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This belief is the best example of God Of The Gaps. If your life is so unhappy and meaningless, then don't worry because God is going to fix everything.
King Tut syndrome.
I've always sort of thought the idea of Eternity was kind of horrible. Even if it was something good. Does it just keep getting better and better? What an insane thought.
When I first began to contemplate the concept of eternity as a kid, I remember feeling scared. It kind of blew my mind. Remember what eternity really means: it's not just a "long time" it's forever. After 100 trillion years, you're no closer to the "end" because there is no end. Even a trillion trillion years is still nothing compared to eternity.
Even if it was with someone I loved I still think I'd eventually go insane. And I wouldn't even be able to take extreme measures (suicide) to escape. It'd be a sort of ultimate prison. Even people serving life sentences in prison know they will only be there for 50 years or so, then it's over.
As I've mentioned in other threads, eternal life seems like one of the worst things I can possibly imagine. I mean what would someone do for eternity? [Assuming eternity exists -which, as finite beings- is impossible for us to even comprehend, much less know if it exists.]
When I was younger, contemplating my own mortality made me somewhat depressed. But now that I'm in my mid-40s, the prospect of ceasing to exist no bothers me. In fact, I take some solace in knowing that all this -my subjective experience- will be over.
To live forever seems absolutely awful to me. The prospect robs life of any and all meaning.
That's why I prefer the idea of reincarnation. Our souls are immortal, our bodies are not, and once we manage to remember our incarnations, it's all fun. I wanna be a beach babe, a science major, a gymntast, a writer, sure it's all good. The only reason our life sux is cuz we can't remember we're already immortal, and we take this life seriously.
immortality is my goal, I intend to be "last man standing" and outlive everyone else, imagine not having to put up with everyone else's incessant chatter and stupid conversations! now that would be bliss.
When I first began to contemplate the concept of eternity as a kid, I remember feeling scared. It kind of blew my mind. Remember what eternity really means: it's not just a "long time" it's forever. After 100 trillion years, you're no closer to the "end" because there is no end. Even a trillion trillion years is still nothing compared to eternity.
Even if it was with someone I loved I still think I'd eventually go insane. And I wouldn't even be able to take extreme measures (suicide) to escape. It'd be a sort of ultimate prison. Even people serving life sentences in prison know they will only be there for 50 years or so, then it's over.
You have realized something, as a kid, that a lot of adults never get to understand
Uhhh, you know things you realize as a kid are typically stupid, right? Half baked, out of context, and lacking the right information.
Eternity doesn't mean forever. It means timeless. As in, an eternity in hell seems like forever, but it might be only until you repent or something. Likewise, I'm pretty sure there's an escape clause to spending eternity praising God. But really the biggest one, is that most people don't think of heaven past that age, and hear some canned nonsense about fluffy white clouds or harps.
Heaven is like you are. You wouldn't put anything in it that you wouldn't like. Personally I'd just make heaven accessible on earth, and want to hang around on a better earth. Sort of a floating country you can visit or leave, and universe populated with alien life.
Uhhh, you know things you realize as a kid are typically stupid, right? Half baked, out of context, and lacking the right information.
Eternity doesn't mean forever. It means timeless. As in, an eternity in hell seems like forever, but it might be only until you repent or something. Likewise, I'm pretty sure there's an escape clause to spending eternity praising God. But really the biggest one, is that most people don't think of heaven past that age, and hear some canned nonsense about fluffy white clouds or harps.
Heaven is like you are. You wouldn't put anything in it that you wouldn't like. Personally I'd just make heaven accessible on earth, and want to hang around on a better earth. Sort of a floating country you can visit or leave, and universe populated with alien life.
Well, nobody can know anything about that for sure. But the "holy books" that we are supposed to trust on such matters, say just the opposite: there is no escape clause to either heaven or hell.
This isn't necessarily true. There WAS no escape from Hell, but in the creed we have "he descended to Hell". What was he doing there? The Harrowing of Hell. Read wiki on this. Basically, there is now an escape path. Then recommended movie time. Goto netflix and rent Astral City.
Holy books are not written by God. They are a collection of the thoughts of ancient people, and are very often taken out of context.
Most of us have the ability to think for ourselves, decide what is and isn't true about what we read. It isn't in the Bible is a crappy substitute for free thought.
Uhhh, you know things you realize as a kid are typically stupid, right? Half baked, out of context, and lacking the right information.
Eternity doesn't mean forever. It means timeless. As in, an eternity in hell seems like forever, but it might be only until you repent or something. Likewise, I'm pretty sure there's an escape clause to spending eternity praising God. But really the biggest one, is that most people don't think of heaven past that age, and hear some canned nonsense about fluffy white clouds or harps.
Heaven is like you are. You wouldn't put anything in it that you wouldn't like. Personally I'd just make heaven accessible on earth, and want to hang around on a better earth. Sort of a floating country you can visit or leave, and universe populated with alien life.
Ah, the endless possibilities of human imagination.
I'd say heaven has 73 virgins, not just 72. My religion should now be more popular than Islam. For guys at least.
Ah, the endless possibilities of human imagination.
I'd say heaven has 73 virgins, not just 72. My religion should now be more popular than Islam. For guys at least.
Yeah, you were using your imagination as a child to figure out what "eternity" would be:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freak80
When I first began to contemplate the concept of eternity as a kid, I remember feeling scared. It kind of blew my mind. Remember what eternity really means: it's not just a "long time" it's forever. After 100 trillion years, you're no closer to the "end" because there is no end. Even a trillion trillion years is still nothing compared to eternity.
Even if it was with someone I loved I still think I'd eventually go insane. And I wouldn't even be able to take extreme measures (suicide) to escape. It'd be a sort of ultimate prison. Even people serving life sentences in prison know they will only be there for 50 years or so, then it's over.
I can use my imagination about it, too. Maybe eternity allows us to spend some time enjoying life in different ways than we can possibly conceive right now, maybe exploring and learning, maybe creating, meeting new people, forming new relationships, etc. And then, if and when we tire of that process, or mature beyond it, or whatever, eternity becomes more like the Hindu concept (if I'm understanding it correctly) where you simply meld back into the Whole and no longer have an individual consciousness. Which is sort of an atheistic view, I guess, just takes a while to get there.
Who knows? Any or none of the imagined possibilities (including the atheistic one) could be true. In the meantime, using our imaginations about it can be an enjoyable experience (unless you're tied to how you imagined it as a kid ... that would be unpleasant to imagine.)
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