Running "ask a zealot" thread

Awesome.

 

By the same token, your believing it so doesn't change whether it is or isn't, either. You may be wrong.

(Which begs the question, if you "hope that's true," as you said, why would you choose to believe in a contradicting idea that, if it IS true, damns most of the people in the world?)

Essentially, we're all crossing our fingers and hoping we're right -- because none of us can know, for sure, what's going to happen after we die. So why does it really matter whether I believe the same thing you do, here in this life? It's not up to you (or me), anyway.

 

I agree that my belief doesn't change what is true. But I am not going to just choose to follow something because I hope it's right. I choose to believe what feels right.
However, on your last statement, you're changing your tune. Obviously it matters a great deal whether we believe the same things because we can't both be right (though we could both be wrong). If I'm right, it's of incredible importance what someone believes, isn't it?

 

Let me ask you, Buck, what do you believe about Heaven? What does it take to get in, or what should it take?

 

Three questions:

1. If God wanted Christ to save the entire world be converting them to Christianity, why didn't he tell the entire world? Why a small group of nobodys living in a desert when there were more advanced cultures in the world? Is God playing favourites?

2. If Christ died on the cross to redeem us all, then we are redeemed. The sacrifice didn't come with strings attached. Isn't that what the Bible says?

3. Are you at all bothered that the Bible has not come to us unadulterated? We have no original text and ample proof of mistranslations, wilfull additions and copying errors? Which of the multitude of versions out there would you deem to be correct?

 

Great question.

The truth is, I don't think of heaven as a "place" where you "go" in the afterlife. I don't think it takes anything to get in, because I don't think anything is keeping us out, except our own limitations.

My idea of heaven is more like a state of being, different for each of us, and I believe that your own private heaven (as opposed to your own private Idaho ) is achievable in this life. In fact, I think it's something we all can -- and should -- aspire to.

One of my biggest objections to the Big Five major religions is their preoccupation with the afterlife. Your life on earth is only a prelude to your life in heaven, and what you do/believe here on earth is what determines your eternal fate in heaven/hell. The whole idea is that the afterlife is more important, comparitively, and I think that diminishes the time we spend here on earth. Too many people distort that message, and use that idea as a crutch for not being the best they can be here, in this life. They live for the future, instead of the now.

So heaven, to me, is not a phase of the afterlife. It's here, and now, for each of us to attain. It's not living a life of perfection, per se. It's being at a perfect peace with yourself, with your life, with your place in the world. And that's different for each of us -- I am at peace, spiritually and religiously, but what works for me probably doesn't work for you. Which is why there are so many beautiful paths out there, including Christianity but not limited to it, that allow you to find your own "heaven."

It's up to you to find your own. But I can't tell you what will put you at peace, and I can't lead you down that path. Perhaps it's a Christian path, but for many of us, it's not.

And that's OK.

Be at peace with your own path, with your own life, with your own self. That's heaven, to me. And I don't need to die to get to that place -- in fact, I hope I'm not dead before I reach that place.

So whatever happens to me when I die is beyond my scope of comprehension. That's for someone else to decide, so I don't worry about it. Y'all can fight over my ashes when I'm gone.

 

Put down the bong and slowly walk away.

Actually, buck, I believe you've set your personal record for most consecutive posts on a thread without employing a rolling-eyes emoticon.

 

demo - springsteen's 'the rising' scattering of ashes and that song is all i want at my demise... your take?

 

1) I'd argue He did tell the whole world; or, at least, He told His followers to tell the whole world. The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. At the same time, there has to be room for faith. He couldn't just visit everyone and say, "Hi. I'm God."

2) I believe everyone was redeemed by Jesus' sacrifice ("He died once for all"). However, there is one sin the sacrifice cannot cover, and that's not accepting the sacrifice. I can go into the Biblical basis for this if you'd like.

3) I am bothered by the fact we don't have the original copies of each of the books of the Bible. However, comparisons between the texts we have hasn't yet shown anything I consider to be a major theological change.
I read the New International Version. I don't know if it's perfect, but it is a better translation than the King James. The NIV was done from older texts we didn't have at the time of the KJV.
I don't know of any specific cases where we know of willful additions. It's possible we simply have cases where some passages have been lost.
But who would make intentional changes? You'd think anyone serious enough to be copying/translating the Bible would treat the task with a healthy dose of respect.

 

I honestly don't know how to respond to this...

 

ok... i'll ask the 'death' guy
Or Chef

 

Go for it. I'll embrace him one day, but I think I'd like to do a few things here first.