Where Do People Go When They Die?
Since losing my dog, and now discovering my sister is cancer-positive again, I keep thinking I had better write something light and humorous or people will begin to think I am in some state of dull numbness and sadness.
The truth is, most of my days are like my days. I still make my humor at work, I still repeat bad jokes and good stories, and I still enjoy my moments of quiet time where I like to read and listen to music and put my feet up and knock a beer back.
Hell yes I am sad my dog died and my sister is sick. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But I am happy my dog Wenzel loves me and that my Mum is doing well, and that all of my friends are all doing well and that I- in spite of crunchy bones- still feel pretty good for a guy almost 45.
So if I write a post about religion, don’t think I am suddenly delving into the abyss of the unknown because I have been carried to its edge and shown its existence, once again. That’s not why, and that’s not what happened. I was checking out some Bill Maher You-Tube comedy clips, and then I checked out an interview he did with Cristopher Hitchens, who just wrote a book called “god is not GREAT”, and I then decided to see what he was all about because I agreed with everything he had to say about religion, and my own thinking was fed again, by some of my own thoughts.
Thomas Jefferson was a Deist, apparently. He held the belief that something really smart created the life on earth as we know it, but never meddles. He just lets it all transpire the way parents might with their grown children. Jefferson simply believed that the world was too complicated and beautiful to have occurred by chance.
Fair enough.
I’ve never had a problem with Deists. I think their view shows some degree of rationality. They, at least, admit their naivety about creation itself and the impossibility of sentient pre-knowledge of life after death. The MYSTERY, to them, truly is, a mystery.
That is a rational view. And I sometimes lean in that direction, but I don’t put a lot of faith in it, if you’ll pardon the pun.
I simply can’t adhere to a truth I cannot ever have evidence of. That kind of belief smacks of wish-fulfillment, and I don’t put much stock in “hoping” something is true. It either is or it isn’t.
Or we simply don’t know.
And that is where I am on existence. I can see clearly and without equivocation, that the mystery of life still is a true mystery. And so too, the existence of “god“. Wishing there was is not the same thing as having evidence. Neither is “believing” there is a “god”. Believing in something that you have no way of deciphering AT ALL to me smacks of superstition and atavism. Thousands of years ago, simple things like eclipses and droughts and germs were scary, unknown entities. Religions of the days strove to find reasons for things they were not mentally prepared to understand. Men created- including the big three out of crazy-Ville- texts that attempted to explain all things.
Without going any further down this expositional path, let me just say that I think religion is fine, I just don’t agree with any of the ones we now have.
I think men write religious texts and create ritual to either control or appease. I think the only positive aspect of this is that it gives the non-thinking something to think about. Better to be told about the mystery than to live with the mystery. And while we are at it, lets gather political power and monetary clout by using the credulous nature of those who follow these texts for our own enhancement within the community…
Religion has always been written by man and always will be. The reason I don’t mind “religion” is that I am aware that many humans can’t live without having “some” answer for the questions that most frighten them.
Religion does have a soothing effect on those who are asking the questions, but where it fails- I say- is that it doesn’t recognize the enormous scientific gains we’ve made over the last century alone…
We know what is actually on the Moon. We’ve been there. We know what causes earthquakes and tornadoes and how to make a chunk of steel fly. We know about DNA and we know about the vestigial legs on the odd whale here and there.
We know the earth is way older than any religion thus far has been able to imagine. We know about the dinosaurs, and the odd marsupials slinking around Australia. We know that 95% of all creatures that have walked the earth as a species are now extinct (design flaws?) and we can now predict drought and the coming of rain without having to pray for it.
The point of all this is the religions we have are antiquated and silly. They don’t even make sense to children who are dragged into their houses of worship and taught their “teachings”…
And yet, there is not a single presidential candidate (supposedly one of the smartest of humans to come from our society) who isn’t claiming the “faith” card and declaring “I believe” in one of these antiquated belief systems.
I say “HOLY SHIT!!”
The guy in charge thinks that man was made from a handful of dust and that woman was made from his side of ribs? The guy in charge thinks that dinosaurs were ridden by men, since the bible says the world is less than 5,000 years old and so the two species would have had to have been on the planet at the same time? Holy SHIT we are in trouble...
That’s the guy in charge, folks. The big Kahuna…
Sometimes I am downright frightened by this very thought…
One of these days, I think I am going to ingest a bunch of mushrooms or something and write a new text for people to fight over and adhere to and “fellowship with” on Sunday mornings.
So here is the deal. WHAT WOULD YOU PUT IN A NEW RELIGION? Does religion even NEED a god to function? What would your commandments be? Would you make up a story where they came from? Would you punish people for not following your new religion? If so, how? Is there gonna be a prophet and are you gonna have another virgin birth? Will you try and make a bunch of money off of it and wed women with too much eye make-up? WIll you be requiring people to kill under your new guise?
Tell me about your new religion. Where do people go when they die?
The truth is, most of my days are like my days. I still make my humor at work, I still repeat bad jokes and good stories, and I still enjoy my moments of quiet time where I like to read and listen to music and put my feet up and knock a beer back.
Hell yes I am sad my dog died and my sister is sick. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But I am happy my dog Wenzel loves me and that my Mum is doing well, and that all of my friends are all doing well and that I- in spite of crunchy bones- still feel pretty good for a guy almost 45.
So if I write a post about religion, don’t think I am suddenly delving into the abyss of the unknown because I have been carried to its edge and shown its existence, once again. That’s not why, and that’s not what happened. I was checking out some Bill Maher You-Tube comedy clips, and then I checked out an interview he did with Cristopher Hitchens, who just wrote a book called “god is not GREAT”, and I then decided to see what he was all about because I agreed with everything he had to say about religion, and my own thinking was fed again, by some of my own thoughts.
Thomas Jefferson was a Deist, apparently. He held the belief that something really smart created the life on earth as we know it, but never meddles. He just lets it all transpire the way parents might with their grown children. Jefferson simply believed that the world was too complicated and beautiful to have occurred by chance.
Fair enough.
I’ve never had a problem with Deists. I think their view shows some degree of rationality. They, at least, admit their naivety about creation itself and the impossibility of sentient pre-knowledge of life after death. The MYSTERY, to them, truly is, a mystery.
That is a rational view. And I sometimes lean in that direction, but I don’t put a lot of faith in it, if you’ll pardon the pun.
I simply can’t adhere to a truth I cannot ever have evidence of. That kind of belief smacks of wish-fulfillment, and I don’t put much stock in “hoping” something is true. It either is or it isn’t.
Or we simply don’t know.
And that is where I am on existence. I can see clearly and without equivocation, that the mystery of life still is a true mystery. And so too, the existence of “god“. Wishing there was is not the same thing as having evidence. Neither is “believing” there is a “god”. Believing in something that you have no way of deciphering AT ALL to me smacks of superstition and atavism. Thousands of years ago, simple things like eclipses and droughts and germs were scary, unknown entities. Religions of the days strove to find reasons for things they were not mentally prepared to understand. Men created- including the big three out of crazy-Ville- texts that attempted to explain all things.
Without going any further down this expositional path, let me just say that I think religion is fine, I just don’t agree with any of the ones we now have.
I think men write religious texts and create ritual to either control or appease. I think the only positive aspect of this is that it gives the non-thinking something to think about. Better to be told about the mystery than to live with the mystery. And while we are at it, lets gather political power and monetary clout by using the credulous nature of those who follow these texts for our own enhancement within the community…
Religion has always been written by man and always will be. The reason I don’t mind “religion” is that I am aware that many humans can’t live without having “some” answer for the questions that most frighten them.
Religion does have a soothing effect on those who are asking the questions, but where it fails- I say- is that it doesn’t recognize the enormous scientific gains we’ve made over the last century alone…
We know what is actually on the Moon. We’ve been there. We know what causes earthquakes and tornadoes and how to make a chunk of steel fly. We know about DNA and we know about the vestigial legs on the odd whale here and there.
We know the earth is way older than any religion thus far has been able to imagine. We know about the dinosaurs, and the odd marsupials slinking around Australia. We know that 95% of all creatures that have walked the earth as a species are now extinct (design flaws?) and we can now predict drought and the coming of rain without having to pray for it.
The point of all this is the religions we have are antiquated and silly. They don’t even make sense to children who are dragged into their houses of worship and taught their “teachings”…
And yet, there is not a single presidential candidate (supposedly one of the smartest of humans to come from our society) who isn’t claiming the “faith” card and declaring “I believe” in one of these antiquated belief systems.
I say “HOLY SHIT!!”
The guy in charge thinks that man was made from a handful of dust and that woman was made from his side of ribs? The guy in charge thinks that dinosaurs were ridden by men, since the bible says the world is less than 5,000 years old and so the two species would have had to have been on the planet at the same time? Holy SHIT we are in trouble...
That’s the guy in charge, folks. The big Kahuna…
Sometimes I am downright frightened by this very thought…
One of these days, I think I am going to ingest a bunch of mushrooms or something and write a new text for people to fight over and adhere to and “fellowship with” on Sunday mornings.
So here is the deal. WHAT WOULD YOU PUT IN A NEW RELIGION? Does religion even NEED a god to function? What would your commandments be? Would you make up a story where they came from? Would you punish people for not following your new religion? If so, how? Is there gonna be a prophet and are you gonna have another virgin birth? Will you try and make a bunch of money off of it and wed women with too much eye make-up? WIll you be requiring people to kill under your new guise?
Tell me about your new religion. Where do people go when they die?
13 comments:
AMEN! Oh, was that wrong?
My religion would be all about laughing and having a good time. The Dalai Lama said, "I believe the purpose of life is to be happy." I'm with him. Find some fun, make others laugh, share your beer. 'Nuff said.
You probably know too much about mine already - it's not like I've held back much. Those who are not "believers" call me religious while those who truly are "religious" probably consider me a heretic. I am a Christian but not in the vein of any of the now available flavours. However, I go to a Presbyterian church because it is handy, I have grown to love the people there even though I disagree with a lot. The "Science of God" book I mentioned explains what I have believed more or less. "God" started it all, (a long time ago), made a bunch of "natural laws", jump started the various lifeforms and let us all run about in our own ways. Humans are capable of doing things contrary to their own best interest and mess up the planet and eachother a lot. We need to acknowledge this and get back on track to the way we were supposed to be. This isn't really possible because we're in such an advanced state of messed up but we get points for trying. When we die, we enter eternity with whatever that entails. "God" generally does not, but will occasionally break the "laws" he has set up and funny things happen. Most people see these as strange but somehow scientifically explainable which they very well might be on the quantum level. (I put god in " " because I don't see God as an old man watching what we do and waiting to throw us into the pits of hell) I do believe in a judgement however - but that is when we see whether we have chosen to be with "God" or against "him".
I do not like "religion". I can't stand ritual and pomp. The symbolism is rich however and sometimes that involves ritual. The fact is, that "God" is eternal and outside our understanding. Life is far too complex and improbable to be an accident. I've had a lot of fender benders but none of them made my shitbox into a ferrari. There are too many people who have had "experiences" that are impossible. There is an awesomeness to this planet and its inhabitants, however flawed, that takes my breath away.
Religion tries to put the unexplainable in a box with rules on how to use it. It is unnatural and leads to abuse. Men begin to think they have it all down pat and have the right to force everyone else to comply with their vision, believing that it is "God's". However, religion is also responsible for the few stories we have from the past that illustrate the truth (even if metaphorically rather than literally).
I agree with you, Scott. There isn't one religion that I can accept. It's all about power. If I had to invent a religion it would be about everyone being kind to everyone else. We are all in this together. We are born, we live and then we die. We should make the best of it by at least helping each other out when and where we can. It makes me laugh that all of these churchie people actually believe that a higher power wrote the Christian bible. It was all written by men long after the birth and death of their Christ. I can't accurately recall the details of what happened in my life twenty years ago, so how the hell can someone be accurate about what happened two hundred years before? That is what they ask us to believe. You are right, people need someone to explain it all to them in simple terms. Forget ever trying to use their own brains.
You ask many good questions weedhopper.
To (roughly) quote L. Ron Hubbard, "The best way to get rich is to invent a religion." Hence Scientology.
My religion will be about respecting differences, and helping people with less that you have or who are in pain. (What a concept!)
It will require that men do not dominate women or treat them as property merely because they are smaller and birth the babies.
Murder is bad, rape is bad, theft is bad, etc...... If you do any of these things a bolt of lightening from the collective consciousness will strike you dead.
Children will be loved. No girl child will be killed because she is a girl. No boy child will be beaten to "toughen him up."
I thought about this all last night. I could go on, but i will spare you. You get the idea.
Ok first off... Yoda Scott??? too cute..
Awwww religion... not a subject I tend to discuss due to the fact {and you said it once in here} "I don't know" ... which btw is a perfectly acceptable answer to any question.
Well except for maybe " Did you pee your pants?"
I suppose if I HAD to have a religion it would be to be kind to those you share this earth with and try to live the life I am given with grace. I think #1 rule would be MEET each persons eyes with a smile. You can't go wrong. wait.. maybe THAT's why that flasher followed me around Lithia?
Hope you get a few moments of peace this week friend... you deserve a break.
church of the flying spaghetti monster.
http://www.venganza.org/
makes as much sense as the "big three".
religion, politics, big business... gain power and control through fear. Bad stuff.
I don't want religion.
Where do we go after we die? I don't know. Reincarnation? Another plane? A better world? Worse?
I want to enjoy this life, now.
Deal with after, after.
Makes me feel good to see you back here, still living well.
Wouldn't it be nice if we were more reverent toward the earth? Treated it like something "holy" instead of a resource to make money off of?
Poor, poor Scott, don’t you understand? Have you not heard the words spoken by Jerry Falwell? Would God have allowed him to become so fabulously wealthy if he were not speaking the truth? Have you not seen how he smirks at the infidels? That smirk is living proof of his piety.
Even so, while it appears that Christianity is where the smart money is, I place my fate in the hands of the Mighty Zeus. I’ve said it before, the membership dues are downright reasonable and sooner or later, Big Z will tire of sucking hind tit for the likes of Jehovah and Vishnu. There are ground-floor positions still available if you are interested.
If I made a new religion, I'd be Hank:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goQO4lcDt6E
Heck, we're just the result of some kids school science project that she needed to turn in for her homework a while back. She's never so much as peeked in on us since; we're stuck on the back shelf of that stuffy cupboard now, long forgoten..
My "newreligion" is what I already believe. I'm a nontheist rather than an atheist because I don't feel it's my place to say there is no god, only that a belief in god is unnessesary. In a personal God, anyway. I have some vague sense of the sacred. I believe in Love. And that would be the commandement - Act as though you see the possibility of good in everyone. No punishment for not agreeing with me, and we have a legal system for bad behavior. Everyone who agreed with me would be a prophet, in terms of being a model. Which would mean they'd live it as imperfectly as I do, I guess. No virgin birth - if it is an idea incompatible with science, it would have no place in my religion. I'm going to have to pass on weaseling money out of folks. And I sure doubt I'll be marrying a woman with too much eye make-up. No killing! Definitely a pacifist new religion. No idea where people go when they die. I assume you don't mean their bodies. I can't make a judgment on the existence of a soul anymore than I can on the existence of a god. I doubt it, but who knows? And look, I wrote all this up on a Sunday morning.
How about a religion where you get together outside on a nice day and you don't talk about religion, but instead listen to music, dance, eat good food, tell stories, listen, hug, laugh, watch the stars, drink some beer or wine or water, plant a garden, help an old lady, play with a dog, savor a peach, and sneak off into the bushes with someone for a few minutes?
Or is that too hippie?
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