On the lunacy of free will

[slartibartfast]

If I had to trade some kind of earthly life for an eternal reward, I suppose I might as well suffer here (on this planet) and then get a nice reward in the afterlife, but I really don't think that's how it works.

The irony is that there is no afterlife. So anything you "trade" in our one and only real life - you are effectively throwing away - and that also includes time. Time you could be spending more productively than thinking about how you can please your God to have a better afterlife. 

it's like spending your whole life fantasizing what it would be like to win the lottery one day, and because of that opting out of an education, good job, etc.

[Ahriman]

If I had to trade some kind of earthly life for an eternal reward, I suppose I might as well suffer here (on this planet) and then get a nice reward in the afterlife, but I really don't think that's how it works.

The irony is that there is no afterlife. So anything you "trade" in our one and only real life - you are effectively throwing away - and that also includes time. Time you could be spending more productively than thinking about how you can please your God to have a better afterlife. 

it's like spending your whole life fantasizing what it would be like to win the lottery one day, and because of that opting out of an education, good job, etc.

You really don't know that.

[slartibartfast]

I believe that in a few hundred years the concept of a monotheistic religion will be perceived as outdated and unnecessary, apart from in possibly isolated pockets of society. It will be as outdated as the belief in forest spirits, moon gods, or gods of fertility.

I'm all for a goddess of fertility if it means a start-of-spring orgy. 

Careful - the God of Monogamy is watching...

---

The irony is that there is no afterlife. So anything you "trade" in our one and only real life - you are effectively throwing away - and that also includes time. Time you could be spending more productively than thinking about how you can please your God to have a better afterlife. 

it's like spending your whole life fantasizing what it would be like to win the lottery one day, and because of that opting out of an education, good job, etc.

You really don't know that.

So we are back to that point again..... So you would expect me to hedge my bets?

[Ahriman]

I'm all for a goddess of fertility if it means a start-of-spring orgy. 

Careful - the God of Monogamy is watching...

---

You really don't know that.

So we are back to that point again..... So you would expect me to hedge my bets?

I don't expect you to do anything. But you can't assert there's no afterlife as a matter of fact, when you don't actually know.

[The Grand Nudger]

The irony is that there is no afterlife. So anything you "trade" in our one and only real life - you are effectively throwing away - and that also includes time. Time you could be spending more productively than thinking about how you can please your God to have a better afterlife. 

it's like spending your whole life fantasizing what it would be like to win the lottery one day, and because of that opting out of an education, good job, etc.

You really don't know that.

I think you might mean that you don't know that.  There's nothing keeping other people from knowing that.

[Ahriman]

You really don't know that.

I think you might mean that you don't know that.  There's nothing keeping other people from knowing that.

This is something everyone would know. But nobody knows for sure.

[The Grand Nudger]

Just because something can be known, doesn't mean that everyone would know it..and, again, you must mean that you're not sure.

[Ahriman]

Even without full knowledge/understanding of what happens after death, it still makes more sense to consider the afterlife as opposed to not considering it, because it it turns out there's no afterlife, you lose nothing, whereas if there is an afterlife, you might possibly be in a better position to get what you want out of it, because you might be more prepared for it.

[The Grand Nudger]

You've already had the vacuous nature of that idea explained to you multiple times. Good luck preparing for something you know nothing about, and...you know..slight problem that there isn't any afterlife. Still, I think you should spend your life doing whatever you want - even if that's actively not preparing yourself for punch and pie in the sky.

I mean, you could spend your life doing meth, too..so, obviously, ones better than the other.

[Spongebob]

I've never considered the "better believe in god just in case it's real or you'll go to hell" argument to be genuine. If you choose to believe in something just to save your ass, then your motivation is selfish. I don't respect any god that would accept that excuse. And, as I've said numerous times here, you have to pick the right god. Picking the wrong one doesn't do you any good.