Reply #37: These seem to cover the possibilities

[MikeH]

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
— Marcus Aurelius

For me it is an open question about the reality of God (or of gods), and about the reality of a life after this present life. I consider myself closest to being a deist, and just on the believing side of agnostic, and I accept uncertainty about the matter. The above quote by Marcus Aurelius provides an excellent attitude to take toward life and living which takes such uncertainty into account.

I do not wish to take any definite position as to what reports of near-death experiences might actually indicate (I myself have never had a near-death experience -- and I don't think it is wise to wish for such an experience! -- and I don't know of anybody I know personally having had such an experience); however it is interesting to note that in the reports of life reviews that sometimes accompany near-death experiences, as reported in books by Raymond A. Moody and elsewhere, the reviews focus on the deeds a person has done, the motives of the deeds, and the effects of the deeds on others. A person's religion, religious beliefs, or theology do not matter at all. In one of Moody's books a former seminary student reports that during his NDE he came to see what a stuck-up ass he had been with all his theology, and his looking down on anyone who was not a member of his denomination or who didn't subscribe to the same theological beliefs that he did.

As to the possibility of God or the gods being unjust, I will say that the God as believed in by fundamentalist Christians and preached by people like Billy Graham, Pat Robertson and others, is most definitely unjust, and is really a despicable and arbitrary tyrant, and is not worthy of worship. This God sends people to hell for all eternity if they happen to miss out on "accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior" in this lifetime, for whatever reason, or if they happen to guess wrong by adhering to a religion other than Christianity. And I think an "unsaved" murder victim, one who has not "accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior", is condemned to hell by this God, while if the murderer later "repents" and "accepts Christ", the murderer is let into heaven by this God.

And even if for myself and for purely selfish reasons (e.g. fire insurance, and hope of possible glory in the next life) I might accept the so-called "gift" of "salvation" offered by the fundamentalist Christian God (really the arbitrary favor of a tyrant), I could never accept having the thought in the back of my mind that others are either "saved" or "unsaved" (and condemned to hell for all eternity if they happen to die "unsaved"), and I could never accept the obligation to tell others about Christ or about their need to accept Christ motivated by that concern. I don't see how one can get any joy or enjoyment out of life or living if one has to worry about that. Again this God is arbitrary, unjust, and is a despicable tyrant, not worthy of worship, and certainly not one I want to tell others about.

Hi HawkerHurricane. I have met you at a couple of DU gatherings, a number of years ago now.