<u>My recommendation:</u> I wouldn't worry too much about getting "chosen" or not. I do believe in an energy or a "force" we could call God (for the sake of calling it something), but I don't buy any of the hell and damnation stuff. I believe all that was made up by man to keep us in line, just like the stories of the Greek gods. The people of that time thought they were true, too.
I believe whatever created us loves all of us, no matter what we do, for we are Its creations and a part of It. An example to make this more real & accessible: (assuming none of us are insane) none of us would kill our own children or send them (or allow them to be sent, if we can help it) into some everlasting torment no matter what they did to us or anyone else. This becomes much, MUCH clearer once you actually have your own kids. If you don't have kids and you think you wouldn't care what happen to them once they reached a certain level of "badness", you will do a 180 degree turn the first moment you see and touch your own ... I promise you that. You simply love them no matter what, and the fact that you had something to do with creating them and helping them when they were helpless makes a HUGE difference.
But why would we believe it would be any different with God to His children/ creations? ... unless we assume God is insane <IMG SRC="http://forums.civfanatics.com/ubb/wink.gif" border=0> ... What I find most illogical is how we could condemn a woman who kills her own children, yet at the same time we accept a God who would kill or torture (or allow to be tortured) His own children, that is
us, if we did something He didn't like or agree with. If we were consistent, wouldn't we either accept or reject both? If we're repulsed by a woman who kills her own children, why aren't we repulsed by the idea of a God who would do something similar, and so seek an idea of God that makes more sense?
I also think a lot of us unconsciously think we started in this body and are just trying to get to Heaven. So we think we're humans trying to have a spiritual experience or trying to get to a spiritual place. But where were we before birth on Earth? I believe we are spirit first and have always been such. And that we entered bodies to have a
human experience, instead of the other way around. And I feel that when we die, we will be accepted back into the spiritual plane (call it Heaven if you want) just as we were when we (that is, our souls) came here to have a bodily experience. Another way to see it is that we have chosen to play a grand virtual reality role-playing game that seems truly real (otherwise we wouldn't take it very seriously and it wouldn't have the same effect). And when our character dies, we are out of the game and we realize who we really are and where we really come from, and that it is not a tragedy at all ... just that our time in that game
as that character was over and we can choose to re-enter as another character if so desired ... for the sake of the experience ... to play the game. (and to have fun doing it!)
SunTzu: I think your concerns about the church as an organization are justified. If your heart/conscience doesn't feel/know something to be true for you, I wouldn't buy into it. And even though you and I disagree a lot, I feel you are assured a wonderful time in Heaven. Don't worry about it. No use wasting time worrying about it when you could be having a great life until then. On the Bible, though many humans call it sacred, it was still written by humans (who never could have seen dinosaurs ... good point). In fact, it was revised many times over by later humans. (You should study the origins and development of the Bible sometime, but not from a book/class sponsored by a religious organization of any kind.) And I don't throw the Bible out with the bathwater .. it says some wonderful things ... on the other hand, it also says some pretty horrible things ... so I'd be discriminating about it, as well as about any other "sacred writing". As Obi-Wan says, "trust your feelings". Sure, that came from Star Wars, but that doesn't mean there's not deep truth in that statement. We each "know" when what is said is truly "right" for us or not, as long as we can get the reactive, superficial feelings out of the way. I also bring it up as an example that deep truths can come from anywhere, not just the Bible. Another way to say this is, "Do you trust a 2000 year old, revised record of what some humans said God said, over what God may be telling you directly right here & now?"
Spiff <IMG SRC="http://forums.civfanatics.com/ubb/scan.gif" border=0>
[This message has been edited by SpacemanSpiff (edited June 24, 2001).]
