[jerhanner]

Originally Posted by Scribbler

I was reading a book in a bookshop discussing theology over the weekend. One of the points it raised was claiming that hell wasn't literally a place of fire where people burn, but more a state of slow disintegration of the soul after death of those who haven't accepted god into their lives. What are people's thoughts on this?

I'm convinced we reincarnate. Once you've progressed enough, you get to go on to the next thing and never come back.

[Scribbler]

Originally Posted by jerhanner

I'm convinced we reincarnate. Once you've progressed enough, you get to go on to the next thing and never come back.

A little like Buddism? It's an interesting idea. What led you to this belief?

[horatio]

All the world is a stage and we are merely players. I neither know what happens behind the curtain after a player exits nor do I like to speculate ... or in short, agnosticism for me.

[Thascales]

Originally Posted by horatio

All the world is a stage and we are merely players. I neither know what happens behind the curtain after a player exits nor do I like to speculate ... or in short, agnosticism for me.

Same here. Personally, I hope it's Azathoth behind the veil.

[Zardoz]

Bottom line, no matter what you belive, be good and just to your fellow humans. We all share this planet and should delight and be tolerant of our diversity. Diversity makes us strong, and wise.

[jerhanner]

Originally Posted by Scribbler

A little like Buddism? It's an interesting idea. What led you to this belief?

It's the only thing that makes sense. After your body rots away, that electrical charge that powered you has to go somewhere - and as we know, energy can't disappear - it just changes form.

[horatio]

Isn't it interesting that reincarnation as well as heaven&hell have one thing in common, punishment when you have behaved badly? You get reborn as lower life form or you have to spent eternity with folks like Hitler, Pol Pot and Cheney. You will adept to the pain of fire and flames, but the real hell are the others in there or to say it with Sarte: l'enfer c'est les autres.

[Vincent Cain]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

Bottom line, no matter what you belive, be good and just to your fellow humans. We all share this planet and should delight and be tolerant of our diversity. Diversity makes us strong, and wise.

^^QFT.

[cjopbj]

Religion should be about how we live, not what happens after we die. I can see what happens after something dies. There's no mystery. The same thing happens to humans that happens to every other living creature - plant or animal. It is how we live, the choices we make, that affect the world. The purpose of religion should be about helping us make the right choices. That's what the best of the Bible is about. The Ten Commandments are about the living world. So is most of the Sermon on the Mount. How we live. Not how we die. And certainly not about scoring points for a fun filled afterlife or punishing people based on the rules of what is good and what is evil which ultimately change with every generation. Let's face it, until the 1940's, genocide wasn't even considered a crime.

[jerhanner]

Originally Posted by horatio

Isn't it interesting that reincarnation as well as heaven&hell have one thing in common, punishment when you have behaved badly? You get reborn as lower life form or you have to spent eternity with folks like Hitler, Pol Pot and Cheney. You will adept to the pain of fire and flames, but the real hell are the others in there or to say it with Sarte: l'enfer c'est les autres.

Reincarnation doesn't have punishment! You're simply, in effect, going back to class to try and learn a lesson.