fireside religion

Last night at the campfire Ty and I talked about religion for a long while. Ty and I have different views on religion, but we do agree on certain things.We came to agree that we can't believe in heaven and hell more than we do something like reincarnation. How can I believe in something that nobody has ever seen? Sure some of you smart asses will say, "But you believe in the wind, don't you?" And to that I raise the middle finger.

I think heaven and hell was created as a form of control. If you preach to people that doing bad will send them to the fiery depths of hell then obviously they will second guess doing wrong. If you're promised a wonderful time in heaven, wouldn't you expect people to act better? No matter what heaven and hell is about, it works...to a point. I don't mind if it was a form of control or not, if it persuades more people to do good then it works for me.

What I thought of about life after death is this...

What if, after we die our mind creates an eternity for us based on what we believe? What I'm saying is that when we die, our body stops working and we are no longer alive, but our mind has already created a dreamlike eternity based upon our beliefs. If you believe in a heaven where you'll see your loved ones again, then that's what you get. If you believe in a commonplace life much like this one, then you can live in that. I guess it's a form of "limbo" like they mention in the movie Inception. Maybe it's a never-ending dream of sorts created by your subconscious. I'm not saying you actually dream because, duh your brain is dead. I'm talking about a dream like state created by your mind, a place where your soul or being passes into after death. I like to think that's the way it works. I just cannot bring myself to blindly believe in heaven and hell. Everybody is entitled to believe in what they want, and I encourage you all to do that. What works for me might not work for you and vice versa. To each their own, I guess. 


The other thing we agree upon is that the saying, "God always has a plan," isn't true. We just can't believe this is the case after things like the Holocaust, the Aurora shooting, or any other senseless violence. God doesn't plan out each and every person's existence. He doesn't have a specific date you are going to die. Explain to me why God would want an eight year old boy to die of cancer? You can't. God might have created the earth and the existence of everything here on earth, but he hasn't planned it all out. He put us here and we have our resources, from their it is out of his hands. Now, does he intervene? Maybe...I can't tell you that for sure. What I can tell you is that I don't believe God has a plan for everybody. Sure everybody has a chance to do something with their life, but if you try to convince me that God planned on my grandpa majoring in accounting in college I will punch you in the face. If that's the case please explain to me why God planned on Hitler murdering millions of people? Yeah, thought so.

Our talk about religion made me realize that in this life, we really don't know anything for certain.

NP: Both of Us- B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift