Bunch of dam nonsense

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I have no problem with Christ as I understand him. I have serious problems with most religions, and feel there are serious problems to discovering his true teachings. While what is in the bible is essentially true, it is a translation and as such a poor source for 'God's Word.' Besides, the bible has been edited more than once, and is mostly a Christian ikon.

For me the key question is not "is there a God?" but do we survive physical death? If I have a soul which will survive my body's death than I will live in such a way that will help my nonphysical life as well as my physical one. Unless I am absolutely positive that I do not survive my physical death it behooves me to behave as if I did, since the alternative is relatively meaningless. We humans search for meaning and make our own meaning, for our lives. Our beliefs dictate how we perceive reality, and our beliefs should evolve the way science's beliefs have evolved.

[lindagarrette]

Unless I am absolutely positive that I do not survive my physical death it behooves me to behave as if I did

So just how differently would you behave if you did not believe in an afterlife?

[TINNY]

about this Uncertainty and Agnosticism, I don't see the point in living a secular humanist life. you are not sure of afterlife, god, reward/punishment etc, then it would be best if you be a believer since if it is correct then you have everything to gain. And if you're wrong, you have nothing to lose since you'd be dead, and there's no purpose in life and that this existence is totally meaningless. No such thing as preserving mankind and our species... It seems rather arrogant from my point of view to proclaim atheism etc. Sorry if I'm wrong here.

[zadojla]

about this Uncertainty and Agnosticism, I don't see the point in living a secular humanist life. you are not sure of afterlife, god, reward/punishment etc, then it would be best if you be a believer since if it is correct then you have everything to gain. And if you're wrong, you have nothing to lose since you'd be dead, and there's no purpose in life and that this existence is totally meaningless. No such thing as preserving mankind and our species... It seems rather arrogant from my point of view to proclaim atheism etc. Sorry if I'm wrong here.

It doesn't work that way, at least for me. I can understand the "game-theoretic" position you describe, but I can't just choose to believe. I am a non-believer, but I go to church nearly every Sunday with my family, and have for 10 years. It still always sounds like a crock to me. Even if I convinced myself for a time to believe, my innate scepticism would eventually bubble to the surface.

Besides, the belief you describe would probably be considered false belief by most Christian denominations.

[BEAKER]

We humans search for meaning and make our own meaning, for our lives. Our beliefs dictate how we perceive reality, and our beliefs should evolve the way science's beliefs have evolved.

 

Well put.

 

I would say that rather than "We humans ...make our own meaning, for our lives"; that we choose what we will call meaning.

 

If life has meaning at all, it is not there because we decide it should be.

If life has meaning, we may search for it and never find it because we looked in the wrong place, or closed our eyes when we got too close to it.

 

Unless of course the meaning we find is to not find the meaning.