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Three Eternal Questions
- Thread starter tnutz
- Start date
Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
My spirit (i.e. the thinking, feeling part of me) came from Heaven, where I lived in the presence of God, my Father in Heaven.tnutz said:
I am here to experience mortality, to learn to distinguish good from evil, and to learn to walk in faith in Jesus Christ.
Immediately after I die, my spirit will go to the Spirit World spoken of in the Bible. There it will await the resurrection, or the reunion with my perfected, immortal physical body. When Christ returns to begin His millennial reign, I will stand before God to be judged. After that... Well, I'm hoping He'll welcome me into His kingdom.
Kathryn
California - meaningless question - cemetary. Next.
Lots. Why should I equate 'what' I hope to do with 'why' I am here? The latter formulation is sloppy and implies, almost always intentionally, a teleological perspective - i.e., it is at best cognitively meaningless and at worst leading and dishonest.tnutz said:
Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
Deut,Deut. 32.8 said:
If you consider the question to be meaningless, why respond to it? If you have nothing to say on the subject, you don't need to explain. After all, it's not exactly a requirement that you put in your two cents worth on every topic. Why don't you look for a thread on which you can make a meaningful contribution?
Please feel free to put me on your ignore list.Katzpur said:
s2a
Heretic and part-time (skinny) Santa impersonator
Hello (and welcome to REF) tnutz,
You posed "the Big Three (Eternal Questions)", seeking answers and explanations from respondents. You may find that many members within REF are not especially concerned or daunted by such questions, nor have intricately detailed answers or explanations to offer as a result.
[Note: As you have initiated this thread in the General Debates sub-forum, it would be nice (though not absolutely necessary), and would potentially invite more interest and reply, if you would offer your own "answers and explanations" as some sort of foundational premise, or starting point from which others might counterpoint in offering differing perspectives. Just a suggestion...;-)]
At any rate...
>>"1. Where did I come from?"<<
Ma and Pa. I've got some ugly B&W Naval Hospital baby pictures (time and date stamped on the back, with parent's name and my own), and an old birth certificate (stored somewhere) with my footprints[!]. With some due diligence, my mother had traced my (our) ancestral roots to England, Ireland, and Scotland (gee whiz, I am really white!).
>>"2. Why am I here?"<<
Primarily, see explanation #1 above. I suspect that a defective prophylactic may have played a part in defeating lustful intentions at the time/place of my statistically-favored shot at existence...but I'm "here" because I'm not quite dead just yet.
I suppose I could go back to "Big Bang" origins and everything being comprised of literal star stuff...or pick up where the dinosaurs left off...or right before Dr. Zaius and Corneilius had their scientific/religious debate about how ape was descended from man...but that may entail a lengthier post reply than you had perhaps hoped for...
>>"3. Where am I going after this life?"<<
Do you mean...
..."What happens when I die?"; because when I die, my frequent flyer miles are willed to my wife...as my expressed "travel plans" are to be whisked to a local oven for cremation before I get all stinky and embarrass myself in front of mixed company.
If anyone actually bothers to accede to my expressed wishes after my demise, my remaining ashes will be tilled into the soil of my backyard...where I'll probably have the lackluster misfortune to feed a weed, instead of maintaining a mighty oak providing squirrel bait for those rapacious little varmints. But hey...in a few billion years, who's gonna care anyway?
You posed "the Big Three (Eternal Questions)", seeking answers and explanations from respondents. You may find that many members within REF are not especially concerned or daunted by such questions, nor have intricately detailed answers or explanations to offer as a result.
[Note: As you have initiated this thread in the General Debates sub-forum, it would be nice (though not absolutely necessary), and would potentially invite more interest and reply, if you would offer your own "answers and explanations" as some sort of foundational premise, or starting point from which others might counterpoint in offering differing perspectives. Just a suggestion...;-)]
At any rate...
>>"1. Where did I come from?"<<
Ma and Pa. I've got some ugly B&W Naval Hospital baby pictures (time and date stamped on the back, with parent's name and my own), and an old birth certificate (stored somewhere) with my footprints[!]. With some due diligence, my mother had traced my (our) ancestral roots to England, Ireland, and Scotland (gee whiz, I am really white!).
>>"2. Why am I here?"<<
Primarily, see explanation #1 above. I suspect that a defective prophylactic may have played a part in defeating lustful intentions at the time/place of my statistically-favored shot at existence...but I'm "here" because I'm not quite dead just yet.
I suppose I could go back to "Big Bang" origins and everything being comprised of literal star stuff...or pick up where the dinosaurs left off...or right before Dr. Zaius and Corneilius had their scientific/religious debate about how ape was descended from man...but that may entail a lengthier post reply than you had perhaps hoped for...
>>"3. Where am I going after this life?"<<
Do you mean...
..."What happens when I die?"; because when I die, my frequent flyer miles are willed to my wife...as my expressed "travel plans" are to be whisked to a local oven for cremation before I get all stinky and embarrass myself in front of mixed company.
If anyone actually bothers to accede to my expressed wishes after my demise, my remaining ashes will be tilled into the soil of my backyard...where I'll probably have the lackluster misfortune to feed a weed, instead of maintaining a mighty oak providing squirrel bait for those rapacious little varmints. But hey...in a few billion years, who's gonna care anyway?
s2a
Heretic and part-time (skinny) Santa impersonator
And some recall they're in Disneyland, thusly making Mickey, "God"; and Goofy, the "Savior"...rendering some "true believers" of "heavenly" amusement parks...joeboonda said:
A more skeptical analysis (and suitably referenced) perspective:
[ http://www.skepdic.com/nde.html ]
M
Majikthise
Guest
I'll bite.
1. Where did I come from?
A. Genetic information from DNA supplied by countless generations of animal and human evolution.
2. Why am I here?
A. To have as much fun as is humanly possible while respecting the rights of others (who are not jacka$$es) to do the same.
3. Where am I going after this life?
A. My body will return to the Universe. My consciousness will disperse and be no more. Hopefully ,if I have done some good, my memory will live in the thoughts of others for a while. I will also live on through my children, so I will try to raise them to be decent human beings.
Not fancy or prophetic, but it works for me.
Hey Deut, you'll never be on my ignore list. In fact , I don't have one , I find it silly.
Anyway, I enjoy all your posts. I almost always agree with what you are saying(when I understand it) and you push me to learn new words and concepts. I liken you to an itellectual yoga insructor.
1. Where did I come from?
A. Genetic information from DNA supplied by countless generations of animal and human evolution.
2. Why am I here?
A. To have as much fun as is humanly possible while respecting the rights of others (who are not jacka$$es) to do the same.
3. Where am I going after this life?
A. My body will return to the Universe. My consciousness will disperse and be no more. Hopefully ,if I have done some good, my memory will live in the thoughts of others for a while. I will also live on through my children, so I will try to raise them to be decent human beings.
Not fancy or prophetic, but it works for me.
Hey Deut, you'll never be on my ignore list. In fact , I don't have one , I find it silly.
Anyway, I enjoy all your posts. I almost always agree with what you are saying(when I understand it) and you push me to learn new words and concepts. I liken you to an itellectual yoga insructor.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
1 Where did I come from?
I am told I came from these two people who keep insisting there my mother and father, and that I was born in Joplin, Missouri.
2. Why am I here?
I have come to the conclusion I am here to suffer and live alone. All of my friends have moved out of state, my entire social life is RF, and there has always been a major problem with any potential "love" relationships.
3. Where am I going after this life.
Anything would be better than this life. Even if death is nothingness, which would release me from all suffering, or going to hell, in which I could meet many new people, or Summerland, and if I get there, I doubt I come back to earth for another life.
I am told I came from these two people who keep insisting there my mother and father, and that I was born in Joplin, Missouri.
2. Why am I here?
I have come to the conclusion I am here to suffer and live alone. All of my friends have moved out of state, my entire social life is RF, and there has always been a major problem with any potential "love" relationships.
3. Where am I going after this life.
Anything would be better than this life. Even if death is nothingness, which would release me from all suffering, or going to hell, in which I could meet many new people, or Summerland, and if I get there, I doubt I come back to earth for another life.
The Black Whirlwind
Well-Known Member
My body was contructed through the process of a sperm entering an egg, thus combining to create y unique genetic structure, and i started to grow. So my body is of the Living Force. My soul, a blank slab, was transferred to my body from the Unifying Force. And later on i grew my Personal Force (the "me" essentialy)
I am here, as a Grey Jedi, to serve the will of the Force, wherver it takes me. this is going to be extremeley hard, because i do not know the will of the Force, but through the tenets of Jediism i will follow the light.
when i die, the Personal Force is either erased or archived, i dont know, and the blank soul returns to the unifying force, while my body decomposes and returns to the living force.
I am here, as a Grey Jedi, to serve the will of the Force, wherver it takes me. this is going to be extremeley hard, because i do not know the will of the Force, but through the tenets of Jediism i will follow the light.
when i die, the Personal Force is either erased or archived, i dont know, and the blank soul returns to the unifying force, while my body decomposes and returns to the living force.
Neo-Logic
Reality Checker
Listen to a song named The Spirit Moves On by Dream Theatre
The lyrics goes as the following:
Nicholas:
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
Where do we go when we die?
What lies beyond
And what lay before?
Is anything certain in life?
They say, "life is too short,"
"the here and the now"
And "you?re only given one shot"
But could there be more,
Have I lived before,
Or could this be all that we?ve got?
If I die tomorrow
I?d be allright
Because I believe
That after we?re gone
The spirit carries on
I used to be frightened of dying
I used to think death was the end
But that was before
I?m not scared anymore
I know that my soul will transcend
I may never find all the answers
I may never understand why
I may never prove
What I know to be true
But I know that I still have to try
If I die tomorrow
I?d be allright
Because I believe
That after we?re gone
The spirit carries on
Victoria:
"move on, be brave
Don?t weep at my grave
Because I am no longer here
But please never let
Your memory of me disappear"
Nicholas:
Safe in the light that surrounds me
Free of the fear and the pain
My questioning mind
Has helped me to find
The meaning in my life again
Victoria?s real
I finally feel
At peace with the girl in my dreams
And now that I?m here
It?s perfectly clear
I found out what all of this means
If I die tomorrow
I?d be allright
Because I believe
That after we?re gone
The spirit carries on
Hypnotherapist:
"you are once again surrounded by a brilliant white light.
allow the light to lead you away from your past and into this
lifetime. as the light dissipates you will slowly fade back into
con
Sness remembering all you have learned. when I tell you to open
your eyes you will return to the present, feeling peaceful and
refreshed. open your eyes, nicholas."
It's a very serene sounding song.
The lyrics goes as the following:
Nicholas:
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
Where do we go when we die?
What lies beyond
And what lay before?
Is anything certain in life?
They say, "life is too short,"
"the here and the now"
And "you?re only given one shot"
But could there be more,
Have I lived before,
Or could this be all that we?ve got?
If I die tomorrow
I?d be allright
Because I believe
That after we?re gone
The spirit carries on
I used to be frightened of dying
I used to think death was the end
But that was before
I?m not scared anymore
I know that my soul will transcend
I may never find all the answers
I may never understand why
I may never prove
What I know to be true
But I know that I still have to try
If I die tomorrow
I?d be allright
Because I believe
That after we?re gone
The spirit carries on
Victoria:
"move on, be brave
Don?t weep at my grave
Because I am no longer here
But please never let
Your memory of me disappear"
Nicholas:
Safe in the light that surrounds me
Free of the fear and the pain
My questioning mind
Has helped me to find
The meaning in my life again
Victoria?s real
I finally feel
At peace with the girl in my dreams
And now that I?m here
It?s perfectly clear
I found out what all of this means
If I die tomorrow
I?d be allright
Because I believe
That after we?re gone
The spirit carries on
Hypnotherapist:
"you are once again surrounded by a brilliant white light.
allow the light to lead you away from your past and into this
lifetime. as the light dissipates you will slowly fade back into
con
Sness remembering all you have learned. when I tell you to open
your eyes you will return to the present, feeling peaceful and
refreshed. open your eyes, nicholas."
It's a very serene sounding song.
M
Majikthise
Guest
Very cool.TheJedi said:
Wow, some interesting responses. I am not trying to lead anyone in a certain direction, as Deut suggested, which is why I have not posted my answers. But these are three things that I often think about and I wanted to hear some different perspectives. It seems that those who do not believe in a God, have a pretty depressing view of their life and future( with a few exceptions). If anything, a belief in a supreme being and afterlife, seems to atleast provide some hope and reason for this existence. Even if it is all in vain.
Green Gaia
Veteran Member
1. My mother.
2. To be alive.
3. Somewhere else, nowhere else, I don't know, it doesn't matter.
2. To be alive.
3. Somewhere else, nowhere else, I don't know, it doesn't matter.
joeboonda
Well-Known Member
On the third question, if there is a Hell, and I believe there is, I want to be certain that I do not go there. According to the Bible, the only thing we MUST do in this life is to be born again, see John chapter 3. Now, if I am wrong, then, hey, no problem, but if I am right, then some folks are gonna be in for a very very rude awakening.
Green Gaia
Veteran Member
tnutz said:
I'm sorry, but that is simply not true. I've said this before: People who live moral and ethical lives usually do so because they have a sense of responsibility to themselves and to others. Their incentive is that they want to live in a more sane, peaceful, and just world than the one we have at present, and wish to pass on a better world to succeeding generations.
To hold that moral and ethical living only occurs because people fear hell or damnation is to demean those who seek to lead morally and ethically responsible lives.
Even those of us who believe in something greater than ourselves can find hope and reason for existence among each other.