(July 10, 2016 at 7:56 pm)thool Wrote: I've "converted" from Christianity for almost a year now, and the following observation kind of snuck up on me. I'm curious if anyone else has a similar experience they'd like to share.
With Christianity, there is a "father" type relationship, where you die and go to the Father for judgment and eternity. Having abandoned that belief system, it eventually occurred to me that there is no higher power or safety net, so we're quite literally on our own (alone). As we live an interact with each other, we leave impressions there, but it doesn't get noticed by any higher power. When I was in religion, I kind of banked on the fact that I was just along for the ride, tried to be as nice as possible, and felt that some sort of higher court would look at this transcript and I'd be cool for eternity.
This is kind of sobering to realize that this life is real, and that what I do now is simply part of humanity. In other words, the impact of my words and actions is measured by a minute influence on a small slice of humanity...and that's it.
Anyone else coming from religion feel similar thoughts on this subject of being alone?
The interesting thing is just how different Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is when dealing with the so-called "same" monotheistic deity. Jews do not believe in hell, therefore while you may not be greeted with heaven after you die if you renounce your faith, you won't be sent to hell to pay for your sins for an eternity. Jews teach that their God is for their people; whereas Christianity teaches that the God of Abraham loves all - including all sinners and unbelievers (John 3:16 for example). Islam teaches that God hates all unbelievers, and especially those who leave the faith (Qur'an 3:32 for example). So to put it simply, the angry, vengeful, and psychotic God is only the one that the Christians and Muslims believe in, the one that the Jews believe in is less angry, less vengeful, and much less psychotic - because while he does things we don't understand, at least he doesn't send people to hell for not believing in him.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
