Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Sounds like it means the afterlife exists up until the point you actually die.

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

I dunno about you guys, but I personally get angry when literal religious ideas cloud the rational mind. It really pisses me off.
For instance: My mother has been a smoker, drinker, horrible eater, all her life. She has diabetes, she's an alcoholic, gets hooked on scripts, doesn't exercise, is overweight, has loads of stress from a fucked up childhood and hasn't figured out how to deal with it after over 55 years, the list goes on. The other day she tested her blood sugar and was at 450. That's like, hospitalization. Then she eats a bowl of ice cream so she can fall asleep. (that's like, coma)
Oh yea, she's also a deep deep deeply religious person and believes god will take care of her. Between drags of cigarettes, manic coughing and nearly comatose spells, I ask her why she does this to herself and she blames me for not trusting god and not believing that he's stronger than disease. Seriously?
But I can't reason with her. She literally has taken responsibility of her own existence and placed it in the hands of something else that's clearly not going to help. It's a total cop-out.

I know that's an extreme example, but I want to make the point that regardless of the severity of one's belief in a sentient, caring god, that person is still giving away at least some portion of self control. When you start living only a portion of your own life in your own way, then you'd better damn sure trust where the portion you're leaving in someone else's hands are. And it angers me that while there are good people out there who do the right thing in the name of a religious idea, there are those who are too weak to stand up for themselves and they completely let religion devour them and it ends up destroying them.
I know it's up to the person... but again, the whole idea of relinquishing any control to an idea that mostly just placates fear, it just pisses me off. And the fact that there are weak people who don't know any better, getting devoured by religion and letting it destroy their lives... well, that pisses me off even more.

If there is a sentient god-being who caused this whole fucked up reality, I sure hope he has a place in heaven for the folks he's led to be destroyed.
(And logically, that would include everyone if you really want to look at it.)

Originally Posted by Tuna

You should remind your mother that God made free will for a reason. Life is a series of choices, you're left to (hopefully) make the right ones. God helps those who help themselves.

Originally Posted by Jester

There's no such thing as free will.

Originally Posted by mord

Actually, I like you a lot, Nea. That's why I treat you like ****. It's the MB way.

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

ok, who forced you to type that?

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

ok, who forced you to type that?