I find a strong correlation between insurance companies and Heaven. They both rely on the mechanism of the what-if equation. Would people buy insurance if they knew they wouldn’t have an accident? Would people live their life restrictively in accordance to scripture if they knew there was no heaven?

I find it childish that some people consider human existence to be more or less a judgmental and inexpressibly small one for the purpose of admission to the passive and incentive heaven, and to of course escape the fear ideologies of hell. Then again, who could possibly disprove it?

Should we be doomed with the burden to play Russian roulette with our future eternities from the word go? Do mortal sins deserve eternal punishment? Can life in its entirety really be quantified into two distinct categories? Are the Christians right? Is this all just a test of faith? One experiment on God's behalf?

These answers and many others can most likely be answered in themselves with the aid of biblical references – someone else’s opinion of the matter at hand. No need to take the stairs when the elevator is available, no need to walk when you can drive, no need to think when someone else has already thought for you.

Anyway I could be wrong and I most likely am, but it just seems like I've woken up to a majority world of idiots.

I'm curious, however, if I can live my life as an atheist and still get to heaven if I live how I want then right at the end, not long before I die, ask for the forgiveness of all my 'sins' I have committed throughout my life? Can I get an entry ticket this way?

Seems like a very clever scam, but I wonder why it was invented? For what purpose? Did it originate from those people of the church who charged that sin-like tax?

Why live like an atheist at all, then?

If you're going to pull out all the stops at the very last minute and ask for forgiveness in order to score that "ticket" ... why not just live like an agnostic?

Sounds like you're hoping against hopes that there IS a God.

Edit: The insurance analogy is a clever one. The only real difference is that the big fat premiums you pay on the front end are not likely to equal the grand finale "payoff" at the second your consciousness fizzles out when your body expires.

Why live like an atheist at all, then?

If you're going to pull out all the stops at the very last minute and ask for forgiveness in order to score that "ticket" ... why not just live like an agnostic?

Sounds like you're hoping against hopes that there IS a God.

I don't believe in a personal god. This kind of all-knowing, all-seeing god is lame. I'd prefer to think of "him" as an unexplainable (yes I am using the unexplainable to explain the unexplainable) driving force to the universe.

But a hint of Pascal's wager couldn't hurt, no? That was what I was getting at.

Edit: The insurance analogy is a clever one. The only real difference is that the big fat premiums you pay on the front end are not likely to equal the grand finale "payoff" at the second your consciousness fizzles out when your body expires.

The point was to compare and contrast the mechanisms of what drives people into these situations.

No god which is sane and loving (which pretty much leaves out the vengeful micromanager of the OT) would create a hell. There ain't no such place. Even Pope John Paul II said so.

That is not to say there is some bearded old white guy out there "somewhere". God is not so limited. I have found over the years, in many discussions with atheists, that the God they do not believe in is nothing like the God I know and communicate with.

Would people live their life restrictively in accordance to scripture if they knew there was no heaven?

Not all Jews believe in heaven and are more concerned with life here and now and believe in living a "good" life. I think that's very practical because it is something that can be passed down generation to generation.

I have found over the years, in many discussions with atheists, that the God they do not believe in is nothing like the God I know and communicate with.

Please elaborate :rolleyes:

Please elaborate :rolleyes:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=h8n-GciB7YM

Lois theroux you tube clips are running amock in "My God..."

That old guys a nut.