FALSE HOPE BETTER THAN NO HOPE?
We have always been bombarded with religious leaders in the churches and on TV who proclaim that hope is vital to have in order to be a happy and productive member of society. We have the choice of believing this or not.
Of course, they are referring to religious hope, not secular hope. Secular hope, for the confused out there, is the hope we all have at times in our lives. We hope we will get a raise, or a new car, a bigger home, digital TV, or that good looking redhead that lives down the street. You get the picture.
However, religious hope offers its followers all of that plus the false hope that they will survive their own deaths and live on streets paved with gold in the sweet by and by, forever and ever, amen.
For followers of a certain religion, there’s the promise of the 72 virgins. If not for my brain, I would buy into that one. Nice picture they are painting but it’s not worth anything more than a stray glance. I say this because what they are offering is false hope. Can false hope be better than no hope? Not on your life. Just because a preacher or self proclaimed “man of god” tells you something, that doesn’t make it true.
I once questioned a pastor about how anyone could be happy in heaven if their child was a non-believer and ended up in hell and he said that God would wipe out all memories of that child. How nice. We won’t even remember our own family, the thing that makes us happiest on earth.
I wonder just where this false hope came from. Even the Old Testament tells us that the grave offers no redemption and no magical arisings. Somehow the soothsayers overlook this in favor of the false hope of life after death. I contend that false hope is worst than no hope because it offers something that is unattainable, namely the ability to live after death.
We have plenty of stories of people who have experienced death and then are resuscitated who have no recollection of anything until they are brought back. The media chooses not to carry their stories. We also have the ones who hallucinated while unconscious and believe they experienced the great beyond. The media gushes over these. This is simple to explain and science has explained it many times.
However, people believe what they want to believe in spite of the evidence contrary to their beliefs. A good example of this is the facts of evolution and how many refuse to believe the facts regardless of the evidence. Sort of like the ancients believing the world was flat. But I digress.
Many in our society are simply afraid of death. Most are usually afraid of things they don’t understand and they certainly don’t understand death. Many don’t even understand life and are unwilling to think they are going to die and be no more. Their egos won’t allow such logic. However, you didn’t exist before you were born and you won’t exist after you’re dead.
Something had to be done with that problem. Enter religion. Religion gives those that subscribe to it false hope that they will survive death and live forever. Don’t take my word for it. Just look at the local newspaper memorials to the departed and find one where heaven or the angels are not mentioned. I haven’t seen the first one wishing their loved one a happy birthday in hell. Yet the bible spells out that most will end up in hell. Most tend to overlook that part.
Most are comforted by the false hope of eternal life while some will flat out kill you if you disagree with their beliefs. That’s the nature of religion.
And get this: You not only get supplied with false hopes, you also get charged for it. The churches demand 10% of followers’ income and much more is desired. Got to have that new sports center.
Religion happens to be the greatest scam ever pulled on the human race. But don’t blame religion; blame the gullibility of the human race. People aren’t forced to believe the false promises of religion.
In the end, one thing I know for sure, when I die, this life is over. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I have no problem with that. I can live and die with that fact. Not many can say the same. And please spare me the threats of me ending up in hell. That’s another lie of the church designed to insure that the cretins will continue coming and paying with their hard earned money.
Jim Earl
Of course, they are referring to religious hope, not secular hope. Secular hope, for the confused out there, is the hope we all have at times in our lives. We hope we will get a raise, or a new car, a bigger home, digital TV, or that good looking redhead that lives down the street. You get the picture.
However, religious hope offers its followers all of that plus the false hope that they will survive their own deaths and live on streets paved with gold in the sweet by and by, forever and ever, amen.
For followers of a certain religion, there’s the promise of the 72 virgins. If not for my brain, I would buy into that one. Nice picture they are painting but it’s not worth anything more than a stray glance. I say this because what they are offering is false hope. Can false hope be better than no hope? Not on your life. Just because a preacher or self proclaimed “man of god” tells you something, that doesn’t make it true.
I once questioned a pastor about how anyone could be happy in heaven if their child was a non-believer and ended up in hell and he said that God would wipe out all memories of that child. How nice. We won’t even remember our own family, the thing that makes us happiest on earth.
I wonder just where this false hope came from. Even the Old Testament tells us that the grave offers no redemption and no magical arisings. Somehow the soothsayers overlook this in favor of the false hope of life after death. I contend that false hope is worst than no hope because it offers something that is unattainable, namely the ability to live after death.
We have plenty of stories of people who have experienced death and then are resuscitated who have no recollection of anything until they are brought back. The media chooses not to carry their stories. We also have the ones who hallucinated while unconscious and believe they experienced the great beyond. The media gushes over these. This is simple to explain and science has explained it many times.
However, people believe what they want to believe in spite of the evidence contrary to their beliefs. A good example of this is the facts of evolution and how many refuse to believe the facts regardless of the evidence. Sort of like the ancients believing the world was flat. But I digress.
Many in our society are simply afraid of death. Most are usually afraid of things they don’t understand and they certainly don’t understand death. Many don’t even understand life and are unwilling to think they are going to die and be no more. Their egos won’t allow such logic. However, you didn’t exist before you were born and you won’t exist after you’re dead.
Something had to be done with that problem. Enter religion. Religion gives those that subscribe to it false hope that they will survive death and live forever. Don’t take my word for it. Just look at the local newspaper memorials to the departed and find one where heaven or the angels are not mentioned. I haven’t seen the first one wishing their loved one a happy birthday in hell. Yet the bible spells out that most will end up in hell. Most tend to overlook that part.
Most are comforted by the false hope of eternal life while some will flat out kill you if you disagree with their beliefs. That’s the nature of religion.
And get this: You not only get supplied with false hopes, you also get charged for it. The churches demand 10% of followers’ income and much more is desired. Got to have that new sports center.
Religion happens to be the greatest scam ever pulled on the human race. But don’t blame religion; blame the gullibility of the human race. People aren’t forced to believe the false promises of religion.
In the end, one thing I know for sure, when I die, this life is over. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I have no problem with that. I can live and die with that fact. Not many can say the same. And please spare me the threats of me ending up in hell. That’s another lie of the church designed to insure that the cretins will continue coming and paying with their hard earned money.
Jim Earl
posted by jimearl at 6:05 AM
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