What is heaven?

College Confidential Community
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<p>Has anyone ever been so happy and looking forward to something so much that you keep thinking "please don't let me die"?</p>

<p>Anyway, I don't believe in heaven or hell perse, but I do think that there is SOMETHING after death. We don't know what it is and it would be impossible for us to understand it, but we catch little glimpses of it on earth with things like incredible literature, a moving song, a beautiful beach day, etc. It's hard for me to describe my belief so sorry for all the confusion. </p>

<p>I also believe that the church is a corrupt, money hungry business that is necessary to comfort those who fear death....This is incredibly offensive and I apologize and give everyone the right to completely ignore me.</p>

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I also believe that the church is a corrupt, money hungry business that is necessary to comfort those who fear death....This is incredibly offensive and I apologize and give everyone the right to completely ignore me.

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<p>Do you mean any church in particular or do you mean the Christian church in general?</p>

<p>I think that the ORGANIZATION, the STRUCTURE of the Christian churches IN GENERAL are corrupt in that they exist for the purpose of controlling others...POWER. Their leaders are politicians, not spiritual leaders.</p>

<p>BUT, the PEOPLE in the churches, IN GENERAL, are sincere, for the most part.</p>

<p>It's like the AMA. The FDA/AMA is a corrupt, $$-hungry, power-hungry BUSINESS. (Think they'll ever find a cure for cancer? Of course not - that would be bad for business!) But that doesn't mean all doctors are that way. Many are sincerely caring.</p>

<p>Having said that, I think organized religion is a double-edged sword. Many people DO get comfort from religions, and religion DOES make them better persons. But just as many are hypocrites!</p>

<p>Personally I am in favor of personal spirituality but I don't care for organized religion.</p>

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How do you know the people who say they see something are telling the truth?</p>

<p>The only reason I don't believe in God is because, obviously, there has been no actual evidence. A magical being with superpowers who created us out of nothing just doesn't appeal to me over the simple logic of evolution.</p>

<p>I don't need to believe in a magical superbeing to have faith.

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<p>Well, you don't. But, why would they make such things up? I mean, really, say a guy nearly dies and then he has this weird experience and it changes him, and whereas before he was a jerk, now he is a loving, caring person with a mission to help others. I say, who cares if what he thought happened really happened? It made him a better person, and that's all that really matters.</p>

<p>I happen to have past-life memories. Can I prove it to you? No, of course not. Those memories are as real to me as YOUR memories of getting a bike for Christmas in 2nd grade. It really doesn't matter to someone who has had an experience, whether it's provable or not.</p>

<p>It's like holistic medicine. The medical establishment loves to ridicule the holistic healing experiences. They say they aren't valid because they aren't provable according to mainstream allopathic protocols. But try telling that to someone who has been healed of cancer following alternative treatment!</p>

<p>The point is that these are LIFE-CHANGING experiences. You may or may not ever have such an experience that would alter your belief in a Creator, but I'm sure you DO have inspirational experiences of some sort. Personally, since I believe in reincarnation, in my belief, it doesn't matter whether you believe in God or not. It's not like Christianity which says you can't go to heaven. In my belief, if I am correct, then you WILL continue to exist whether you believe it now or not, so it doesn't matter. </p>

<p>Regarding Creationism vs evolution: I once read in Marilyn vos Savant's column that it actually takes more faith to believe in evolution than to believe that the whole process was set in motion by an Intelligent Being. I agree. The odds of a cosmic soup creating consciousness sounds ridiculously farfetched to me. I do NOT believe in the simplistic biblical version of '7 days' - I do believe in science. I just believe that intelligence descended into matter, rather than evolving out of matter.</p>

<p>But, hey, that's cool. I really have no problem with your beliefs. (A lot of people have a problem with my beliefs, because they're not biblical, so I can relate.)</p>

<p>edit: Does the idea of a cosmology that is neither biblical nor based on a God-less strictly physical evolution interest you? If so, pm me. It'll rock your socks. Proof? No. But verrrrry compelling.</p>

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<p>I totally agree with everything you said lealdragon. </p>

<p>All organized religion is corrupt, but the people are usually sincere...although they are often hypocrites. </p>

<p>I understand the need to believe in God and heaven...life is tough and I don't blame them...but I don't understand people who dedicate their entire life to the afterlife.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I agree. I think this life has value and purpose. Otherwise, why does it exist? I think we are here for a reason. It is exceedingly lame to say 'we don't need to save the earth because we're getting raptured up any day now anyway.'</p>

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But, hey, that's cool. I really have no problem with your beliefs. (A lot of people have a problem with my beliefs, because they're not biblical, so I can relate.)

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<p>I wish more people were like you. We all have our own beliefs and we shouldn't argue over which one is better. It seems like whenever someone finds out I don't believe in a god, they feel like they have to convert me. I don't have anything against the people that believe in a higher being, or reincarnation. If you have a past-life experience, then it doesn't matter if other people believe you. I won't reprimand anyone who has a belief other than mine. And no one will be able to make me believe in something other than what I believe in because it's my life, and I should have the choice to believe what I want :D .</p>

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<p>Thanks, surfette and Jman, and I totally agree! I'm a big believer in the philosophy that each person should have the freedom to believe or do whatever they want, provided it doesn't impose on another person's freedom. (One person's freedom ends where another's begins.) </p>

<p>Narrow, dogmatic religions are usually fear-based. Often people have a truly beautiful and life-changing spiritual experience and that's why they convert, but perhaps just as often other people convert out of the fear of going to 'hell' and then they try to convert others the same way.</p>

<p>I generally try to NEVER do ANYTHING out of fear. (Unless one is being chased by a tiger!)</p>

<p>I think LOVE is a better motivator than fear. </p>

<p>I have a bumper sticker on my car that has the symbols of various religions, including science, and it forms the shape of 'COEXIST.' </p>

<p>There are a few different versions of it:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.stampandshout.com/shop/bumper-stickers/coexist.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.stampandshout.com/shop/bumper-stickers/coexist.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://store.sundancesolar.com/coexist.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://store.sundancesolar.com/coexist.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>