Hello folks
In a world where almost everything is debated and disputed, there seems to stand one globally accepted consensus. That universally accepted concept is none other the inevitability of death. Now what bugs me is why should one occupy himself with things other than good deeds and trying to please his God when he knows death will one day knock on his door?

Anyone can discuss. Your opinions are welcome

Hi Solar Welcome to the forum. Btw, there's a New Members thread where you can introduce yourself.

Now what bugs me is why should one occupy himself with things other than good deeds and trying to please his God when he knows death will one day knock on his door?

Honestly, I don't even see where your God comes in. I don't need a god to make me be kind to people, for instance; it's enough that I value them for their own sakes, not because a god tells me to - since I don't believe in any kind of god, and I'm reasonably sure we just die. Nothing to be gained (or lost) for my afterlife, since there isn't one. Sure, how I live and what I do can make a difference even after my death; but the difference will be to other people, not to my immortal soul. However, and excuse me for being blunt, even if I did believe in a God, making a difference for other people would strike me as much more meaningful and valuable than trying to score points for my own personal comfort in the afterlife. How about you?

Anyone can discuss. Your opinions are welcome

As are yours. Could you clarify for me how (you think) you know that God is pleased with you? Thanks.

I don't have a god. And I don't think that you do, either.

Why don't people do their utmost to try to make sure that their beliefs are correct instead of accepting what is written in an ancient book?

Solar wrote:Hello folks
In a world where almost everything is debated and disputed, there seems to stand one globally accepted consensus. That universally accepted concept is none other the inevitability of death. Now what bugs me is why should one occupy himself with things other than good deeds and trying to please his God when he knows death will one day knock on his door?

Anyone can discuss. Your opinions are welcome

If that is so, why did your particular god create you / us in the first place? Why should we go through all of this beauty and ugliness, pain and suffering, petty little victories and defeats, small little banalities that make up a life, just so that at the end we can be with such a god? Why not simply create us to be with him there and then, so that we can get to the worshiping part straight away? Why, if this is all a dress rehearsal, did he create so many other beings that will not be living with your god after they die? Why did so many of them (some 99%) have to become extinct while we are bowing and scraping away in the service of this god of yours?

And on the topic of gods bugging us - which god should one worship and dedicate one's life to? The culturally accepted one? The one that makes the most sense? The one that most people agree on? What do they agree on to start off with? Maybe one that has so far not revealed herself?

Does your approach not tarnish your motives for doing good deeds? You are clearly doing good in exchange for what good things you are going to get out of the deal. Should your god be satisfied with that selfish motivation? Should the good deeds of someone who simply does good deeds for the sake of helping others not weigh more on the scales of your god than one who spends his entire life doing good simply to gain some benefit at the end, as you are clearly doing?

Now those are the things that should be bugging you.

In order to please a god, one must know what that god desires. There are a lot of problems with this. Here are a few that spring to mind;
1) Pleasure works by reasonably well understood chemical processes in the squishy parts of our heads, how is a god supposed to be subject to the same thing?
2)If a god has desires, it would suggest a lack of omnipotence. How can an omnipotent deity have unfulfilled desires?
3)Due to the imperfect way that we are informed of these gods and their wishes, we rely on the interpretations of humans. This generally results in people working to please priests, imams, etc instead.
4)Why would I want to please a god that I find repulsive?

Some views on a godless life from the British Humanist Association.

Who is more moral? The one who does good because he thinks God is watching him and will punish him for not doing good, or the one who does good simply because he thinks it's the right thing to do?

What if we just pretend to know?

Solar wrote:Hello folks
In a world where almost everything is debated and disputed, there seems to stand one globally accepted consensus. That universally accepted concept is none other the inevitability of death. Now what bugs me is why should one occupy himself with things other than good deeds and trying to please his God when he knows death will one day knock on his door?

Anyone can discuss. Your opinions are welcome

If you remove "his God" from that equation and you will find that it bugs you a whole lot less.

JayWilson wrote:Solar, will you be joining this discussion?

How can one help another if he isn't able to help himself? That is what it is. First you have to fulfill your obligations and responsibilities, then worry about doing good for others. Of course this doesn't mean, don't help people at all. It just means focus on yourself and make sure you are content with yourself and deeds if you were to die now.

You see what i'am trying to say?

my_wan wrote:What if we just pretend to know?

There are many people who believe that death will one day be avoidable. Not sure if it is "universally accepted".
This doesn't include the millions who believe in re-incarnation, or a more esoteric view of the universe.

What do you say?

JayWilson wrote:

Solar wrote:You see what i'am trying to say?

Yes. So, it bugs you that people aren't doing this? Is pleasing gods part of the deal? What if people just like to do "bad" things, like, taking drugs? What then? And, what does knowing we're going to die have to do with it?

It is reminder to them. I wouldn't care if someone is sinning or not. I'm saying if death is inevitable,then why not to do good deed for the rest of your life and avoid anything that might annoy your god or believe system( of course a non-believer will be what), but from a believer perspective would you still be puzzle about this

Solar wrote:

my_wan wrote:What if we just pretend to know?

There are many people who believe that death will one day be avoidable. Not sure if it is "universally accepted".
This doesn't include the millions who believe in re-incarnation, or a more esoteric view of the universe.

What do you say?

Medical immortality is certainly within the realm of possible. We have cells from people that died back in the 1950s which are still living. They happen to be cancer cells, but still. So, not including the more esoteric views, I would not qualify it as a belief myself but certainly possible.

my_wan wrote:

Solar wrote:

my_wan wrote:What if we just pretend to know?

There are many people who believe that death will one day be avoidable. Not sure if it is "universally accepted".
This doesn't include the millions who believe in re-incarnation, or a more esoteric view of the universe.

What do you say?

Medical immortality is certainly within the realm of possible. We have cells from people that died back in the 1950s which are still living. They happen to be cancer cells, but still. So, not including the more esoteric views, I would not qualify it as a belief myself but certainly possible.

No way that is possible. enough prove for it? cells from 1950's?

Solar wrote:
No way that is possible. enough prove for it? cells from 1950's?

HeLa cells.

katja z said it. Weird stuff.