Death:Theists-1, Aethiests-0

I will give theists one point: if they are right they are going to be laughing their saved butts off at our toasty, doomed souls. If we are right, well... we won't exactly be gloating will we? That's why I am holding my breath for ragnarok. Just as probable, and NOONE would see it coming. What I really want to see is this: Gates open in the sky, trumpets blare, people prostrate themselves, CNN gets it all on tape. And when the crescendo is reached:5 million ticked off undead viking warriors storm out of valhalla. It would be classic. I would die laughing....

Funny! Say, at the risk of sounding uneducated, what is "ragnarok"?

Ragnarök (Swedish spelling) in ancient Nordic mythology is the destruction of the universe. Loke (Loki in English?) leads the demons against the old gods. The latter perish in the final combat, whereupon the earth sinks into the ocean. A new earth rises, with a new generation of gods, but evil also returns.

not all thesists beleived in doomed souls and pearly gates............

I dont

Sounds like a reincarnation of Pascal's Wager. If you think about it carefully, atheists might actually be better off than theists.

So suppose that Judaism is the true religion. In Judaism, those who doubt/deny God are bad and those who support other Gods are really bad. So the Jews (about 3% of the world's theist population) are in good shape. The atheists aren't aren't so well off, but they sure are happy that they aren't the 97% of theists who are worst off.

Put simply so many religions offer second chances now that any self-respecting heathen can get to heaven in their eyes. I am Lutheran so lets compare me to the rest of the other religions in the world.

Catholic- Heck of a long time in purgatory, then heaven
Reincarnation Religions- I come back as a chimp-munk learning my lesson in the process, then hoping for a better life next round
Most Christian religions- Saved only if you believe in Christ
Jew- I'm damned to them, or am I?
Islam- I'm damned already as being and infidel

So a majority of Christian religions believe that if you believe in God; you are going to heaven. It doesn't matter if reincarnation is real. Catholics believe you go to purgatory. So I only hit or miss when it comes to the Jewish or Islamic faiths.

Religious beliefs (and all beliefs, really) are a funny thing. They really are like parasites of the mind--they even have their own defense mechanisms ("believe in me, or else!"). Make no mistake--all of our beliefs have one mission, and one mission only: to multiply in your brain and spread to other people. Even my beliefs about beliefs are doing this right now. They are infecting your brain as you read this, but do not worry, because your beliefs already have developed sophisticated defense mechanisms to prevent other beliefs from taking over your brain in their stead. For example, one defense mechanism might be: anyone who disagrees with you is the devil trying to trick you, so don't listen! :fight:

If only we could run some kind of Norton Anti-Virus on our brains....

:goodjob:

right... I cleaned my brain out a while back...I found that I had the "word of god" trojan virus...

tumble_weed said:

:goodjob:

right... I cleaned my brain out a while back...I found that I had the "word of god" trojan virus...

Click to expand...

me too :lol:

So a majority of Christian religions believe that if you believe in God; you are going to heaven.

Click to expand...

LCMS Sprecher,

You seem to be very misinformed about the afterlife requirements for a number of religions, especially Christianity. In virtually all forms of Christianity you can only get into heaven if you believe in Christ - simply believing in a God won't do. In many forms of Christianity that short sojourn in "Heck" is actually eternal - nonbelievers will never enter heaven. And in a few forms of Christianity, believing in Christ isn't even enough!

Your assesment of Buddhism and Islam afterlife requirements is fairly accurate. In Judaism, non-Jews need only follow the seven laws of Noah (I forget what they are, but it's pretty basic - don't kill, don't steal, etc.) to enter heaven. Even if entry into heaven is initially denied, there is no hell - just a visit to purgatory (although in a few forms of Judaism permanent exile from heaven is possible).

I am Christian, so I am sorry to be unclear about the afterlife requirements of Christianity. At the forefront, you must believe that Christ is the saviour of the entire human race and He did this by paying for all or our sins with His death on the cross. That is the primary Christian belief. It gets distorted and added to with the various denominations of Christianity.