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"Just to clear up some mess...."

*In no way am I trying to convert anyone, so Goatboy, stay away :D*

I am fine with these beliefs. I believe what I want, you believe what you want. The thing is, none of us will know until we're dead, and if God does not exist, we probably won't know even then.

I want to believe I am here for a reason. Not because two single celled organisms created in the forming of the Earth, mated and evolved.

*To keep Goatboy happy, I'm not saying this scientific explanation is impossible*

I also want to believe there's something for me when I die. If there is not, what is the point in living. It's pretty hard to reason with, but I've come to the conclusion: If there is no God, no afterlife, we will have faded into oblivion. We won't have our memories or our thoughts. We will not exist. So what is the point in living life? We will never remember it. If we are in the middle of something when we die, we won't even have eternity to THINK about it. So, why don't we all just kill ourselves.

You could say - live life while it lasts, or have fun before you die, but to what end. nothingness. We won't be able to reflect on the good or bad times. we won't remember what fun we've ever had. So fun is something we will remember till we die, and then have no memory of. As you get nearer Old age, you will think about it more. try to live life to its fullest before you die, have a good time. But it will be pointless. You wont remember yourself. you won't BE.

*Goaty, I suggest you relieve your anger before reading any further*

I there was, but some fluke or another, to be a God, life would be worth living. All the good times you would remember, have your achievements locked up inside you. Your love for family and friends would carry on. Even without body, YOU as a person, would have your personality and your thoughts to accompany you into heaven. You would know your life contributed to the human race, and that you were there because someone put you there, not because of a scientific fluke.

I don't know what exactly heaven would be like (well duh!). I don't know if you would be able to watch the Earthly world carry on. I don't know if you could interact with other dead people.

there are two main views, which can be tailored to suit you:

1) That heaven is a physical place. you interact with things, people, objects. It is a world like Earth, where you have a body, sight, taste etc. you can hold things, kiss make love etc.

2) heaven id the ‘Third Place’ :D It is a spiritual being. you have your soul, you thoughts your memories. More like a state of existence than a place. You have no body, you cannot hold things. But you are still ‘alive’

That is the main Christian religion.

There are other beliefs, like reincarnation. I do not like this theory, as it is the same as my original viewpoint - you cease to exist, have no memory of a previous life. So I could be a person’s 8th generation body, and have no recollection of my previous selves.

There is the belief of ghosts. you become a spirit when you die, to haunt other people, or leave them alone. you are still your own person. You have memories and thoughts.

Then there is my favourite, and appropriate to Special Reserve, as its about gaming. i heard this on the net once, and never forgot it: we are really omnipotent beings in a video game. To pass the time these beings step into a virtual reality Earth, have their memories temporarily wiped, and play ’life’ for a few years, to pass their everlasting lives. If this were true, when leaving the simulation, I would have a different body, but the same memories, thoughts.

If you think about it this way, science is the only let-down theory (beside reincarnation). It means you just get deleted from time and space. Depressing eh? The others give you at least some hope for the afterlife - at least you will have memories.

*I was trying to be unbiased Goatboy and just give the theories*

*Raises medieval shield*
“Let me have it Goatboy”

Hope you find this interesting, and for my sake, don’t convert to Christianity, or Goaty WILL kill me :D

Goatboy wrote:

The easiest
> way to show this independant but similar thought notion is with internet
> porn.
However deranged or bizarre your fetish is, out there somewhere I promise
> you that somebody else has the same thing and there's a
> website.



Obviously speaking from great experience and research there Goaty!
;-)

I always liked the world of Greek mythology... They said that when you die you descend to the enormous desert. And you have to spend years walking across it until you finally reach the underworld.

However, just before you reach it you come across the river Lethe. All of the foolish people quench their thirst at the river because they've been walking in the arid conditions for so long, but those that realise thirst is unimportant in the greater scheme of the afterlife do not. Those that drink the water loose all of their memories and hence if they are reincarnated they have no memory of who they once were, while those that didn't drink keep their memories.

So just remember that if you ever reach the river, don't drink!

Am I the only one happy to believe that when your life's over, that's it?

So what if you won't rememer, you'll be dead.

I live for now, when I'm alive, not to create memories for a Utopia that I don't believe I'll go to when I die.

I don't believe there is a purpose in life, we're created by chemical reactions and stuff. I'm comfortable with that, so it is my truth.

Now is the time.

I have a mate like that.
And he's as clever as an amoeba too.

Just to be really pedantic, I'll point out to Darkness that single celled organisms don't mate. They divide.


Just think, all bacteria ever do is eat and reproduce. Lucky gits...

That's exactly my point.

Christian God is just as valid as Zeus, Ganesh, Krishna, Khali, Buddha, Allah etc.
Romans had hundreds of gods, as did The Greeks.
They were the dominant religious force for a long time.
But what now?
Zeus, Apollo, Dionysis etc are reduced to names for pets.

You create a deity to explain the things you do not understand and to provide you with a moral guideline and a set of actions/reactions that remove the burden of self-responsibility.
People say "Ah but why do so many cultures have the same idea then, eh? That proves it"
No, that proves that people are capable of similar thought whilst being seperated by continents.

The Aztecs and Egyptians both built pyramids, yet the distances were uncoverable back then.
So how is this possible?
Aliens?
God?
Atlantis?

Or is it more likely that someone thought "Well, we need a place of worship. Let's build it pointy to channel the energy upwards!" in two locations?

The easiest way to show this independant but similar thought notion is with internet porn.
However deranged or bizarre your fetish is, out there somewhere I promise you that somebody else has the same thing and there's a website.

Individuality is not as unique as you may think, hence similar ideas about religion and the like all over the world.
Just because 2 people believe the same thing, doesn't make it so.

And this is just my opinion on what I think on what works for me.
I might be wrong, I don't know for sure.

Goatboy wrote:
> You create your own worlds and gods.

I bet the Ancient Romans never thought their religion would die out, but it did. Perhaps we are guilty of the same naivity.

Hello.

Science and religion are wrong.
We are all a universal experience, energy condensed to a slow vibration with the ability to alter our reality through force of will alone.
Your perception of reality is just that, a perception.

You create your own worlds and gods.

That's my view on all this.
Not saying I'm right, but I know I'm right for me.
And that's all I care about, what works for me.

Ant wrote:

Completely agree Dan, perhaps you should come Christian Youth Group with me and Rich on monday nights.

Sounds like fun ;)

Completely agree Dan, perhaps you should come Christian Youth Group with me and Rich on monday nights.

*Darkness runs away*

Ah well, maybe next time. {:)