Recently a friend told me a joke about a couple arriving in Heaven and receiving a tour. Their beautiful new home was on a golf course and every month it would switch to another famous course. They were shown the dining hall filled with wonderful food and told they could eat their fill and never get fat or have problems. The husband became upset with his wife and complained that if she hadn’t made them eat that stupid low cholesterol, gluten free diet, they could have been there 12 years earlier...
Made me think. With such a wonderful reward, how are people still brainwashed into believing suffering is a good thing? How are they convinced to give their money and time to the church?
When I see these pathetic postings postings "pray for me/ little Johnny/my mom on FB, I tell them they are terrible blasphemers because obviously Gawd gave them their problem, being omnipotent, and how dare they question his wisdom!?! not one has ever replied, my logic is unassailable!
During the development and fabrication process of religions which profess a woe to go explanation of things as Christianity does, the creators recognise the absolute necessity for a scapegoat to which blame, for evil, sickness and death and all other contradictions and failings can be attributed. Enter, Satan, The Prince of Darkness, The father of the lie.
When this doesn't quite cut it " the unfathomable mystery of ( the alleged ) God " which is " beyond all understanding " is invoked.
So funny, your story reminds me of a strategy I have when I’m being “persuaded” by Mormons or JW or any other street Christians, I innocently play the Heaven Game with them. Here’s how it goes. Invariably, the conversation would get to the point of “being saved” and heaven & hell, I would seize this opportunity and start drilling down into heaven:
. So what do we do in heaven?
. Do we live in houses or apartments?
. What do we eat? (if we don’t eat, it’s no heaven)
. Who does the cooking? Do we have to wash the dishes? (if yes, it’s no heaven)
. Where do we go to the bathroom? Do we have to clean the bathroom? (if yes, it’s no heaven)
. Ahem … do we get to have sex (if no, it’s no heaven)
. Who do we have sex with?
. Can we have sex with anyone?
. Do we have to have sex with our ex?
. What if someone else wants to have sex with the same person we do?
You get the idea, just concentrate on bathroom and sex and the persuaders would get uncomfortable real quick. It’s fun, try it sometimes.
I work at our local airport and there is a free speech location. The only ones who ever use it are JW. I thought of seeing if the Satanic Church wanted to stop by but I really like your strategy!
Oh, so you wanted to set up a Satanic vs JW battle royale death match at the airport ... why, you wicked heathen ... you'll burn in hell for this ... hehehe.
@jujuofthesea I will have to make sure I’ll be there if I ever try to set it up...
I have noticed that most of the more fervent believers seem to be in no particular hurry to go to their eternal reward. But that's a good thing. It's the ones who want to die young and meet their makers who are currently the most dangerous to society and the world.
When my late partner got involved in the states Death with Dignity program some of the religious nuts came out of the woodwork. They always say we should not play god and end our life. However, they play super god and use every life extending thing they can to live longer. They say they can't wait to meet Jesus, just not yet!!
Death with Dignity. We have that here in Oregon. I think it’s a great idea.
Another thing I don’t understand from the religious nuts though... Why are they so against it?Sometimes I think some of them just like controlling and hurting people.
@Vickylyn Sometimes, it easier to be against something new rather than try to understand it. Remember, critical thinking is not a virtue for the religionists.
What that struck me as a child / adolescent observing life's circus was the very temporal nature of the Christian "after life. Revelations 21. Streets of gold, the architecture encrusted with precious stones, the gateways to the holy city each consisting of one massive pearl. I asked the air why, to no avail as the adults in the room where quite clear that such questioning was blasphemous. Same with the Hell concoction. It's just a case of the most heinous suffering imaginable to us writ large and without end. A banal rendering of the carrot and stick scenario applied to the coercing of dumb animals. Yet, as we see daily in contemporary life, it works. The "fear" ( of an alleged God ) being put into the malleable minds of children. Child abuse in my view.
Personally the idea of a heaven scares the living shit outa me...Everything perfect..No discomfort what so ever, all my whims and wishes granted for all eternity...For one thing what's the point? For another..Sounds boring..
And hell has all the good bands anyway.
That's quite a strange heaven, don't you think? We are always picturing a better life after death, not just you, most people do. Religion is big business, they sell salvation and eternal life, the problem is that people pay for something that they can't be sure exists. In my point of view is like selling insurance, but much much less tangible. Just be good because being good is the human way, no reward required, no insurance pay
Surely you don't expect the religious to be logical do you?
I'm agnostic; and Richard Dawkins said it well as a response to this...
“We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones.
Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred?”
Its because its easier for them to believe. I know that sounds stupid but speaking from experience. Its easier to wish your problems away and if you can't then something bad happens its easy to say oh that was gods will instead of taking responsibility for what you have going on in life. I know i felt like a kid who realized santa was fake when i realized there was no god.... i still wanted to believe but could not.... any ways now my life is way easier but at the time it didnt seem so. hope this helps
There is a heaven and we are in it right now, but we lack awareness because of untrue, mistaken thoughts.
That does not account for all the suffering from circumstances beyond our control.
@dare2dream IMO we cause our own suffering through untrue thoughts—making negative judgments, blowing things out of proportion, and nursing grudges.
The worst event you can rhink of would be trivial as viewed from a higher perspective.
@WilliamFleming How about disease, hurricanes, earthquakes etc.?
@dare2dream We deal with those things as they arise, but they need not bring anguish or long-term unhappiness IMO.
Suppose an asteroid totally destroyed the earth, wiping out conscious awareness. From one perspective it would be of no concern. Consciousness might arise again in a trillion years in another place. It would seem like the blink of an eye, as though zero time had passed. Forms come and go but higher reality is immutable.
@WilliamFleming : I see. Thank you.
@Vickylyn -- It's the threat element. They have an ongoing threat worse than anything imaginable. The better your score with the Man Upstairs, the better the reward in the sweet by and by. Amen?
Hallelujah.
Just my opinion of course but I think it has more to do with the sense of community connection than religion itself but religion is so pervasive that there aren't many options other than going to church. I think the same about giving our money for entertainment or big business. Humans are hard wired for survival so they overlook a lot in order to be accepted into a group.
Each denomination convinces its membership directly or through brainwashing that the only way to achieve that wonderful reward is to do whatever the church demands. Of course, this always involves not only blind faith and devotion but monetary contributions as well.