Hell is eternal life

[smax]

I'm an atheist, but I wasn't always. I was once a devout Christian. And, as such, I believed in some magical and blissful eternal life. I believed that I would spend an infinite afterlife worshipping god constantly and somehow that end would give me fulfillment, purpose, and everlasting and constant happiness.

Then one day I woke up. Okay, okay, so I didn't exactly just wake up. There were a number of events and developments that preceded my exodus, so to speak. But I think it is accurate to say that I finally woke up. I finally realized that so things in my religion simply didn't make sense.

Instead of going into all of those things right now, however, I just want to focus on eternal life, and not just the Christian version of it. No, my thoughts here apply to any version of eternal life that involves our current consciousness remaining in tact perpetually.

Now, I understand that, on the surface, such a thing as eternal life sounds amazing, and even seems like it should be a normal and vital goal for anyone that values individual survival. And, as far as the survival part goes, I cannot argue against that, but have you ever stopped to think that maybe individual survival is better off with it's evident limits?

Think about that for just a second. Think about the happiest moment of your life, and imagine dwelling within that moment FOREVER. Can you really imagine being happy there forever?

Speaking personally, I have some absolutely wonderful and exciting memories: getting married to my wife. Things her and I have shared together. Our success in marriage and life. Watching our kids grow up and succeed. The list goes on and on.

But you know what, those things, if they could somehow be lived over and over again, could not sustain happiness for an eternity. In fact, I'm not sure they could sustain happiness for even more than a few lifetimes, if that. And part of the reason for that is simple, we value many things in large part because we know deep down this is our only chance to experience them. For that reason, those experiences are treasured.

And maybe that's the beauty and irony of mortality, the fact that it gives us the ability to truly experience things, both good and bad. It makes us live life and experience life.

I just don't think immortality could offer that, no matter how it's proposed by the seemingly infinite number of religions that have attempted to speculate (more like decree) it's dimensions and merits.

Honestly, people, what would we do with eternal life? Constant sex? Drugs? Love forever? Sing? Do you really believe these things could hold value for more than a few hundred years?

Oh, I know, the mysterious higher power will transform our consciousness to an eternally blissful state which is completely mechanical and no longer held back by autonomy, right?

I happen to think that notion is not only unappealing, but fairly ridiculous. But, for argument sake, let's say it's possible. Wouldn't such a transformation be the same as dying? I mean, if you are no longer you, and your ability to decide has been taken from you, aren't you really dead?

In conclusion, let me say this: I think it's a wonderful thing for a person to aim to live well, contribute positively to humanity, experience life to the fullest, and then rest easy with the knowledge that the next generation will have the opportunity to do it all over again, and perhaps even better.