by neverendingjourney 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
IOW an obsession with permanance and idealism robs a person of the pleasure of reality.
An obsession, perhaps. A hope for or faith in... no, not at all (and can also help some through the pain of reality). So I ask you the same question: do we have to believe that our lives end (permanently) in order to enjoy/appreciate them right now?
Agonus, I liked that quote.
Tammy
Imagine all the people living for the day...... Well I had to post that.
And tec, I get it, I get the escapism that religion offers or seems to offer. Problem is, religion tends to focus on the pain so as to affirm the religion's value. I would never argue that delusions can't be comforting, we know they can be. But I tell the truth when I say that fear of nonexistance is exacerbated by the incessant insistance that there is some injustice in it, some cosmic tragedy, adding a sense of victimization or worse yet, guilt for some innate sinfulness causing it. In this way religion tends to insight fear of death as much as try to calm it. Having come to terms with life as a lucky stroke that will come to an end like everything does, I have made peace with death. I also accept that misfortune is part of the deal in the meantime. Make the best of the hand you are dealt and help others do the same and you really don't feel a need for religion's escapism.
Sometimes we need a Blankie and an Ice Cream
I agree with you that a lot of religion can be as you described.
But I was talking about faith... and trying to say that a hope in an afterlife does not have to diminish the appreciation and enjoyment of life here and now.
Tammy
Faith is what remains when certitude fails.
I think.
Well, I hope anyways.
Yeah. I was searching the internet for the meaning of life; (as you do!) and I came across a website called AimforAwesome.com. written by some young dude in Hawaii, and he seems pretty switched on, so have a look. I haven't worked out what he is selling yet! Gotta be selling something, right?
"Religion is the opium of the people." - Karl Marx
'Have you accepted yourself as a sinner' 'The Fall of Man, Sin and Punishment' 'Confess and Repent' 'Sacrement of Penance' just a few of the slogans from Christian Churches. Or as the popular 1John 1:9 highlights baptism doesn't save but you live in a state of ongoing confession to your experience with Jesus.
I remember one old man I met out in service years ago who was weeping at the idea that 'Jesus had saved a wretch like me', I think he liked going to Titie Bars or something. Ok, that got him to stop going and be a better husband to his stern Bible carrying wife, she kind of looked like a cross between Ma Kettle and some of the Nuns who would parade up and down our street twice a day reciting the Rosary.
People need these things, I get that.
Human beings tend to assume that we are special among all species.
I've been thinking about that lately. One of the few things that separates us from other species is our seeming level of consciousness/awareness. And that hasn't yielded us a fate other than the species that surround us.
I don't think we're so special anymore.
I've been thinking about that lately. One of the few things that separates us from other species is our seeming level of consciousness/awareness. And that hasn't yielded us a fate other than the species that surround us.
I don't think we're so special anymore
Lately, I don't think so either. Some people may view that as a negative outlook, but I don't view it as such. Matter fact, I view it as positive because its taking a realistic approach to life's questions. I don't like fantasizing about what could have been, or what might happen in the future. I'd rather deal with reality as it is and roll with the punches. I might see a beautiful woman walking down the street, and think to myself, "wow, she's something else." Then I see a wedding band on her finger, and as a result she's off limits to me. So then I say to myself, "she probably goes through more toilet paper in a week than I go through in a month." It's reality, its cynical to be sure, yeah, most definately. But, its still reality. I don't have some way to put it, because thats just how it is, and I prefer it be that way.
It makes me think of Eric B & Rakim's song, Paid In Full. One of the lines in that song goes.......
Thinkin of a master plan, cuz aint nothing but sweat inside my hand. So I dig into my pockets, all my money is spent. So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint.
That verse can be applied to searching to the answers for life's questions. I've been digging through different religious doctrines, examining what I've been taught as a born in Jehovah's Witness, examining the various thoughts posted on this message board, purchased numerous books on philosophy and theology, etc.. I'm still not satisfied with the answers I've come across. It's to the point that I feel like I'm coming up with only lint. Am I wasting my time?
So I walk up the street, whistling this, feeling out of place cuz man do I miss.....
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of, me and Eric B, and nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish, but without no money its still a wish
Cuz I don't like to dream about getting paid
I don't like to dream about getting paid either. I don't like to dream about a paradise earth either. I don't like to dream about whether or not Babylon sacked Jerusalem in 607 or 586 either. Lately I don't like to dream that God is going to set the Governing Body straight, and get this religion in order. I don't like dreaming about myself one day finding all the answers. All of that lately just seems like fantasy to me. I'd rather deal with reality as it is.
Ya know, I really dig Ecclesiastes and the cynical yet realistic tone throughout that verse. It's so truthful when it comes to the eventuality of man. We might be more conscious than animals, but we end up in the same dirt they end up after its all said and done. Same happens to the wealthy, the poor, the wicked, the just, blacks, whites, and everybody. Considering that I feel like, why am I worrying about life in another realm, or the fantasies of the religiously inclined? I need to start living life now.
