RE: Comfort in Faith at Death
July 8, 2019 at 11:39 am
(This post was last modified: July 8, 2019 at 11:58 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Let’s make up an afterlife. When you die, you get cookies and ice cream.
Cool.
Now let’s add theism. But only if your on this dude named gods list, which he sent to us.
Not so cool anymore.
If you’re cool with the former and oppose the latter....your not in opposition to cookies and ice cream in the sky, your in opposition the the theistic addendum to cookies and ice cream in the sky.
Belief in an afterlife is emphatically not part of the belief in a personal and intervening god. It’s it’s very own thing.
We could use atheism and antitheism to express this distinction as well. I’m not an antitheist because I’m an atheist, and I’m not an atheist because I’m an antitheist...even though these things are both present as a part of me. They aren’t the same things or even parts of each other, they simply exist together in my mind, and are often found together in atheist and antitheist communities, lol.
We could even use a variant of theism for comparison. Witnesses don’t believe in the contemporary Christian afterlife anymore than I do. They don’t believe in s heaven where you get to chill with your loved ones. They believe that some people on a dude named gods list will wake up on earth after s long dirtnap. Part of the reason they’re so nutty about cutting ties with people who leave their faith is that they want to strongly dissuade their loved ones from not getting the golden ticket. That’s a rational and well intentioned reason to do a shitty thing that flies directly from the theistic component of their beliefs.
Cool.
Now let’s add theism. But only if your on this dude named gods list, which he sent to us.
Not so cool anymore.
If you’re cool with the former and oppose the latter....your not in opposition to cookies and ice cream in the sky, your in opposition the the theistic addendum to cookies and ice cream in the sky.
Belief in an afterlife is emphatically not part of the belief in a personal and intervening god. It’s it’s very own thing.
We could use atheism and antitheism to express this distinction as well. I’m not an antitheist because I’m an atheist, and I’m not an atheist because I’m an antitheist...even though these things are both present as a part of me. They aren’t the same things or even parts of each other, they simply exist together in my mind, and are often found together in atheist and antitheist communities, lol.
We could even use a variant of theism for comparison. Witnesses don’t believe in the contemporary Christian afterlife anymore than I do. They don’t believe in s heaven where you get to chill with your loved ones. They believe that some people on a dude named gods list will wake up on earth after s long dirtnap. Part of the reason they’re so nutty about cutting ties with people who leave their faith is that they want to strongly dissuade their loved ones from not getting the golden ticket. That’s a rational and well intentioned reason to do a shitty thing that flies directly from the theistic component of their beliefs.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
