Does anybody really believe this about the "afterlife?"

[The Brandon Five]

about 31 percent of the world claims to be christian
23 percent muslim
16 percent unaffiliated
15 percent hindu
6 percent folk religions

Do people really think that believers of their religion will be whisked away to some fairyland of eternal joy while most of the people on earth will be whisked away to some burning pit of eternal suffering upon death?

After your death you will be what you were before your birth.

This most likely reflects what people are culturally, not that they are strict adherents of those faiths.

 

[james87654]

This most likely reflects what people are culturally, not that they are strict adherents of those faiths.

i agree.....but how is that relevant to the original question......since the cultural ones are probably agnostic or atheist or just don't care and would meet the same fate of someone with a different religion

 

[SalemPats]

The only way to get to heaven is to be born to the right faith and believe in christ. You could be a great person and worthy of getting into heaven, but if you don't believe you will be rejected. In fact if you commit a bad act, but then repent, you are probably in heaven.

But the problem with heaven is that it's overpopulated. We're talking thousands of years, we currently have 7 Billion people. I was reading online and it says worldwide there are 55,000 people that die every year. If lets say 10% make it in, that's a lot of people.

 

[The Brandon Five]

i agree.....but how is that relevant to the original question......since the cultural ones are probably agnostic or atheist or just don't care and would meet the same fate of someone with a different religion

The original question was serious? Sorry, it seems like "snark". If you would like to have a serious discussion about the philosophy of religion, what can be known and what cannot then I am game.

 

[The Brandon Five]

on a serious note.....im a non believer even though i was raised Christian-protestant....technically, i suppose i am a strong agnostic.....i dont think its possible to know with certainty what happens after one dies and i dont even think its possible to know with certainty much of anything in life.....i think the woman who claimed to be my mother, was in fact my mother, but i cant be 100% certain....

Well, things like who your mother is can actually be determined. That's really the kind of unanswerable question I am alluding to.

i find the idea that an all loving all powerful entity created all of us in his own likeness and then gave us "free will" to see who will follow his word and worship him, and then banish the nonbelievers to eternal damnation to be patently absurd

Well, I think your characterization is a little off. If God created a beings who by design loved Him, would that actually be love? The point of free will is that it is required to for actual love.

i think that intelligent design is essentially a cop out because religious leaders realize that fighting science is a losing battle, so they have decided to co-opt some of it

just my opinion

ID didn't come from religious leaders. It came from religious scientists.

Watch this talk by an Oxford Professor of Mathematics for a good explanation:

http://johnlennox.org/jresources/do-the-laws-of-physics-make-god-unnecessary/

 

[james87654]

Well, things like who your mother is can actually be determined. That's really the kind of unanswerable question I am alluding to.



Well, I think your characterization is a little off. If God created a beings who by design loved Him, would that actually be love? The point of free will is that it is required to for actual love.



ID didn't come from religious leaders. It came from religious scientists.

Watch this talk by an Oxford Professor of Mathematics for a good explanation:

http://johnlennox.org/jresources/do-the-laws-of-physics-make-god-unnecessary/

1. do you take the bible literally ?
2. how old do you think the universe is?
3. do you believe in evolution? (specifically ape to human evolution)
4 do you believe that the overwhelming majority of people who have died are in hell?

 

[The Brandon Five]

1. do you take the bible literally ?

Yes and no.

2. how old do you think the universe is?

About 6 billion years.

3. do you believe in evolution? (specifically ape to human evolution)

The process of evolution can be and has been observed. I do not believe that process can explain the complexity of all life.

4 do you believe that the overwhelming majority of people who have died are in hell?

No, not yet. I believe that the majority of people who have died will likely spend eternity separated from God (as they apparently wished).

 

[james87654]

Yes and no.


About 6 billion years.


The process of evolution can be and has been observed. I do not believe that process can explain the complexity of all life.


No, not yet. I believe that the majority of people who have died will likely spend eternity separated from God (as they apparently wished).

what do you mean by yes and no

 

[The Brandon Five]

what do you mean by yes and no

I don't take individual passages literally outside of their context, so you won't see me stoning any witches.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

B5, did you pick 6 billion years based on some specific theory? Serious question. The usual number is somewhere around 14 billion years for the universe, but I don't know whether you think that this number is wrong or were just expressing "the length of time the science guys say not the religion guys." That said, there might be some science guys who say 6 billion, which is why I ask.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

To James, on the main point - I don't believe in life after death at present. I hope and occasionally pray it's there, and when I pray that, I pray I'll be acceptable. The religion I was raised in says there's a life to come, but does not have heaven and hell like Christianity. Basically you dwell with God. If you're really bad, you might have to detour to just dead for up to a year. We don't know what the life to come is like specifically.

I think I am likely to believe in it more strongly as I come closer to death.

It's also the case that my brain has processed enough input leading me to believe that hair shouldn't grow in women's pits and on their legs that they're not sexy to me unless those areas appear not to have any ability to grow hair. ::shrug::

PFnV

 

[RI Patriots fan]

To James, on the main point - I don't believe in life after death at present. I hope and occasionally pray it's there, and when I pray that, I pray I'll be acceptable. The religion I was raised in says there's a life to come, but does not have heaven and hell like Christianity. Basically you dwell with God. If you're really bad, you might have to detour to just dead for up to a year. We don't know what the life to come is like specifically.

I think I am likely to believe in it more strongly as I come closer to death.

It's also the case that my brain has processed enough input leading me to believe that hair shouldn't grow in women's pits and on their legs that they're not sexy to me unless those areas appear not to have any ability to grow hair. ::shrug::

PFnV

What would you believe if you knew that you had 24 hours to live?

 

[The Brandon Five]

B5, did you pick 6 billion years based on some specific theory? Serious question. The usual number is somewhere around 14 billion years for the universe, but I don't know whether you think that this number is wrong or were just expressing "the length of time the science guys say not the religion guys." That said, there might be some science guys who say 6 billion, which is why I ask.

Because it is getting pretty drafty upstairs. Yeah 14 billion.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

What would you believe if you knew that you had 24 hours to live?

I think, as compared to the present, observing my beliefs over time as I went from youth to middle age and extrapolating from the certainty of death, that in the scenario you describe I am very likely to believe in an afterlife. I do not think I will be closer, by any objective measure, to knowing whether that belief is valid. That is also the case now as compared with previous periods of my life.

PFnV

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Because it is getting pretty drafty upstairs. Yeah 14 billion.

Okay as I said wasn't calling you out, just thought there might be an eddy of "young-old universe" theory. 14 billion. Damn that's a long time. That's longer than all the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies put together. Doesn't seem it, but it is...

 

[RI Patriots fan]

I think, as compared to the present, observing my beliefs over time as I went from youth to middle age and extrapolating from the certainty of death, that in the scenario you describe I am very likely to believe in an afterlife. I do not think I will be closer, by any objective measure, to knowing whether that belief is valid. That is also the case now as compared with previous periods of my life.

PFnV

Fair enough......so how will you feel facing this aftelife? Knowing that you will die in 24 hours and that there is an aftelife, how will this affect that last 24 hours of your life and how will you feel about your prosepcts in the afterlife?

 

[PatsFanInVa]

RIP, I think I'll be accepting of it, with a great dash of fear, if I'm lucidly consciously focusing on it.
For the sake of your question, it would be handy to have a greater range to choose from among whom I've personally known in that position. Of those even close to knowing they're within the 24-hour window, my observation has been of those who are significantly compromised either by their disease or by the drugs meant to keep them relatively comfortable.

I think it's much more important to think about what one adds to - or subtracts from - the lives of others while one is still alive, than to dwell on one's final 24 hours, 1 hour, or 1 minute.

PFnV

 

[RI Patriots fan]

RIP, I think I'll be accepting of it, with a great dash of fear, if I'm lucidly consciously focusing on it.
For the sake of your question, it would be handy to have a greater range to choose from among whom I've personally known in that position. Of those even close to knowing they're within the 24-hour window, my observation has been of those who are significantly compromised either by their disease or by the drugs meant to keep them relatively comfortable.

I think it's much more important to think about what one adds to - or subtracts from - the lives of others while one is still alive, than to dwell on one's final 24 hours, 1 hour, or 1 minute.

PFnV

Let's assume you are lucid and drug free.

What do you think your fate will be in the afterlife?

 

[The Brandon Five]

I think it's much more important to think about what one adds to - or subtracts from - the lives of others while one is still alive, than to dwell on one's final 24 hours, 1 hour, or 1 minute.

PFnV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 25: 31-46

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Not that compelling.