No, I apologize, I was being flip with that comment.
What I meant was, I don’t think one has to believe in any god to be a good and moral person, and I don’t think there’s anyone waiting to tally up how good or bad anyone’s been at the end of their lives. It’s just up to you, how you want to live your life.
I think the golden rule says it all, and it doesn’t take any belief in any deity to make it work.
Apology accepted, although I was being flip, as well.
The point you are making was very much the same assessment I gave of an atheist’s choices to do what was good, because it is good.
I happen to believe that there is a God. But I don’t think only those who believe in God can see that love, kindness, charity, and honesty are desirable for their own sakes.
The part about what God will say about it after the fact was a scriptural allusion. Feel free to ignore it.
Tris
You have to marvel at the stun gun absurdity that is fighting to the death over what happens to you after you die.
Then we are well met, Triskadecamus.
Good to know you, and I look forward to any discussions and possible disagreements we may have.
Let’s have a little fun:
If you had a time machine like in the movie, would you go forward
or back in time to find your answers ? The earth has about 4 1/2
billion years left until it too shall die, when the sun runs out of
fuel.Let’s go first to 1 billion AD. Will the prophesy of the true
religion have been fulfilled ? Or do we need to go farther,say
2 billion, 3 billion, or the whole enchalada, 4 1/2 billion years to
find out how this great novel turns out? What will the earthly
inhabitants look like? As for me, I would of course go full blast
forward, glass of Chardoney in hand, as a Atheist I will have the
luxury of not having my trip interupted by the Rapture. Who
knows, maybe events might change my present mindset .
Hope you have a nice trip FrankoThe “big black” isn’t frightening for me. I don’t think that you’ll be aware of nothingness-- you just end, as does any awareness.
Why would you think you would be concious? You’re dead! There’s nothing powering the mind at that point.
That’s where you’re wrong! We each get our own personal hamsters! Haha!
Julie
Thank you for the welcome.
Upto now you are sort of a white raven, but I’m a stubborn person. I wont leave this message board for what it is before a self supporting Aldebaran fanclub is not only established, but seen as an absolute normality.
Of course the moderaters can throw me off earlier but since I’m in the completely innocent stage of my stay here and since I’m by nature completely innocent such a cruel decision would make me completely disorientated depressed.
No moderator with a heart would ever to this to me.
Salaam. A.
You should give it the interpretation of: “all those” who believe in God…
The Sabians have a long history which can be traced beginning with their arrival in Yemen in the X the or IX the century BC. Maybe they were Arabs of the North who immigrated towards the South.
Their capital was was Ma’rib where they constructed in the V the century BC the famous Ma’rib dam, which functioned for more then thousand years (the braking of the dam is seen as the final event ending the Himyar civilisation). The remains of this construction can still be seen.
When it comes to define who exactly the Sabians referred to in Al Qur’an were: since the IV the century AD Christianity infiltrated into the South of the Arabian peninsula among others coming from Abessinia. Churches were build among others in Aden and Dhofar and close relationships between the Christians in South Arabia and the Syrian monofysits developed.
I can give a short overview of historical events during the following centuries if you like.
But to answer your question: most likely the Sabians in Al Qur’an are remaining groups of the Christians of who’s origin lies in the Yemenite region. Yet there is no absolute consensus about this.
It would be interesting if you could explain your beliefs.
You don’t need to read one of the “books” to become aware of the existence of a Creator. That is in fact a very clear message one can distinct in Al Qur’an.
Salaam. A
Aldebaran - Perhaps he’s a humanist?
Yawn.
I think I’ll go fishing.
FrankoSnoopyFan-
Sorry to be annoying about his, but I’d like to dispel a misconception in your post. You say that Jews would tell you that you’d cease to exist after death. This isn’t true. We Jews believe in heaven, which we call the Garden of Eden, though it’s not precisely the same garden described in Genesis. Our hell is something akin to Catholic purgatory; you don’t satay there forever, just longenough to work off your sins. Exactly what you deserve and no more. Judaism is less concerned with fleshing out the datails of the afterlife, which may be the cause for this misconception. I guess we figure we’ll know when we get there. In any case, Judaisnm has always emphasized doing something for its own sake, not the sake of its reward or punishment, which may be the reason for our lack of details on the ultimate reward and punishment.
Again, sorry to be annoying.
And, in Zahava424’s spirit of dispelling misconceptions -
The first sentence is an urban myth. The person claiming he said this made it up.
And I am a lifelong (almost) Christian, and have heard several thousand sermons over the course of my life, and have never heard a preacher excoriate atheists from the pulpit. Frankly, atheists don’t get mentioned much in the churches I have attended.
I am sure it happens occasionally, but to say that it happens “constantly” is more than slight exaggeration.
Regards,
Shodan
PS - Welcome to the SDMB, Zahava424.