The Eternal Question

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Why are we here?

Why do we believe in heaven and/or hell?

I believe that there is no God in the good and evil sense of the word. To me, god is not an authoritative figure and is not watching over us. There is no promised land in heaven or pit of eternal despair in hell. After we die, we die. It’s over. We blink out. We have served our purpose on this planet and have been used up until the very end of our lives.

This is it folks. This is your life. There is nothing afterwards.

This is not as bleak as it sounds. There is nothing to be afraid of when we die because there is nothing there. We should not be concerned about what happens to us afterwards. There is no eternal damnation or eternal salvation. Why should there be? We already have already lived our lives to the end on earth. The end of our days should be a relief to us. We loose the good and evil aspects of life and become neutralized and cycled back in to the earth.

During our lives, we create energy. That energy is used to keep life on the planet. We live on this earth not as an individual obeying a deity’s rules in order to get a ticket to a nice place when we die, but as an individual working as part of the whole to protect the earth and the life that exists on our planet. Every living thing has a part to play in the grand scheme of things. We each have our roles. Some of us play our parts better than others, and some of us were dealt crappy hands to begin with. But we are here for everything. We are here to enrich the life around us, be it fellow humans, animals, plants, or insects. We have a direct affect on life as a whole. Some of these effects are larger than others. Sometimes, our direct effect, our reason for being, is manifested by the smallest things…including swerving to avoid hitting someone’s pet cat in the road or not killing a harmless spider so it can continue to manage the insect population. We can have many different reasons for being, even if we do not realize that is what they are. We may never realize the full impact of our lives and our actions. What we do affects something somewhere. For example, a major direct effect to life from me was when I was shot and was at a very good military hospital for a week. During this week, I was able to show many young military technicians what a gunshot wound looks like and how to treat it before they were sent off to practice these skills in Iraq. I was used as a learning tool to save other people’s lives. This does not mean that I’m in favor of the war; it just means that I was able to play a small part in maintaining life as a whole. I have contributed. We all have contributed in one way or another. Good or bad, we’re responsible.

Why I’ve come to believe this way is due to the egocentric notions of life and the afterlife of most religions. What makes me so special and hand-picked by a deity that I can expect to go to paradise for eternity? Why can’t I just be part of the whole? The religious way compels me to think only of myself and where I’m going to end up. Screw the rest of the world; we’re only talking about me here. I want my tough life to be all worthwhile and since I believed in this greater power, I should be allowed a break! This way of thinking is selfish to me. Why should we, as individuals, put our trust in a higher power that has no direct effect in our lives? Together, WE ARE GOD. We are the life force. We keep this ship sailing. We make decisions. We have free will. We make an impact. As individuals we are nothing. Collectively, we are a deity. God is everywhere and in everything. We’re looking too hard for the answers and they are right in front of our noses. It is so simple. Life is truth. This is our existence. Make the best of it.

I’m not insinuating that we should all be philanthropists and actively working towards the greater good. I believe that we should protect our earth and environment in order to continue all life. Worshiping something that exists only in the minds of individuals doesn’t make sense to me. We should live in the here and now.

I'm sure that this is not a new idea. Feedback is welcome.

-Ann-

Does it really? Perhaps I should look into this a little more.

Thanks!

-Ann-

I don’t mind you asking.

I got shot about 4 and a half years ago…I was 21. I posted something about this a little while ago…take a look:
http://www.wrongplanet.net/asperger.htm ... ht=#218348

I’ve never heard of Zorasterism or pantheism. I’ll look into those.

Just have to read Ecclesiastes 9:5 and 10, for all people die in this world just like that.

You might be interested in a little Buddhism.

I always like their idea that "emptiness is form, form is emptiness."

The Buddhists sort of see this world more as a trap, a cycle that we are stuck in, when we learn to see beyond ourselves, then we will not come back here anymore. That is called nirvana.

And nirvana orignally came from a pali word that means "fire unbound."
This is related to the way they saw fire, but the idea is that we are bound to this world and these bodies, through our passion, or craving, when we let go of that craving, then the burning stops, and we return to our essence, which is emptiness.

People often see emptiness as something bleak and negative, but if you ever get to a point when your mind is nearly empty, then you understand how beautiful and peaceful if is.

A more positive way to think of it is that an empty vessel has maximum potential.

I define good and evil like this:

building : good
destroying: evil

I base this on lego's not the bible.
Legoism