The Goal
I was watching a short-lived British sci-fi show yesterday and there was a conversation between a religious leader and an atheist. The religious leader asked what the atheist is hopeful toward. What does he have to look forward to? The atheist jokingly said, “Dinner.” Obviously, he was joking because if he were really serious, he would have said, “dessert.”
Seriously though, religious believers ask this type of question all the time. If we don’t believe in some perfect eternal paradise, then what is the point of living? Why should we do anything? I explored this line of reasoning in my last Huffington Post article titled, “Life’s a Movie; Enjoy The Show.”
But I do find it interesting that religious believers can’t wait for their eternal paradise and yet they waste time here on Earth with us evil sinners. If they really believed this crap, why bother locking their doors at night or looking both ways when they cross the street. Obviously, they can’t kill themselves because that would be a one way ticket to eternal torture. But they can just live their lives with caution to the wind. God obviously doesn’t punish people for being stupid.
I also find it odd that religious believers haven’t really thought through their goal. What happens after they achieve their goal? Great, they win the game of life and are rewarded with eternal paradise, 72 virgins, or whatever. Then what? After a while that is sure to get pretty boring. I mean how long can you really enjoy paradise? I don’t personally think I could enjoy paradise for a minute knowing that so many people I love and care about will be tortured for all eternity in Hell. Eternity is a pretty long time, after all.
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Filed under: Alternative Worldview, death, hell, Purpose, Religious Manipulation
