Even if you are not particularly religious does your belief of eternal punishment or eternal happiness dictate how you live?
213658
It's impossible to prove a negative.  I doubt it would change religion that much at all.  People should have morals no matter if there is an afterlife or not.
104156
I have to totally agree with this quote. I have a relative that thinks if you don't go to HIS church (whichever one it is at the time) then you aren't serving God. I believe exactly what the Bible says about having eternal life; and it DON'T say that only the Baptists, or Catholics, or Methodists, or Pentecostals..etc are going to receive this gift of eternal life. God is God and he isn't any of these RELIGIONS...my opinion
546586
Two things for me:\n\n1) Religion, church, praying, etc, has always seemed like an utter waste of time that could be better spent doing productive things.  I find the very concept of "worshiping" something invisible in hopes of some reward to be ridiculous.  I was a good kid, and I'm a good adult.  I never needed to be taught "the golden rule."  It was always common sense to me.  I never needed a system of spiritual rules to compel me to behave, or to know how to treat others.  If I can live like this, so can anyone else.  I also don't fear death or the unknown, and I believe there are reasonable, comprehensible, HUMAN, explanations for everything that happens in life, and in the universe, even though we haven't discovered them all yet.\n\n2) As soon as I was old enough to understand that "truth" is different from "fact", I made it a point to start investigating the sources of the things I was told and taught.  I came to realize that a great many things that people (such as parents) are absolutely certain of, are wrong, and these people feel no shame in instilling their aberrant belief systems in innocent, naive or unsuspecting people.  Worse, most people feel no obligation to investigate whether what they "know" and what they've been taught, is actually factual.  This is how nonsense gets perpetrated generation after generation, and religion is one of the worst offenders because it's main tenant is unwavering, unquestioning faith.  One only need study a tiny fraction of history to see that religion has been a constant source of conflict, and religions themselves are constantly being revised and replaced by newer "correct versions" of themselves.\n\nAtheists are curious about the "big questions", same as anyone, but barring reasonable evidence, most of us are willing to leave the answers blank, as opposed to writing it all off to god.  As for the rest of it, I've yet to see a deist who can prove to me there is any advantage to having "god" in ones life, or show me how they are capable of doing or living in ways that I am not.  Since I don't believe in an afterlife, the idea of faith in going to heaven is also pointless.\n\nHope this answers your question.
135544
I've been on the other side where I thought that people who didn't believe in god must feel lost.  (I was raised to think they are evil.)  So, I can kinda understand why some religious individuals think that non-believers feel some sort of void or are immoral.  However, I also view that stance as an immature belief.  It doesn't take a lot of looking around to realize that agnostics and atheists are very content with their worldviews and live ethical lives.
59167
As an agnostic I do believe in morals values and preserving this little aquarium in space that we all live in. But being athiest does not make you any more moralistic or less than a religious person. Studies have shown that secular people have \nthe same morals as church folk. I would dare say that more have died in religously driven wars and disputes than common murder
165525
YEA to you!!!! I do not adhere to any religion, and feel I have a very solid moral base!!! I do not need the fear of heaven and hell, to know how to treat others and live a good caring, decent life!!!
331509
No, it doesn't, because that describes what I used to be. I used to laugh in my mind and mock the priests when I was forced to go to church during my years in catholic school. I participated in the chants and the masses, but never believed. It didn't work, and it won't work. I simply don't believe, and nothing can change that. I've also had 3 near death experiences in my life, and "saw" all I had to see, absolutely nothing. I have no problem with the cold hard fact that I will be buried under 6 feet of dirt in a pine box. I'm not insecure about death, and that's why I don't "need" a religion, or believe in some deity.
622806
In some sense, society and culture can be viewed as a non-material aspect of our beings, so you have to be very careful about what you mean in this question. No, I don't believe in an after-life. When we die, we're dead and we have no consciousness left. It's like a candle that has been blown out. The flame no longer exists. I don't believe in spirits in the sense of some disembodied energy with consciousness. \n\nOn the other hand, I regard myself as a spiritual atheist. I believe that life is to be lived fully and happily. I believe that we should look around us and enjoy the beauty of the universe. I believe that we should love, and learn, and teach, and help others to achieve their goals. But I need no after-life to induce me to do these things. It is simply part of having a good life.
549200
No, I don't.\n\nI am not God, the searcher of human hearts and the ultimate judge of all people. So I refrain from even pretending to know where anyone--including myself--will spend eternity. I am familiar with God's main requirement for entry into heaven--but it is in the other points of Christian theology that I am uncertain...and rightfully so.\n\nIf other Christians are saying literally, "You are [or someone else is] going to Hell," they are self-righteous and prideful, and God will bring them to account as well. How, only he knows--but rest assured that such an offense, the one of imagining oneself sitting on God's throne, will not be overlooked by the almighty.
547905
yes. But only those who live will "spend" eternity anywhere. If you go to Hell, you will be dead, and not actually "spend" time anywhere, because you will be dead. If you go to Heaven, you will "spend" a lot of time there. Like forever.
433377
You make a very valid point.  I'm a Humanist, and I think happiness is extremely important, but a good life is not just one filled with pleasurable indulgences.  It is important to live a moral life, and sometimes we have to do things that aren't fun and don't give us immediate pleasure, but they are the right thing to do in the long run and will help to secure our freedoms and make a better life possible for us, our loved ones, and others.  You call this moral motivation righteousness.  We shy away from that term because of its religious connotations.  Instead we call it living a moral, useful, meaningful, responsible, and fulfilling life.  In short, a good life.
73083
Absolutely. Religion allows people to "escape" death. Rather than deal with reality, it allows them to live in a childish fantasy world...one where they never really die. Instead they get to live forever with their magical sky daddy.
293009
I believe in Christianity and unpopular as it is, I believe if you do not believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior you are condemning your self to eternal damnation.  It's your choice, but don't complain about the consequences, when you make the choice.  And yes, if you sign a contract that binds your beliefs and your soul to anything other than God, you are in effect signing a contract with the devil
575032
The world doesn't change when you put sugar on it.\n\nI agree that it isn't fair that a nice person and an A-hole's deeds on earth aren't given some final reward or punishment for their time on earth.\n \nHowever, this has no bearing on whether heaven and hell really exist.  This is a physical reality issue, and physical reality is not dictated by what would be nice or fair.  I am an athiest and believe strongly in the natural construction of the universe, not one designed and controlled consciously from above. \n\nI would rather live in a world knowing there is no god or afterlife than believing in a god that loves me and made the world as a testing ground for my loyalty (which isn't real but makes people feel better about themselves and gives them purpose).\n     This reward in the 'real world' is accepting that life isn't fair and that nature throws tremendous curveballs to us that are explained with much more complicated logic than the binary religious system (on/off, good/bad/ right/wrong, black/white).
671587
I wouldn't necessarily say so, I'm not super religious or spiritual, and definitely wouldn't consider myself egocentric or egotistical.  However, I do know some people who are religious or spiritual and they're not really people I'd like to surround myself w/, w/ their "holier than thou" attitude.
386136
No. I don't think so. I am right with God. I am a jerk and we both know it. And I fight it. I believe in Jesus and he forgives me my sin. \n\nBut I do not look forward to the disability or pain affiliated with aging and death.
569665
Yes, i am very religious.i believe that the real meaning of life can be found through religion.but only through the orthodox  religion because its the real faith.