Are you afraid to die?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by SlowwHand

I mean damn, if I knew in advance I was going to burn for eternity, I might have done some things differently.
Like rob Dan.

Out of the mouth of...... comes rather astute observations of leftist immoral policy.

[Arrian]

3/10.

-Arrian

[East Street Trader]

When I was younger I was scared. But as time has gone on that has left me.

Death is part of the cycle that allows birth and renewal. I will die and make way for my daughter's generation. That is entirely fitting.

And as I grow older I can see that with the gradual physical decline that the years bring a time will come when staying alive would become a positive burden. My grandmother died at 96 and would have welcomed death a good many years before he finally came for her.

Thinking about not existing can give you the willies. But only because you start thinking of a sensation or an emotion - a vast emptiness or an endless loneliness. And, of course, this is just nonsense. Not existing means no sensation or emotion. Nor, indeed, anything else at all. My personality and consciousness did not exist before I was born and that is not scary. Not existing after death is no different.

I also find a great deal of comfort in the fact that death is something shared by all living things. My grandparents are dead, my mother is dead, my father will die before too long. And in due course my daughter will die and any children she will have and every one of us who visit this site. This is the fundamental thing which all living things share. We are all in it together.

I also like it that I do not know whether I have one day of life left to me or fifty years. Watching a known date creeping nearer would be no fun, I think.

Altogether I think nature has the whole thing completely right. I would change nothing.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by East Street Trader
I also like it that I do not know whether I have one day of life left to me or fifty years. Watching a known date creeping nearer would be no fun, I think.

I work better under deadlines.

Maybe that's why I'm so lazy.

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by Arrian
So, while I don't think about it much, sure I'm afraid of dying - dying slowly/painfully.

-Arrian

Hear, hear. When I reach that point, it's a one way trip to Switzerland for me...

Or here, if my stupid govt will only come to its senses - just think of how much money the NHS would save every year!

[Ben Kenobi]

You mean that even Hitler or Stalin could go to Heaven? They only had to confess their sins? That always seemed silly to me. So Hell is just there for people who forgot to confess their sins? So, basically, there's one commandment in Christianity: "anything goes, just don't forget to confess your sins!"

No, it's a couple things. First you have to believe in Christ in order to confess your sins. Secondly you have to confess them and repent from them, basically admit that you were wrong about these actions.

That is God's mercy, he allows anyone, no matter what they have done to repent from their sins and accept him. Without such mercy, how could any of us be saved?

To be honest, if I was a Christian I would be extremely nervous of forgetting a sin or not being able to repent.

That is hard, even for those who have been Christian a long time. I'm still new to all this, but one would assume if you have forgotten a sin, that you no longer practice the sin.

[Ben Kenobi]

I would think that belief in Heaven/Hell would have to be weak faith, since I don't think there could be any "personal proof" of these... places, concepts? I don't know.

It's the same idea. We know of heaven and hell through indirect evidence, the same way we know of New York, despite not having been there. Most of the knowledge we have is based on indirect evidence rather then personal experience.

Hell is especially is extremely dodgy.

How so? As the fire and brimstone bit, or in an eternal separation from God?

Heaven can be like "returning to god", that's the only form which really makes sense... heaven, as as eternity of pleasure... everyone knows you grow numb to pleasure.

That is a good point, but why do we get numb to that which is good? The hard thing to remember is that all of us are fallen and that afflicts everything, even our response to things that are good. We don't enjoy them as we ought because of this falleness. What happens when we are finally removed of all of this after the resurrection? That's what Christ promises us we not only get to be with God, we also get our bodies with us without all their infirmities.

But as for hell. Personally I think that a god who would condemn people to hell, is not the kind of god I want to associate with. So if Hell does exist, send me there you big fat assface*! My compassion DEMANDS I be with the ones who are suffering! How could anyone be happy in heaven knowing there's billions of people suffering eternal torment? Ugh.

If a boat came and asked you if you wanted to go to heaven, but the trip cost 50 cents, and you had exactly 50 cents, but no money for anything else, what would you say to the person who decided to decline the trip?

That's the point. Everyone can be saved, but not everyone wants to be saved if it means giving up things that they like more. If you keep making that decision throughout your life, then heaven isn't going to be a pleasure for you. You will want to be away from God, and that's what hell is for.

* a god who insults easily is also the kind of god I don't want to associate with.

Think about that statement for a moment.... why does God have to be the way you want him to be?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi


That is hard, even for those who have been Christian a long time. I'm still new to all this, but one would assume if you have forgotten a sin, that you no longer practice the sin.

On Yom Kippur, we explicitly ask for forgiveness for sins we dont recall, and even have some quotes from Psalms to justify it "Cleanse me of secret sins" where secret sins is read to refer to those not known even to oneself.

[Ben Kenobi]

There you go, bringing your Jewishness into everything.

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi


It's the same idea. We know of heaven and hell through indirect evidence, the same way we know of New York, despite not having been there. Most of the knowledge we have is based on indirect evidence rather then personal experience.

I'm not sure you could come up with a worse analogy, but you could try.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
There you go, bringing your Jewishness into everything.

racist!

[Nikolai]

Nothing wrong with bringing one's own religion into the debate, you and I often do it Ben.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Nikolai
Nothing wrong with bringing one's own religion into the debate, you and I often do it Ben.

whoosh!

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Kontiki
I'm not sure you could come up with a worse analogy, but you could try.

Good analogy or not, it makes the job done. The difference is, the indirect proof we're talking of here is on a personal level and can't be passed on in the same way.

[Arrian]

It's "gets the job done." You were close.

The analogy, however, wasn't. It's ok, I've seen it used before (by Ben, IIRC). It seems to be one of those conservative Christian talking points. :shrug:

-Arrian