I honestly don’t get it either. If you have a choice between hope and no hope…why would you choose no hope. Absolutely mind boggling!
Can you honestly choose to decide that your remote control is a blueberry? I can think up ways to lie to rationalize it, but my brain won’t let me honestly think it is anything other than a remote, since any other way doesn’t make sense to me. It is the same with me and Catholicism. I have never wanted to leave Catholicism, but it does not make sense to me anymore, so much so that for me to continue to call myself Catholic would be a lie, therefore, I am unable to have belief. I grew up in a religious family, so me not being religious is cause for pain for them, and assuredly problems in the future with them, that I am not looking forward to. I would love to have that hope but it is on a path that does not seem accurate to me, therefore my brain won’t let me believe it. We can do actions to try to influence belief, but belief itself is not a choice.
I would rather have the thought that I will have complete happiness after death and see my deceased loved ones, than to think of life/death as finality and pointlessness. I do what I can to keep myself positive, even with these thoughts in my head.
If man were to create a fictional Being and call it God - wouldnt that man - let alone men of different eras - create a God that allowed adultery, homo relations, hate - revenge - and whatever else our little hearts really do think we want?
The social contract is what makes for an efficient society with consistent benefits. It’s the simple golden rule. I don’t want my spouse to cheat on me, so why think it is OK that I do it to him? Short term enjoyment is far inferior to stable long term enjoyment. Besides, there are many religions out there which espouse mostly good values.
Animals eat their young. They eat their own defecation. They drink blood and tear into raw muscles of other creatures. They have intercourse with whoever is nearby. They do not have permanent relationships and faithfulness. They do not build homes or do commerce or create wealth.
Sure this applies to a lot of animals, but not all. Animals that form lifelong pair bonds include ‘beavers, otters, wolves, some bats and foxes ‘ (
livescience.com/animals/061120_monogamous_animals.html)
Can’t forget that humans have a disheartening adultery rate themselves too, and many of the aforementioned behaviors can be found in human history.
Veritas248:
The problem is trying to comprehend how one could not be given over to despair when they believe and or know that there will be a point in time when they will not exist at all. The more and more I think about it, the more and more distressed I become. Its like sitting there and thinking: I exist now, but one of these days I wont. I will completely fade away. All my thoughts, wants, likes, and interests will be nothing at all. Everything I have ever done will amount to nothing, and even if it does, I won’t be around to see it.
Yes, it is very depressing, and takes a long time to wrap one’s head around it. I’m still in the process of doing that. The circle of life gives me a little bit of comfort. I work in healthcare, and when a baby is born, a lullaby is played overhead. Sometimes this plays not too long after a code blue is called.
You didn’t feel pain or loss before you were born, and neither shall you after death. Sure the prospect of dying is scary, but being dead isn’t. What is the root of fear for you? I thought about this, and the root of all fear that I could come up with is pain, whether it be physical or emotional. The main fear surrounding death for me is pain when dying, emotional pain of things undone and pain of potential meaninglessness of it all, and the pain my loved ones will go through. It still seems strange that I won’t wake up, can’t reload/restart, but that’s just how it is. I have to focus on the fact that hopefully there is some meaning to my life in the sense that I have influenced others, done good works, and will have raised good kids. We all offer our own little piece to the story of humanity.
