The concepts of reward/punishment in the afterlife far predate the monotheism motifs of the 3 religions of Abraham. Even Japan's ancient religions depict reward in their version of heaven, and punishment in the underworld. The concepts of good vs evil are universal when it comes to mythology and every point in human history has versions of this with different details. The more earthy religions of Asia are about spirits of ancestors and not gods. But even the Egyptians had their good gods and rival gods and the same with hero vs villain in ancient Rome and Greece.
Even prior to any written religion humans worldwide didn't know any modern scientific reality. The world was far more scary to most back then and they simply projected their own sense of morality into mythology. Anything that benefited the family, clan, they saw as good, and any harm they ran into was viewed as evil. Deities/god/s were their mere projections of human attributes.
The good thing is that there is no hell to burn in. Just like their is no Japanese "underworld" to be punished in. There is simply life now. These mythologies are a really nothing more than the projections of the ignorance of antiquity because our species didn't know any better. Even the idea of Buddhist/Hindu "reincarnation" is also a primitive form of reward/punishment.
Those mythologies worldwide were understandable back then because we were ignorant of reality, but we have grown in knowledge since then.
Saying there is no heaven or hell DOES NOT mean for us though, that we value lawlessness or cruelty. Far from it. It simply means for us this is it. Not buying any religion or god claim is not fatalistic or advocating crime. It is simply a recognition that neither good or bad are a result of magic, god/s or mythology. Just like a black hole existing doesn't mean you want one affecting you. Saying that hurricanes exist does not make Poseidon real nor does it mean you want one affecting you.
The good thing in life, even with all the bad that happens, is that you CAN still do good and be good. You CAN still enjoy the ride even though it is finite. My late mother printed out a saying years ago, "Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened." You go to a movie knowing the credits roll, and it ends. You go to a music concert knowing it plays a last song. You go to a sporting event, one team wins, one team loses, but you still go and that too ends. You read a good book knowing it has a last page, but you still read it.
There is no magic to life. There is lots of beauty, but no magic. Just like there is no Superman vs Lex Luther needed to value the good or look for answers to reduce the bad.
Even prior to any written religion humans worldwide didn't know any modern scientific reality. The world was far more scary to most back then and they simply projected their own sense of morality into mythology. Anything that benefited the family, clan, they saw as good, and any harm they ran into was viewed as evil. Deities/god/s were their mere projections of human attributes.
The good thing is that there is no hell to burn in. Just like their is no Japanese "underworld" to be punished in. There is simply life now. These mythologies are a really nothing more than the projections of the ignorance of antiquity because our species didn't know any better. Even the idea of Buddhist/Hindu "reincarnation" is also a primitive form of reward/punishment.
Those mythologies worldwide were understandable back then because we were ignorant of reality, but we have grown in knowledge since then.
Saying there is no heaven or hell DOES NOT mean for us though, that we value lawlessness or cruelty. Far from it. It simply means for us this is it. Not buying any religion or god claim is not fatalistic or advocating crime. It is simply a recognition that neither good or bad are a result of magic, god/s or mythology. Just like a black hole existing doesn't mean you want one affecting you. Saying that hurricanes exist does not make Poseidon real nor does it mean you want one affecting you.
The good thing in life, even with all the bad that happens, is that you CAN still do good and be good. You CAN still enjoy the ride even though it is finite. My late mother printed out a saying years ago, "Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened." You go to a movie knowing the credits roll, and it ends. You go to a music concert knowing it plays a last song. You go to a sporting event, one team wins, one team loses, but you still go and that too ends. You read a good book knowing it has a last page, but you still read it.
There is no magic to life. There is lots of beauty, but no magic. Just like there is no Superman vs Lex Luther needed to value the good or look for answers to reduce the bad.
