Heaven and Hell. What do you think?

[BornBronson]

Originally Posted by BornBronson

Yes,I believe in a Heaven and a Hell.What they are exactly is something we'll all have to wait and see.

I have been reading the bible,but i'm pretty careful what i read.I don't go to church,cause i don't think i'll find all the answers i'm looking for there,either.

All I can do is study these things called the ten commandments.I do believe someone very wise wrote them.Someone who was trying to tell us how to get along with our fellow human beings.And if we break them,we will only be punishing ourselves.In my heart I see the truth,I can't escape that.I don't have all the answers,but I don't think anyone here on earth really does.If you go by the truth,speak the truth,and hear it when it is spoken,then you can't go wrong.

Oh nice,now I have a headache.

Sometimes I need to come back to my words.No,it's not a headache.It's the truth that hurts,when you fight it.

I thought our president was a Muslim.Regardless,he believes there is a God.Good for him.

I still want him OUT of office.

[apretty]

Originally Posted by BornBronson

I thought our president was a Muslim.

your posts intrigue me to no end.

this time, i'm wondering how you came to the conclusion that our president is muslim?

[BornBronson]

They do??

I just thought he was,my mistake.

What religion does he practice anyway..do you know?.

[Toughy]

Originally Posted by BornBronson

They do??

I just thought he was,my mistake.

What religion does he practice anyway..do you know?.

He is a Christian. Do you really care which version of Christianity he practices.....Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, etc?

Why does it matter if he is Muslim or Christian or Jewish or Pagan or believes in the Flying Spaghetti Monster or is atheist?

[Nat]

I might believe in heaven, though I don't know what I think about it being an afterlife experience. I have lots of ideas about the afterlife - and for all I know, it really is just turning out the lights. I would prefer otherwise, and I don't mind entertaining more pleasant theories. However, I think heaven and hell may be experiences we can have concurrent with life.

I cannot say what exists for other people, but I this quote has resonance for me. There have been times during meditation where I feel I have reached a place of beauty and mystery that is so profound and pleasurable that heaven would be a way to describe it.

In every one of us, if we can still our questing heart and our puzzling mind, there is a secret doorway. Who knows how you will find this doorway? Through great suffering, so that one day you turn inside and in anguish stumble upon the key there in your heart? Through reading the lines of a poem? or hearing the words of a song that lead you to this hidden place? Or will it be when you grow old? When the seeking of fame and fortune, of possession and distraction weary you at last? and you take the first deliberate steps towards a discovery of the soul that breathes within you. However you journey to this doorway, however young or old, however driven by sadness or delight in exploring, once you turn its handle and step forward into the realm this doorway reveals, your life will change forever. For you will discover there the land that is known to the Druids and Celts as ..."The Land of Eternal Youth" , some call it..."The Land of Promise," others..."The Land of Honey". It is the secret heaven within each one of us, that if we dare to enter, we discover it is not binded by the limits of our mind or soul but is coexistent with the Universe. There we never age and live in perfect health and joy, feeding our hearts with the love of all creation and expressing our beauty and our strength in acts of noble generosity and courage. For some, it is easy to travel to this place - they have learnt the ways and know the routes that magic in the days of old have laid upon this trackless land, and they come and go through this doorway, refreshing their bodies, hearts and minds, bringing with them the gifts of youthfulness, of healing and of art.

from druidcast episode 3

[Mrs. Strutt]

I believe in heaven. I don't believe in hell. I think there is a beautiful place our souls go when this life is ended and, if we choose, we can do "the life thing" all over again. Or not.

I don't believe there is a Satan or a hell. The God I love bears no resemblance to the needy, neurotic being taught and used by fundamentalist Christianity to brainwash/frighten people into accepting their belief systems and allow them control over their lives. My God doesn't need a "devil" to conquer because He/She is far bigger than that in my eyes.

[MsDemeanor]

Originally Posted by BornBronson

I thought our president was a Muslim.

Originally Posted by BornBronson

I just thought he was,my mistake.

There were about a bazillion news stories about this lie that was fabricated by conservatives. I'm gonna guess that you get your "news" from Glenn Beck.

[Bob]

Originally Posted by BornBronson

I thought our president was a Muslim.

Oh, wow, I feel so stupid! I thought he was a MUSLIN, which according to Wikipedia is "..often used to make dresses or curtains but may also be used to complement foam for bench padding."

There goes my BP conspiracy theory too!

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by BornBronson

Sometimes I need to come back to my words.No,it's not a headache.It's the truth that hurts,when you fight it.

I thought our president was a Muslim.Regardless,he believes there is a God.Good for him.

I still want him OUT of office.

Can you explain WHY you thought he was a Muslim? I'm just curious if there is any reason--any piece of evidence at all--or did you just leap to this conclusion? He went to a UCC church in Chicago. He goes to, I believe, a Methodist church in DC. He says he's a Christian. So is there something about Mr. Obama that you know that he doesn't know about himself?

Btw. what if he didn't believe in God? What difference would it make?

And actually, what if he WAS a Muslim? Then what? What if he were a Hindu? Or a Buddhist? What possible relevance could his religion have to how he does his job as POTUS?

[Apocalipstic]

On the original question....In the words of the late greatest John Lennon....

"No hell below us, above us only sky!"

On the more recent discussion...

Why would it be a problem if President Obama were Muslim? Alledgedly the USA believes in division between church and state.

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

On the original question....In the words of the late greatest John Lennon....

"No hell below us, above us only sky!"

On the more recent discussion...

Why would it be a problem if President Obama were Muslim? Alledgedly the USA believes in division between church and state.

There is also this inconvenient piece from the Constitution:

...but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

That is Article VI of the Constitution. Someone--I forget who it is at the top of my head--wrote that Article VI applies all the way down to the citizenry such that if we impose a religious test for office we are in violation of the spirit of the Constitution.

We should not take into account the religion of any person running for public office. When I was growing up religion was a private affair, a matter of individual conscience. I find it terribly ironic that those who would style themselves super-patriots, the last true lovers of America would be so quick to apply a religious test for office while many of us freethinkers, attached to no religion in particular or holding loosely to something like Buddhism (as I do) apply no religious test.

Ironies abound in modern America.

[Ryobi]

I saw this thread active today and had the time, finally, to come in here. I read through posts and now the last few are a political debate? What?

Can that chunk of this threat be taken to the "red zone"? Or can one of you posting in that particular debate, start a thread in the political section? I have things to say on that subject too, not what I intended for this thread.

Thanks for understanding. I'm going to go find all the thoughts that went flying out of my head earlier. Jeezus people! Give a dyslectic, ADD brother a break. LOL! when I find them, I'll be back.

[Apocalipstic]

Back on subject..

Logically I do not believe that there is a Heaven and Hell.

If people focused on being a good person today, instead of acting however because they think they can repent and will have a better life in Heaven, the world would be far more peaceful.

On the other hand, it is so comforting to think of my Mother and my dog Mac watching over me from somewhere wonderful.

[Ryobi]

apocalipstic, for you and Mac. "If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went". ~Will Rogers~

I have enjoyed all the comments and ideas posted here. I don't believe in religion. I believe it's ALL, every one of them, a brainwashing. I also believe that, if you are talking religion, satanism must be included. It's a religion just as valid as any other. (did you know, the military will now state "satanism" on dog tags as a persons religion, instead of "non" like they once did. Score one for the red devils! (that's not why I think it's a valid religion, btw.))

There was a time in my life, when I only thought about heaven. All of my attention was turned to seeing only good things. I will admit, I saw a lot of good. Then I realized, I had gotten so good at pushing all the bad out of my mind, and keeping it out of my "sight", it was getting harder and harder to be the person I was striving to be. It had clouded me to the reality of human suffering. Including my own. Just because I was unwilling at the time to see it, doesn't mean that it didn't exist, everywhere. I started to make an effort to see bad, to see hell, if you will. In doing that, it became easier for me to be me. That person I was striving for. I think that seeing both good and bad in my life, and around me, is exactly what I needed. It opened my mind and my heart to really enjoy and cherish the good. I no longer take the good for granted like I once did, and I try to find "the silver lining" in the bad if there is one to be found. Accepting both makes me feel like a better person. It also reminds me that, I can be a better person still.

I think everyone of us has our own personal heaven and hell. And, I also think that it's up to each one to decide where they are willing to live most often.

These thoughts come from a very personal space for me. They include no one but me.