I think about this death thing every so often and how it relates to religion. Who will answer me the following:-
What is all this weeping and wailing about the deaths of loved ones who are, after all, in a much better place now and waiting for you in heaven?
If heaven is eternal bliss and this life on earth is decidedly not, why don't believers want to go there now?
Despite all their posturing and bellowing, me thinks they are not all that confident in their god. And based on his track record they have a damn good reason to be concerned.
I think it might be due to their clause of killing themselves would be a sin.
Quote from: Munch on August 18, 2015, 05:31:57 PM
I think it might be due to their clause of killing themselves would be a sin.
But you know they would have added that clause the first time somebody got annoyed with them and called them out on their cowardice.
Christians: This world is rife with suffering, because we were born to be sinners, but a better world awaits us as believers after we die...
Others: Then why don't you just fucking die already?
Quote from: 1liesalot on August 18, 2015, 05:15:53 PM
I think about this death thing every so often and how it relates to religion. Who will answer me the following:-
What is all this weeping and wailing about the deaths of loved ones who are, after all, in a much better place now and waiting for you in heaven?
If heaven is eternal bliss and this life on earth is decidedly not, why don't believers want to go there now?
My guess is that they don't
really believe at all. Either that or they can't
really be sure that they've merited Heaven after all, and so they may end up in Hell for eternity.
Quote from: Munch on August 18, 2015, 05:31:57 PM
I think it might be due to their clause of killing themselves would be a sin.
This. Most video games have cheat codes to skip directly to the main boss. Christianity was smart enough to make the penalty for doing so quite severe, forcing you to play whether you like it or not.
Quote from: TomFoolery on August 18, 2015, 06:24:13 PM
This. Most video games have cheat codes to skip directly to the main boss. Christianity was smart enough to make the penalty for doing so quite severe, forcing you to play whether you like it or not.
Remember that Deuteronomy is primarily about how to pay the priest. No doubt some thought went into dissuading the good paying congregants from offing themselves.
Quote from: aitm on August 18, 2015, 05:22:49 PM
Despite all their posturing and bellowing, me thinks they are not all that confident in their god. And based on his track record they have a damn good reason to be concerned.
Me thinks the same.
Because suicide is an express trip to hell, in their belief system.
Different strokes for different cultures. In ancient Ireland, the living and dead reincarnated in each other's world, and the "that" world was considered better than "this" world. So when someone died in "this" world, they had a wake, which was a celebration and potlatch (victorious chieftains also celebrated a potlatch ... a party that shared the spoils with all the regular folk). Of course usually victorious chieftains left dead followers on the battlefield. And it was believed, that when someone died in the "that" world, it was a cause for mourning, because "this" world was so much worse than the one they were leaving.
Doesn't explain the ancient Egyptians though, who were probably more influential on Biblical ideas. The Egyptians would hired professional mourners for the funeral, because the family might be in too much grief to do that. But really, isn't one reason to grieve because we are going to miss he departed? Maybe the ancient Irish really had a wake, because they were glad the old SOB was gone? There are a lot of conflicting emotions when someone passes ... as was covered in that other string here, regarding the young person who is terminal, and who just went in and out of a coma.
Funeral and burial/cremation customs are among the most important in every society, along with birth and marriage. These are "passage" ceremonies ... which also mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. In Judaism the age is 13, in Hispanic culture it is 15, in Anglo culture it is 16. Among African boys, the circumcision often happens when they do that transition, as teens, not as new borns. As a ceremony for teens, male and female circumcision probably is a very ancient proof of bravery. Aboriginal folks of Australia, who are very very ancient, circumcise by drilling a second hole in the penis, not by removing the foreskin.