"...wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." -Mat. 7:13-14 If we are talking about opinion, thats pretty much how I feel about it.......from a purely factual viewpoint, obviously no one really knows
Yea, I believe in hell. Would make sense to. If you murdered 109248129048 people, why would you go to heaven? Shouldn't you be punished? There you go.
how can believing in something as real as God be considered weak? If a christian tries to explain it he is bashed for being closed minded and uneducated. When in reality there are educated people all over the world that believe in Jesus. If you do not want to believe in hell that is for you to decide and I would only hope that from my belief that you would someday find the truth that I enjoy. If it is not for you I can live with that and I hope that you can let others live with what they believe.
Because it's an emotional crutch. As long as there is a great being in the sky taking care of you, punishing the evil and bringing everlasting happiness to the good... your personal responsibilities and challenges don't seem as daunting. My personal belief is that this is a "coping" technique our brain uses to explain the unknown and intolerable such as why it flooded and you lost your crops, or the loss of a child, and this is why religion is universal. Not the more ominous reasons DaDakota describes, though certainly it has evolved into manipulation of the masses in some instances. Jim Jones comes to mind.
So what if it's considered a "crutch"? People have done great things because of their belief, and others have done terrible things in spite of it. There's a huge lack of certainty in our lives, and sometimes that gets in the way of an individual doing potentially great things. If God allows a believer to take one extra step against the odds or persevere a little more to his goal, then it's definitely not a source of weakness in today's reality. In another time or in some other country, believing in a religion can carry with it an enormous risk and burden. Yet people do it anyways and face its potential consequences. But that's considered weak or delusional? I think that assessment is too simplistic and it displays a clear lack of thought in giving it.
Crutches are useful... that's why they make crutches. You could ascribe the same qualities to a sports team that adopts a "no one believes in us, US against the world" mentality and goes on to do great things. "God allows" is nothing more than a unified belief in God, which would be the same if it were a deep, unified belief in cheese.
I don't believe anyone has got to where he is by himself. I don't consider those helpers crutches nor that they were used in a moment of weakness. It's just part of being human and accepting the fact that we sometimes need help. It can be a damn tasty piece of cheese with the texture of mozzarella and the zest of parmesan. When you boil down most religions, God turns into a culmination of humanity's best traits and qualities. At the very least, it's an ideal (for many others, it can be much more). If your ideal of the best of humanity is gouda, who am I to be lactose intolerant... We've all seen the "us v. them" mentality, and I can't defend much for it. I think it's a human trait than one exclusively owned by religious groups. But there is more to religion that cause some believers to break from the sports team mentality of doing whatever it takes to "win". What exactly is winning? What is the game we're playing, if any? The gross simplification of reward=heaven and punishment=hell strips away a lot of consideration in those questions, but for those who take their religion seriously and as a responsibility, it's about personal and spiritual growth to take on challenges and accept people we'd normally have no business dealing with.
I didn't believe until I heard one of the best LPs ever pressed: Not only is he real, he is buck-toothed, and made of cardboard!
Of course not, we're social creatures... and we're at our best when we act accordingly. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal where the credit goes other than it insinuates that atheists and agnostics are are incapable of these acts or only do so in a moment when God shines his light upon thee for a blessed moment. I think it's selling humans short and denying the reality of the situation. They are all human traits, and that's the point I'm driving at. You see all elements of humanity in all of humanities activities. Religion included... the best of people as in giving and the worst as in the crusades, and numerous other ugly but human behaviors. Winning is spending your life working towards something fulfilling. Getting knocked down and back up again, the game. I submit that anything done in self or societies interest, irrespective of faith, will have the same result. Acting in a humane way without the security blanket of faith and for humanities own sake, taking the trials of life without a belief in an omnipotent benefactor would seem the more difficult path, and from there comes the "weakness" criticism. Sorry, I know that was a rambling response. I'm drinking for the the first time in like a year.
I dont know that the 50% matters anyhow. Its either you believe in heaven or you dont. Hedging your bets in case there is a heaven would be like pretend faith... i'm sure that'll send you to hell ..lol
I have the answer to your question. If you wish to know it, you will have to travel the journey on your own; I cannot be of much help to you. I will, however, point you in the right direction. Once I show you the abyss you can either disregard its significance like a fool or you can gaze into it and allow your resulting existential meltdown show you true freedom. Read this book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus Here's one more hint: God and the Absurd can co-exist. Good luck.
if you die tomorrow, you don't go to heavan/hell. That day comes when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. but if I am right and ya'll are wrong, I'd really hate to be a non believer when that day comes.
That's a very western view on karma. The Buddhist view of it would be that anyone born human is most likely the benefactor of good karma. If someone had bad karma they'd have been born a much lower form of life. It's not about vengeance. In fact the 5 year old boy born to famine actually has a chance to have great karma because he has an opportunity to overcome and achieve much more than a 5 year old boy born to privilege.
actually - that's still a very western view of karma. in reality - even if you strip away the methaphorical aspect of what karma is - really what is boils down to is your baggage and how your baggage affects you. if you deal with your baggage and reach an enlightened state - than you won't accumulate any more baggage. really simple.
