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Post by mudflappus on Mar 19, 2009 17:12:21 GMT -5
I have never understood this. All of the holy texts insist on a life of humble and modest servitude. All of the holy texts require one to resist the temptation of gluttony both in body and in material possessions. All of the holy texts insist that one be honest, quiet and hold the highest integrity in ones self. Why is it then that most of the religious fanatics I read about here (usually mostly the RR crowd) swear by their faith that Heaven is going to be full of mansions and palaces opulent beyond compare? Streets of gold? Wealth, crowns, shimmering white robes . . . truly these are the very things the books of their faith forbid them to desire. Why is it that this Heavenly reward thing always conveniently includes all of the material possessions they not -so-secretly covet on a daily basis? If gold is one of the things people are willing to kill each other over, why would God see fit to pave streets with it? Why would it even be worth anything if in heaven there is no need for currency or pride of ownership? Has anyone tried to validate this vision with you?
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Post by Thejebusfire on Mar 19, 2009 17:16:13 GMT -5
I've always wondered that too.
Why would they need big mansions if their going to be spending all their time worshiping god?
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Post by JonathanE on Mar 19, 2009 17:17:06 GMT -5
They do this because they are too simple to understand metaphor.
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Post by wisechild on Mar 19, 2009 17:26:42 GMT -5
Yes, metaphor. Sort of like how the dead have no physical bodies, but the condemned will burn in Hell. And they want to express it in those terms to all heathens.
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Post by Lady Renae on Mar 19, 2009 17:28:21 GMT -5
I've also heard it theorized that it's a status thing. They think themselves better than the rest of the world, so getting to live forever surrounded by wealth is a symbol of how much better than are than everyone else.
Also, I want to add that when I was Christian, I envisioned heaven as a place where no one got sick, no one got hurt, people could fly, you never got hungry or thirsty or tired but could eat or drink or sleep if you wanted to anyway, you could play all the time if you wanted, you got to learn everything, and everybody was nice. Other than that, I didn't even think about it really.
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Post by devilschaplain2 on Mar 19, 2009 17:34:47 GMT -5
I have never understood this. All of the holy texts insist on a life of humble and modest servitude. All of the holy texts require one to resist the temptation of gluttony both in body and in material possessions. All of the holy texts insist that one be honest, quiet and hold the highest integrity in ones self. Why is it then that most of the religious fanatics I read about here (usually mostly the RR crowd) swear by their faith that Heaven is going to be full of mansions and palaces opulent beyond compare? Streets of gold? Wealth, crowns, shimmering white robes . . . truly these are the very things the books of their faith forbid them to desire. Why is it that this Heavenly reward thing always conveniently includes all of the material possessions they not -so-secretly covet on a daily basis? If gold is one of the things people are willing to kill each other over, why would God see fit to pave streets with it? Why would it even be worth anything if in heaven there is no need for currency or pride of ownership? Has anyone tried to validate this vision with you? Don't know where you get that idea from...
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frogflayer
New Member
Sky Daddy (coming soon)
Posts: 43
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Post by frogflayer on Mar 19, 2009 17:36:29 GMT -5
Not that much different to being on acid at uni then? (except for the sickness bit)
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Post by darthtoxic on Mar 19, 2009 17:41:31 GMT -5
So C. Everett Coop going on TV is a sign of the apocalypse?
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Post by Thejebusfire on Mar 19, 2009 17:55:58 GMT -5
I've also heard it theorized that it's a status thing. They think themselves better than the rest of the world, so getting to live forever surrounded by wealth is a symbol of how much better than are than everyone else. Also, I want to add that when I was Christian, I envisioned heaven as a place where no one got sick, no one got hurt, people could fly, you never got hungry or thirsty or tired but could eat or drink or sleep if you wanted to anyway, you could play all the time if you wanted, you got to learn everything, and everybody was nice. Other than that, I didn't even think about it really. To some, it is more or less of a status thing. As a girl I remember being told that the more deeds you did for god, the higher your level in heaven will be.
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Post by Armand Tanzarian on Mar 19, 2009 18:38:12 GMT -5
The scariest belief of Christianity are those who want so bad to go to heaven, that the only thing keeping them from killing themselves is that suicide is sin.
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Post by Vene on Mar 19, 2009 18:57:23 GMT -5
The scariest belief of Christianity are those who want so bad to go to heaven, that the only thing keeping them from killing themselves is that suicide is sin. It wasn't always that way. It used to be just fine (even somewhat encouraged), until the church finally decided enough was enough and declared it sinful.
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Post by Star Cluster on Mar 19, 2009 19:01:02 GMT -5
The scariest belief of Christianity are those who want so bad to go to heaven, that the only thing keeping them from killing themselves is that suicide is sin. It wasn't always that way. It used to be just fine (even somewhat encouraged), until the church finally decided enough was enough and declared it sinful. Well, hell's bell's, we can't have the membership offing themselves every day. Wouldn't be long until we didn't have a church if all the brethren decided they'd rather be in heaven now.
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Post by Paradox on Mar 19, 2009 19:08:06 GMT -5
The scariest belief of Christianity are those who want so bad to go to heaven, that the only thing keeping them from killing themselves is that suicide is sin. It wasn't always that way. It used to be just fine (even somewhat encouraged), until the church finally decided enough was enough and declared it sinful. Most protestant churches I'm familiar with don't consider suicide a mortal sin. In fact, most protestant churches I'm familiar with don't think that mortal sins exist, which brings up some complicated problems.
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Post by Vene on Mar 19, 2009 19:18:16 GMT -5
It wasn't always that way. It used to be just fine (even somewhat encouraged), until the church finally decided enough was enough and declared it sinful. Most protestant churches I'm familiar with don't consider suicide a mortal sin. In fact, most protestant churches I'm familiar with don't think that mortal sins exist, which brings up some complicated problems. This occurred before the reformation. Sometime between 1000 and 1500 years ago. I only know this because I had a project for a geography class where we looked at the history of Christianity and how it changed over time. I was given the years between 500 AD and 1000 AD.
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Post by Paradox on Mar 19, 2009 19:19:43 GMT -5
Most protestant churches I'm familiar with don't consider suicide a mortal sin. In fact, most protestant churches I'm familiar with don't think that mortal sins exist, which brings up some complicated problems. This occurred before the reformation. Sometime between 1000 and 1500 years ago. I only know this because I had a project for a geography class where we looked at the history of Christianity and how it changed over time. I was given the years between 500 AD and 1000 AD. I don't know much about the history of it, just what churches I've encountered believe today.
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