RE: Fear of death
January 6, 2012 at 12:18 am
(This post was last modified: January 6, 2012 at 12:21 am by Whateverist.)
(January 5, 2012 at 11:24 pm)amkerman Wrote: I dont "expect" to be united with anyone (I actually fear many people will not be there, I fear for myself). I have no idea what happens after death. ... I'm not even sure how consciousness will operate after-death. I guess I expect a non-locality.
Do I detect a note of agnosticism? How very reasonable of you. I see no reason you cannot be an agnostic and admit that you don't already know everything. I see an ability to endure insecurity as a sign of strength. I've encountered Christian theists who embraced all of science with no difficulty since they do not read the bible for empirical facts. If I had an enduring hunch that a relationship with an external deity which I had nourished since childhood was based on something, I too would be an agnostic theist.
Paradoxically, I find Christians who cling to the bible chapter and verse to have very little faith. An agnostic theist who believes on that hunch while remaining perfectly clear in their own mind that they have no conclusive evidence, to me, shows much more faith that those who come off as supremely confident because of this or that scripture from the bible.
(January 5, 2012 at 11:24 pm)amkerman Wrote: The "real meaning" I am referring to is not a result from a pay-off. in my sense "meaning" just means striving to love. It's a belief in absolute right and wrong. Absolute good and bad. I believe that treating others with respect and loving your neighbor is actually the correct way to live regardless of whether or not I choose to live that way, and even though it often feels better not to live that way It is not an open question. Because I believe this I necessarily believe in God. I can still prove neither, it's just my belief.
You are a true Kantian. You believe that the good is only the good if it is done out of a recognition that it is what goodness requires. For Kant, the person who visits their ailing parent in the hospital out of a sense of duty is morally far superior to the person who does so out of affection. I go the other way. I think the heart knows what is good. For me, the person who visits their parent in the hospital out of love is morally superior to the one who does it because their moral code requires it, even if they detest that parent. To me, the only duty is to follow the dictates of your own heart.
You might object that some might have evil in their hearts or too little heart. I would say have some faith. If you can't have faith in yourself, how much can you have in anything else? I really think we do violence to ourselves by imposing an external moral code. It only alienates you from your true moral compass which is potentially as good as what anyone else has got, and infinitely better than anything rigid which can be written down. It may give you a sense of safety to think everyone is following the rules but really this is just weird, unnatural and undependable. It is far better to be your self, be authentic and test for yourself what has been written. This is the most important thing to my way of thinking.
I think I have to stop here for now. There is more to say in response to what you've said but it is getting late. I would like to ask you a question though. If you are as I gather an agnostic theist, can you tell me how you regard the bible? Wisdom stories which speak to us to the degree we are ready to hear it? Or absolute and literal directives from a 'helpful' God who wants us to do exactly as He dictates .. albeit of our own free will?
