tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post7108145718350851088..comments2024-03-29T07:07:32.980-05:00Comments on Althouse: All the possibilities for life after death. Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-43525814114139878122015-12-18T10:36:02.400-06:002015-12-18T10:36:02.400-06:00Christopher: Purgatory has different interpretatio...Christopher: Purgatory has different interpretations defending on the faith. The Catholic purgatory is as you describe. The Islamic purgatory is more or less a whole lot of nothing until the souls within are upgraded to Paradise (assuming I am reading Wikipedia correctly). I suppose the the Greek paganism equivalent would be the Asphodel Meadows which, at least according to some versions, is a boring place for ordinary people. The Greek purgatory is dreary; once assigned no one leaves, nothing happens, and there is the option (or requirement) to drink from the River Lethe at which point the soul loses all memories permanently. There are worse fates though. Greek heaven was closer to Valhalla.Static Pinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17083787604745437979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-8047151375455925922015-12-18T09:46:53.067-06:002015-12-18T09:46:53.067-06:00hoyden said...
I like to believe we are all G...hoyden said...<br /><br /> I like to believe we are all God and incarnating is way of experiencing temporal existence. When we are born we essentially go to sleep and dream, and when we physically die we wake up back to our God-self. Whereas dreaming while sleeping on the temporal plane is a singular experience, our temporal existence is a collective dream.<br /> 12/17/15, 8:04 PM "<br /><br />Contemplated you comment and I respectfully disagree. Consider the number of assholes and worse one has to deal with and the concept of them also being God is a bridge too far. cubanbobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03746305669005611456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-64252732783194242852015-12-18T05:06:38.186-06:002015-12-18T05:06:38.186-06:00Those finding this interesting might find this int...Those finding this interesting might find this interesting http://www.afterlife-knowledge.com/answers.html<br /><br />REIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17114547073138962032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-20109378783407177972015-12-18T01:40:06.939-06:002015-12-18T01:40:06.939-06:00When I was younger, I moved out to the far West fr...When I was younger, I moved out to the far West from the Midwest. For the first time in my life I met Buddists. Not hippie Buddists, real, raised-in-the-faith (if faith is right word) Buddists. One of them was an engineer, a "huge aircrash" guy. He built missiles. I asked him if he ever had a problem building missiles that might be used to kill hundreds or thousands of civilians.<br />*shoulder shrug*. "No."Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-25928213824153805592015-12-18T00:15:55.439-06:002015-12-18T00:15:55.439-06:00I like "Groundhog Day" (the movie) but t...I like "Groundhog Day" (the movie) but the most interesting thing to me was that whats-his-name (the writer, started with an R i think) picked Groundhog Day! to live over and over. I mean, what day is Groundhog Day? i'm not sure i could pick it out of a lineup. Is it a Yankee thing connected to the "changing of the seasons" or something? Y'all have "seasons" right? Well, global warming will handle that. Trust me, you won't miss it.<br /><br />i think Groundhog Day being such a nothing day is probably the point of the movie, huh? Genius! I guess it's a theater arts/RTF major wink-wink thing. All hail!<br /><br />Wait... did i already post this up above somewhere?<br /><br />Is this thing working? Shit, I'm gonna have to retype this whole comment again, aren't I?BNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800122398628075042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-45401764795127189062015-12-17T23:02:19.408-06:002015-12-17T23:02:19.408-06:00Sorry, but anytime nirvana comes up in casual conv...Sorry, but anytime nirvana comes up in casual conversation, i start singing Zappa:<br /><br />"Acetylene Nirvana<br />Talkin' 'bout yer hemorrhoids baby!"<br /><br />Which I used to think was, "A sailor needs NIRVANA! Open up yer airport baby!"<br /><br />Which version is better? Me or Zappa?<br /><br />You're wrong!<br /><br />BNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800122398628075042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-89762509097731268292015-12-17T21:59:37.148-06:002015-12-17T21:59:37.148-06:00Amusing but as another said, infantile. Also occas...Amusing but as another said, infantile. Also occasionally illiterate. Purgatory isn't a boring room. It's a purification on the way to heaven. Some traditional descriptions of it are not entirely pleasant. <br /><br />Reincarnation at least in the more highly developed Eastern religions isn't an interminable rebirth, or isn't only an interminable rebirth--the goal is release, eventually, into nirvana. Which is nothing like Christian heaven, but it ain't a permanent rerun reel either.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08144929561213653406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-31694065539320837132015-12-17T21:30:37.855-06:002015-12-17T21:30:37.855-06:00zzzzzzz.... honk honk.... zzzzzzz....zzzzzzz.... honk honk.... zzzzzzz....BNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800122398628075042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-21778627722231322832015-12-17T21:04:34.314-06:002015-12-17T21:04:34.314-06:00"I am interested in how he chooses to live an..."I am interested in how he chooses to live and how it's different from what he'd do otherwise."<br /><br />Isn't that Christianity? What has been its effect on human society worldwide? Good or bad? Be specific; show your work.<br /><br />...We are all Beasts in Nature. Who do you think John the Revelator was talking about? Someday, probably sooner than we think, we will find out what happens when we return there, now that we've gotten so "enlightened" and figured out the "real" truth.<br /><br />It doesn't matter if it's right or real or whatever or not. It's about believing. It's all about believing in something that changes the way you choose to live. Faith is the victory and all that. Otherwise... well... why not? Why not be a Beast? BNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800122398628075042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-31590919224170853812015-12-17T21:00:01.159-06:002015-12-17T21:00:01.159-06:00For the Classical pagans, the afterlife wasn't...For the Classical pagans, the afterlife wasn't as good as this one. Bummer if this life was crappy, it would only be worse in Hades. Ezra Pound, Canto I:<br /><i><br /> Poured we libations unto each the dead,<br />First mead and then sweet wine, water mixed with white flour.<br />Then prayed I many a prayer to the sickly death’s-heads;<br />As set in Ithaca, sterile bulls of the best<br />For sacrifice, heaping the pyre with goods,<br />A sheep to Tiresias only, black and a bell-sheep.<br />Dark blood flowed in the fosse,<br />Souls out of Erebus, cadaverous dead, of brides<br />Of youths and of the old who had borne much;<br />Souls stained with recent tears, girls tender,<br />Men many, mauled with bronze lance heads,<br />Battle spoil, bearing yet dreory arms,<br />These many crowded about me; with shouting,<br />Pallor upon me, cried to my men for more beasts;<br />Slaughtered the herds, sheep slain of bronze;<br />Poured ointment, cried to the gods,<br />To Pluto the strong, and praised Proserpine;<br />Unsheathed the narrow sword,<br />I sat to keep off the impetuous impotent dead,<br />Till I should hear Tiresias.<br />But first Elpenor came, our friend Elpenor,<br />Unburied, cast on the wide earth,<br />Limbs that we left in the house of Circe,<br />Unwept, unwrapped in sepulchre, since toils urged other.<br />Pitiful spirit. And I cried in hurried speech:<br />“Elpenor, how art thou come to this dark coast?<br />“Cam’st thou afoot, outstripping seamen?”<br /> And he in heavy speech:<br />“Ill fate and abundant wine. I slept in Circe’s ingle.<br />“Going down the long ladder unguarded,<br />“I fell against the buttress,<br />“Shattered the nape-nerve, the soul sought Avernus.<br />“But thou, O King, I bid remember me, unwept, unburied,<br />“Heap up mine arms, be tomb by sea-bord, and inscribed:<br />“A man of no fortune, and with a name to come.<br />“And set my oar up, that I swung mid fellows.”<br /> <br /></i>Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-68015969982289348142015-12-17T20:52:53.850-06:002015-12-17T20:52:53.850-06:00What if this life isn't the first time? What i...What if this life isn't the first time? What if this life is Hell?BNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800122398628075042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1146548533434230512015-12-17T20:48:06.232-06:002015-12-17T20:48:06.232-06:00"My question is what does the first timer do ..."My question is what does the first timer do with his life?"<br /><br />According to my teenage daughter: whatever. <br /><br />...I'm not sure I disagree. BNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800122398628075042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-32958058093248093832015-12-17T20:04:39.190-06:002015-12-17T20:04:39.190-06:00I like to believe we are all God and incarnating i...I like to believe we are all God and incarnating is way of experiencing temporal existence. When we are born we essentially go to sleep and dream, and when we physically die we wake up back to our God-self. Whereas dreaming while sleeping on the temporal plane is a singular experience, our temporal existence is a collective dream.hoydenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13269690586125378243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-81459857355914414652015-12-17T19:59:56.168-06:002015-12-17T19:59:56.168-06:00The project of humans understanding the meaning of...The project of humans understanding the meaning of life has been compared to a convention of dogs trying to understand the essential nature of dogs.<br /><br />I prefer to believe that there is a grand plan. Like Pascal, I may be wrong, but it comforts me to think that being generous and kind and trying to do the right thing is the way to go. I freely admit that I may be wrong, but my approach gives me comfort.<br />MD Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00675532021705182467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-25389589613332503702015-12-17T19:25:02.700-06:002015-12-17T19:25:02.700-06:00I've had only one patient who described a poss...I've had only one patient who described a possible near/ after death experience. It gave us all chills but I doubt that there is anything after death.Michael Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18127450762129879267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-82668145559667292012015-12-17T19:10:30.203-06:002015-12-17T19:10:30.203-06:00"Actually, it doesn't matter whether the ..."Actually, it doesn't matter whether the child is correct in his belief. I am interested in how he chooses to live and how it's different from what he'd do otherwise."<br /><br />If your hypothetical is that the child's life repeats itself in the exact same way for all eternity, then the child has already had this realization, and has already made his "choice" about how to live his life in response to it, an infinite number of times in the past.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01855542812785467189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-45000867980807317082015-12-17T18:05:04.419-06:002015-12-17T18:05:04.419-06:00Wallace Stevens had a rather different idea of lif...Wallace Stevens had a rather different idea of life after death than Dante.<br /><br /><i><br />She hears, upon that water without sound, <br />A voice that cries, “The tomb in Palestine<br />Is not the porch of spirits lingering. <br />It is the grave of Jesus, where he lay.”<br />We live in an old chaos of the sun, <br />Or old dependency of day and night, <br />Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, <br />Of that wide water, inescapable. <br />Deer walk upon our mountains, and the quail <br />Whistle about us their spontaneous cries;<br />Sweet berries ripen in the wilderness;<br />And, in the isolation of the sky, <br />At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make<br />Ambiguous undulations as they sink, <br />Downward to darkness, on extended wings.<br /></i>Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-58416764165140761272015-12-17T17:46:37.338-06:002015-12-17T17:46:37.338-06:00AA: "And then there's the dangerous possi...AA: "And then there's the dangerous possibility of the God who doesn't want to be believed in."<br /><br />Not much of a God that can't cover his tracks. If one believes in God as it is commonly understood the he is the creator and master of the universe and everything that can exist can only exist within the laws of nature that he created and are known to him. So no, if God doesn't want us to be believed in he would set the rules that we wouldn't be capable of believing in him.<br /><br />Way above my paygrade but presumably the human brain somehow operates on quantum physics principles which state information can't be destroyed and since we are ultimately information to the extent information is somehow stored in the fabric of the universe we would exist in some sort of state beyond our physical death. Whether or not that information can ever be accessed and played back so to speak is another matter. I suppose that is somehow better than nothing.<br /><br />cubanbobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03746305669005611456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-56321147576139605512015-12-17T17:16:54.958-06:002015-12-17T17:16:54.958-06:00Funny that the real Christian answer isn’t conside...Funny that the real Christian answer isn’t considered in these imaginings of "all" possible post-life experiences. What Jesus and his disciples talked about was the promise of resurrection into a new and perfected world, with all the evil and sin and pain washed away. Read Revelation 21 (“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth . . . See the home of God is among mortals. . . . [H]e will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more . . . . See, I am making all things new.”). Christ’s resurrection was not a one-off; it was the first, and the proof and promise to us, who will die before the new Heaven and the new Earth come, that we will be raised to be a part of that tearless, deathless reality. Read I Corinthians 15 (“So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown perishable, what is raised is imperishable. . . . Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. . . . When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting.’”).The Godfatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10575359417766667457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-43992934780767334822015-12-17T17:07:16.123-06:002015-12-17T17:07:16.123-06:00Kurt Vonnegat wrote a book like that (but not the ...Kurt Vonnegat wrote a book like that (but not the whole life)Sammy Finkelmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05105012664741556033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-77054766932449723812015-12-17T16:42:28.307-06:002015-12-17T16:42:28.307-06:00There is also the possibility of being reused and ...There is also the possibility of being reused and recycled by Planned Parenthood et al. following an abortion without consent.<br /><br />As for oblivion, that is an article of faith. Our post-mortem state cannot be assessed or predicted within a scientific frame of reference. Everyone has their individual belief or faith about their future disposition.n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-51865075699332055602015-12-17T16:41:46.732-06:002015-12-17T16:41:46.732-06:00Dante had free will and moral agency existing only...Dante had free will and moral agency existing only in this world, during life. The souls in the Inferno cannot be other than they are. They cannot express regret for the actions that put them in Hell. In purgatory the souls weep with joy as they are purified. Every soul in Hell and in purgatory is in constant motion. The journey though Hell and purgatory is exhausting. When Dante leaves Virgil behind in purgatory he is drawn through the heavens with no effort, to the eternal, unmoving mover in a single instant.Lewis Wetzelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01200232293505119133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-77787669492070591372015-12-17T16:21:54.432-06:002015-12-17T16:21:54.432-06:00"The conception of Heaven at the link is infa..."The conception of Heaven at the link is infantile."<br /><br />Isn't that redundant?CachorroQuentehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13971149640597297640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-40818172338612706622015-12-17T16:03:45.109-06:002015-12-17T16:03:45.109-06:00As a first timer I'd try to make the most of i...As a first timer I'd try to make the most of it, knowing every bad thing I'd done would have to be relived exactly the same way. Pack in as much pleasure, joy, experience, kindness, adventure, learning that I humanly could.<br /><br />Living a predermined repeated life especially if the original life was squandered, well it would hardly be worth living. If the first life was great, reliving it might be wonderful and one could sit back and enjoy the ride. Reliving a squandered life, well that sounds like hell. I could see suicide, but that would not happen as it wasn't part of the original life. My brain hurts now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-42100072260045187072015-12-17T16:01:01.897-06:002015-12-17T16:01:01.897-06:00The conception of Heaven at the link is infantile....The conception of Heaven at the link is infantile.<br /><br />As for the hypothetical ten year old with special insight: Live a perfectly honorable life. Freeman Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16202310075717963694noreply@blogger.com