the afterlife actually make me think they were closer to the truth...that the afterlife may be on a renewed earth after we are resurrected in new bodies. This was only partially revealed later, like in Isaiah.
You enjoy pain? For yourself or for others? It didn't seem apparent in your statement.
You know I responded to that post but for something else he said but I noticed this too, I assumed he was being sarcastic so I left it alone but I wondered about it also, I thought......but we'll see, maybe I was wrong!
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,862,601 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heartsong
Yes, thankfully. So many do, both Christian and Muslim. Fear is the root of evil.
It's more true than you can imagine...
The other night a cockroach invaded by bedroom. I was terrified it would crawl on me. But why? It wouldn't harm me. Was it disease? No, the real reason was it simply LOOKED scary. That's right, it was an irrational fear. I remember becoming angry that every time I tried to hit it it would run away into some crevice where I couldn't reach it. Then I'd be frustrated because I'd fear when I was sleeping it might crawl onto me or into my mouth. All ridiculous, paranoid thoughts. Btw for any insect lovers you'll be glad to know I gave up and the cockroach must've gone somewhere else.
Now to be frank I still might kill cockroaches, but it taught me a valuable lesson. I despised the cockcroach because I feared it, but for no reason. The same way a religious person might hate a gay who might corrupt him. This is one type of hatred, the fear that leads to evil. I think all hatred ultimately expresses frustration, which is a fear of not being able to be totally yourself.
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