AfterlifeFollow

Damn, do you people ever die of old age?

Really, though, I'm gonna try this "mapping out my past lives" thing tonight, before I go to bed.

I think when you die, you are dead. I do not believe in an afterlife. I do not believe in reincarnation.

Iknow back in the time most of my visions occured, dying of old age was a lot younger anyways. It was rare for people to live past 60+. So technically, I lived to an ok age. As it stands, I dont think Im worse for wear

I absolutely believe in an afterlife. Besides, it has some very sound science behind it. Matter and energy cannot be destroyed, they only change forms. So, even if you're athiest you have to believe in SOME sort of afterlife, in which all the matter and energy in your body becomes a part of something else. As for our "souls", I do believe there's something there and I do believe it continues on beyond this physical reality. I just try not to dwell on the details, because (a) it's undoubtedly much more complicated than my brain can handle and (b) I figure I'm gonna find out what happens eventually, and I'm not in any rush to die so I'll just wait and see what happens when that time comes. =)

From a purely "Christian" standpoint, you're going to hell for being gay. However I have a hard time believing this for a lot of reasons.

1. The Bible

When it comes to the Bible, I have one hard-fast rule: if Jesus said it, it's law. If someone else said it, it's good advice. Jesus put forth the 2 greatest commandments; love God with all your heart and love thy neighbor as thyself.

He also says that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Nowhere does Jesus say that gays will not go to heaven. Remember, Jesus surrounded himself with whores, thieves, and liars. He taught love and forgiveness as the keys to heaven; not strict adhearance to The Law. He came to fufill The Law by dying on the Cross.

As I said before, things said in the Bible by anyone but Jesus aren't law in my eyes; they are advice for good living. Yes, it does say that homosexuals will not enter heaven. But it wasn't Jesus talking, it was a man. I have a hard time believing any man (other than The Man of course) can dictate what it takes to get to heaven.

2. Common Sense

Speaking from a purely "Christian" standpoint, anyone who does not accept Jesus into their hearts will burn. This however creates a problem when you look at people who might live their entire lives and never once hear about Christ. Does this mean that they will burn? No, says "Christians", because having never heard the good news, they will not be held accountable in heaven.

This is a little hard to swallow, because once again it was man who said this. Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So therefore how can man make the determination that something is right or wrong, good or evil, unless it comes directly from The Divine? That's why, to me, only the things said by Jesus are necessary.

3. The Facts

This is assuming a belief that the things written in The Bible are fact. I believe they are, you may not. But for the sake of this argument I'll say that they are.

I have a book by Max Lucado called "In the Grip of Grace". I would recommend reading the first chapter regardless of your personal belief or religion; IMHO it's truly inspired work. Anyways it talks about a man who tries to get into heaven based on his good deeds. Jesus tries to tell him that it can't be done and to just let it go, but the man is proud and says he wants to earn his way to heaven.

This is shown from a biblical standpoint to be incorrect, for it is only through the grace of Christ that we can ever get to heaven. So then the things that we do are out.

Now here's where I try to tie this together and show the contradiction. If all men are sinners (Romans 3:23), and sin is sin in the eyes of God (can't remember chapter/verse I'll look it up if anyone cares), then it doesn't matter if you are gay or if you tell a tiny white lie. If a preacher says that gays will go to hell, technically he has just sinned by judgeing, and Christ will judge him accordingly.

There is no definitive way to prove (once again assuming for the sake of argument that the Bible is fact) that gays will not go to heaven. To say that gays go to hell is to say that they cannot love Jesus. Technically it's saying that they can't believe in Jesus (John 3:16), because belief that he is the savior would grant grace, and by a purely "Christian" standpoint, gays cannot find grace.

I put Christian in quotations so many times becuase I believe that a lot of people who consider themselves Christian don't follow Christ, but a religion.

tut tut

why should they?



and my source? The Source.

Edited, Tue May 17 01:04:06 2005 by Kelvyquayo

I was definatly black at some point. Why else would I have an obsession with afros and ska?

Keep in mind that we shall only remember those which are closest to our surfaces in this lifetime. Indians remember animals. Not to mention that there were only a few mentioned, which possibly leaves room for hundreds more... but who knows,I havn't seen that many.


As far as the population thing... Take into account that their were not alot of people in the begining. Some I'm thinking that there was a certain point on Earth wehn all of the 'souls' were being first incarnated. This could have taken thousands of years. Eventually, all souls are circulating through EArth lives and otherworldlyness. This would explain why my own older lifetimes were so spread apart. As time goes on, things start to work much faster. It's like as a ball on a string winds itself around a stick... the centrifical force as it got closer to the end would cause the ball to spin faster and faster. So as the population gets larger and larger on Earth... in theory all of the souls every brought forth from all times and places will be on the Earth at the same time.

This is all strictly from a linear standpoint though. therefore I believe none of it. It reallyu goes much farther, since all of our personal lifetimes points in time are overlapping each other and thus in a way happening simutainiously. So your soul is irrelevamt their as is your death. For all of your conciousnesses states of beings are all cloacks that are ticking at the same time, just in differnt rooms. The true death of each of these lifetimes would mean the true end of everything, this oblivion that Heresjohnny is speaking of.

My biggest question: cycle or end?


I tell you this, these reflections can be seen in waking life. Not just you, but situations have "past lives" as well. Patternes will bleed through and repeat themselves. This is how all things are metaphors of somthing else, as it is relative to your observation of them. wahtever, I'll neer discount that I could be just crazy. That's why I can't fly.

what if your children are religious?

Did you come up with that one all by yourself?

My Mom's dead.

No wonder his joke was ao bad.

Why do you hate your mother?