Mageth

And at the end you will die, so you atheists are holding on to something you have lost since the day you were born. This is nonsense to me !

And holding on to a dream of a glorious, eternal afterlife, based on a book written 2000 years ago in a remote corner of the Middle East which says blood must be shed for you to get your ticket to that afterlife, is not nonsense?

Mageth

Isn't it sad to cling so hard to something you are bound to loose?

Why sad? I enjoy life, and I want to postpone dying for as long as I can, for obvious reasons. Don't you?

Kosh

So could Captain Kirk.

But it's still just make believe.

jmborr

Were this the whole thing, then nobody would be a christian.

jmborr

Why sad? I enjoy life, and I want to postpone dying for as long as I can, for obvious reasons. Don't you?

Yes, I enjoy life and I have no idea how to postpone my death, unless you refer to not jumping from any window and the like.
But animals and plants also enjoy life in their own level, I guess. This idea of negating the afterlife seems to me like equating yourself somehow to animals and plants. This is what it is sad to me.

Mageth

But animals and plants also enjoy life in their own level, I guess. This idea of negating the afterlife seems to me like equating yourself somehow to animals and plants. This is what it is sad to me.

I am an animal. And that doesn't make me sad at all.

Mageth

Were this the whole thing, then nobody would be a christian.

What did I leave out of the basics? Are you saying that, at the most basic, you don't hold on to a dream (or hope) of a glorious, eternal afterlife, based on a book written 2000 years ago in a remote corner of the Middle East which thinks blood must be shed for you to get your ticket to that afterlife? Isn't that the "hope of glory"? Isn't that another way of saying what John 3:16 says?

jmborr

Ummm, you sound very proud of being just an animal? Well, I am so much much more, I am sure of this.
Now if you don't like it, it's not my fault. You chose to live only while in this planet, and negate otherwise.

About the sadness and animals, this is like my neighbor's cat. This cat is never sad of being a cat. Why would she? But I look at this cat and I realize how much she misses of life when I compare her to me (yes, I feel "superior" to the cat ). The point is that I do realize of my own condition, and thus search for a better life (a life not of this world, I mean). I think that atheists, by conciously negating this search, kill something whithin themselves which is the most precious possesion that man has.

Mageth

Ummm, you sound very proud of being just an animal? Well, I am so much much more, I am sure of this.

It's not so much that I'm "proud" of being an animal; it's that that's what I am (though admiteddly a relatively intelligent animal). I accept that as a fact. Thus begins true wisdom.

To me, there's nothing sadder than someone who's not satisfied with what they really are, who can't accept life for what it really is, esp. if that leads them to believe ancient myths that they're somehow "chosen", transcend their "animaldom", and have special powers to live forever. They chase a dream, an impossibility, rather than learning to enjoy life to the fullest, and to learn as much as they can about the natural world around them.

Now if you don't like it, it's not my fault. You chose to live only while in this planet, and negate otherwise.

There's no "choice" to it; I merely accept the perhaps cold, hard fact that, until we possibly develop space travel and set up colonies on other planets, this is where I, like everyone else, will live out the sum total of my existence.

About the sadness and animals, this is like my neighbor's cat. This cat is never sad of being a cat. Why would she?

The cat is, perhaps, wiser than you, then. Like your neighbor's cat, I'm not sad about being "merely" human.

But I look at this cat and I realize how much she misses of life when I compare her to me (yes, I feel "superior" to the cat ). The point is that I do realize of my own condition, and thus search for a better life (a life not of this world, I mean).

And perhaps the cat feels superior to the mouse? But probably not; cats, unlike you, are too wise to fall into such traps.

What would you think of a cat that strove to be human? No matter what the cat did, or believed, it would still be a cat, though perhaps a bit of a foolish cat for vainly, hopelessly striving to be what it wasn't. Now compare yourself to the cat. You, too, will remain human, no matter what you do or believe. Saying or believing you're not a "human animal" doesn't change the fact that that's what you are.

I think that atheists, by conciously negating this search, kill something whithin themselves which is the most precious possesion that man has.

Do you speak of false hope? No thanks; I can do without it. In the meantime, I'll remain happy as a human, as the cat is happy as a cat. You could learn something from that cat, if you paid attention.

Oh, BTW, being atheist does not mean that one cannot experience the mystical, wonder at the beauty and intricacy of life, and find "spiritual" satisfaction in existence. Being atheist does not even mean that one can't believe or hope for some sort of afterlife. Just thought I'd point that out.

MortalWombat

What would you say to someone who believes in reincarnation if they told you "You chose to live only one lifetime on earth, and negate otherwise?"