Quote:
Originally Posted by Soup Nazi
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My mother had deep faith in God, true faith. She survived three suicides: my dad and my two brothers. Yet she never lost faith that she would be reunited with them in the hereafter. I wish I had that kind of belief as it would make life (and death!) so much easier.
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There we go. The no atheists in the foxhole theory which is also supposed to mean that as we age and get closer to death we are more likely to become believers. The power of religion is the offer of "salvation" meaning eternal life. Interesting no one is worried about why we did not exist for the eternity before our birth. We are only concerned about the future and being able to live in "heaven." No wonder so many have "faith" and are willing to suspend rational beliefs in exchange for the promise of eternal life. It all needs to be based on faith. If we did not have such a huge inducement to believe, there is no way you could pass off this idea to even a child.
At one time heaven was supposed to be on Mt Olympus. Then it moved up above the clouds, where we are to enter the pearly gates, and play harps with our friends and relatives....well except for those God rejected and will torment for eternity. Of course, beyond the clouds no longer works. We need to see heaven as some imaginary place beyond reality. When there is no reality, it all comes down to believing what you want to believe. I am just concerned that history has show that believing what you want to believe and following others results in horrible consequences on an ongoing basis. The consequences seem no less horrible now than when we sacrificed animals or other humans to please the gods.