Rise of atheism: 100,000 Brits seek 'de-baptism'

[Final-Fan]

ManusJustus said:

Final-Fan said:

So, to use your earlier comparison, if you saved a guy's life in New York and then moved to LA where no one knew or cared, does that mean saving his life was pointless?  

Or, if you were about to move, would it make no difference if you went on a killing spree, just because you were about to leave it all behind anyway?  

Bottom line:  the discoveries you made, etc. that you did on Earth would be meaningless if you did them in Heaven -- and you would have no reason to try; but that wouldn't mean that they were meaningless when you did them on Earth.  

To use the same comparison, I could save a guy's life in New York or I could let him die, in both cases he will end up in Los Angeles.  If you had time to think about it, you would be faced with the choice of saving a man so that he can live on Earth a short time longer and prevent his Earthly loved ones from grief, or you could let him die so that he can enter eternal paradise and see loved ones that already passed away and miss him.  Thus, you dont really save someones life, you decide what 'realm' they are going to be in.  Thankfully people dont think this way in real life, we always try to save and help others as if death is final and to be avoided at all costs, but if we actually put Heaven into our cost benefit analysis of many choices we make, things would be quite different.

Another example, if a man's entire family dies and he told you that he missed them was going to allow himself to die by stop taking his insulin.  Would you tell him to let himself die or try to talk him out of it? 

Many things that we do on Earth have meaning, but if there was a Heaven we would later realize that they were meaningless.  If you do a great thing on Earth, say you discovered a cure for paralysis then donated all the money you made to build homes for poor people.  Then you get to Heaven and see that your discovery doesnt matter because everyone with paralysis is healed and the hard earned money you donated doesnt matter because everyone has a mansion.

And even if the memory of doing something great remained, there is no possibility for you to do anything else that is great.  Thus, the only enjoyment from achievements that you can get in Heaven is from past memories.  And what about a billion years into the future, everything in Heaven is the same and you are still holding on to those same memories so that you can remember something you once did that was great.

I can see that you're arguing that just affecting whether someone's life ends or not could be rendered less important by the existence of Heaven.  For that reason I should have picked a better example and I apologize.  

What about discoveries or inventions or actions that alleviate suffering?  That isn't rendered moot by going to Heaven, is it?  Like, say, stopping someone from being tortured.  

Or those poor people that all get mansions in heaven:  if your donation meant that they would get heating in the winter as opposed to not, while they were on Earth, then why is the meaning stripped from that when they get to Heaven?  Sure, they don't need help any more, but they sure had a use for it when they got it on Earth.  

How is it any more meaningful without Heaven?  You're all going to die and the universe will burn out and where will your donations be then?  What use will your cure for paralysis be when the stars are all dead?  

I realize you're banned right now but hopefully you'll see this.