Why Certain Aspects of Theism Piss Me Off

[Rayaan]

The way I understood it as these people were describing it was that the afterlife (with Jesus/God) was better all around than the physical world -

So, to put it more simply, what you understood is that these people believe that the afterlife will be better all around than this (physical) world.

Of course they believe that. I thought that was already obvious, Summer. Ask yourself, which Christian doesn't believe that Heaven is all around better than Earth? I don't think you will find any.

Also, in your OP, you were concentrating more on the natural beauty of the world itself as opposed to "all around" better.

the physical world took your mind off "what was important."

I agree. Sometimes it does.

This life is a punishment and a test - not something to be enjoyed.

Punishment? I don't personally agree with that.
A test? Maybe
Not something to be enjoyed? Not necessarily. I'm sure that Christians enjoy a lot of things in life.

Please understand that I wasn't generalizing about all Christians or theists when I started this thread.

I understood that.

[Zen Badger]

I heard a stunning amount of shit about how horrible the world is, and how much better the hereafter will be.

Many atheists also say that the world is horrible, perhaps even more than some theists do, especially when they bring up the "problem of evil" and then mention all the bad things in this world and the ugly things in this world and about natural disasters and so on. And sometimes they also like to point out "flaws" in design, like how the moon is blasted with impact craters, for example, in order to disprove the idea of intelligent design. You know what I'm talking about, right?

Beautiful pictures, though.

The world isn't horrible Ray, just utterly indifferent to our suffering.
(a tiger is still beautiful,even when it is eating you, though you aren't in a position to appreciate it)

[KichigaiNeko]

Then again... a Hurricane/ Cyclone, Tsunami, Earthquake, Supercell storm or just plain sunshine are all beautiful and awesome. The fact that they can kill you does not detract from their beauty.