Monkey Business
Ancient Man looked up at the sky, and the world around him, and tried to make sense of it
Modern Man looks about him, and tries to make nonsense of it.
The thought that brought this to mind is the Final Judgement.
As I researched the subjects for this site, one thing that struck me is how just about every religion, faith and philosopher seem to agree on a topic. The only real difference was the way in which their opinion was expressed, and often the name applied to the topic, and God.
Except for Buddhism and Jainism, just about all agree that there is a Creator, and a Creation. And when it comes to eternity and a Judgement according to how we live our life, even those two agree that such exists.
How Man was created, what will be his destiny, and how many lives he has to accomplish his destiny seems to be a matter of controversy. But the fact of that destiny, and that there will be a judgment, there seems to be agreement.
So, regardless of which Faith you belong, you will be taught to do right by your fellow man, to strive to please God in one form or another, to avoid selfishness, and to look to the next life instead of being overly concerned with the here and now.
At the very least, this belief creates a better world, and a better class of people on it.
Even if it turns out that God doesn't exist, that there is no afterlife; that we just sprung from bugs and return to dust -- the world will have been better off because of the deception. And people in general will have been happier and more content than had they believed that life is nothing more than a miserable existence of pain and misery. Just a hideous joke of the gods.
If Mankind evolved from nothing, and returns to nothing; and he is just a little more advanced form of animals -- why bother with any form of civilization? Why prisons and laws and reforms? Why governments to control the lives of these mounds of walking clay?
Can laws be passed to prevent a lion from killing a deer? Or a coyote a rabbit? If we are nothing more than those animals, then we are nothing better.
Survival of the fittest, isn't that the law of nature? So, for the betterment and the survival of mankind, shouldn't the biggest, the meanest, the most selfish be left to feed off the weaker as it is in the rest of nature?
Why does man make a lie and mockery of his belief? For selfishness, of course.
The weakest of man often rises to the top, and gains control. And the only way to keep that control over the strong is to have laws contrary to what he believes.
If the weak who is in control were to be the strongest, than he would change the rules and the belief system of the masses to afford him what he wants.
As evidence of this, take a look at the history of Rome, or France, or England, or China, et ad nauseam.
If life, in fact, is not as has been believed since man appeared on this earth, then I would be more inclined to believe that it is all an illusion, a child's nightmare. This would make far more sense to me than any of the prevalent theories that the "intelligentsia" puts forth.
Then, concerning Judgment, which is what brought about this page in the first place, I would prefer to err on the side of caution. If there is no God, no creation, nothing to give reason to living a decent life, then I have lost nothing as far as eternity is concerned.
But, if there is a judgment, if there is an eternal destiny, if there is a hell -- then I pity those who believed otherwise and led their life accordingly.
It would seem to me that the Creator will be more inclined to take exception to those who believed on Him, and failed miserably to live up to expectations, than He would on those who never even believed in Him in the first place, but led decent lives.
If You were God, the Judge, what would you think? How would you judge?
As for me, if I knew from the beginning of my life that I was nothing more than an intelligent form of cockroach, that it made no difference if I was the worst scoundrel that ever lived, or the finest example of manhood; I would choose to live a life of Belief, and doing what I considered right.
Not because I could gain materially, or socially, or any other such way; but because I have discovered that by doing so I get the best reward mankind can receive outside of Eternity. I get to feel good about myself. Which is something I doubt a cockroach can do.
Modern Man looks about him, and tries to make nonsense of it.
The thought that brought this to mind is the Final Judgement.
As I researched the subjects for this site, one thing that struck me is how just about every religion, faith and philosopher seem to agree on a topic. The only real difference was the way in which their opinion was expressed, and often the name applied to the topic, and God.
Except for Buddhism and Jainism, just about all agree that there is a Creator, and a Creation. And when it comes to eternity and a Judgement according to how we live our life, even those two agree that such exists.
How Man was created, what will be his destiny, and how many lives he has to accomplish his destiny seems to be a matter of controversy. But the fact of that destiny, and that there will be a judgment, there seems to be agreement.
So, regardless of which Faith you belong, you will be taught to do right by your fellow man, to strive to please God in one form or another, to avoid selfishness, and to look to the next life instead of being overly concerned with the here and now.
At the very least, this belief creates a better world, and a better class of people on it.
Even if it turns out that God doesn't exist, that there is no afterlife; that we just sprung from bugs and return to dust -- the world will have been better off because of the deception. And people in general will have been happier and more content than had they believed that life is nothing more than a miserable existence of pain and misery. Just a hideous joke of the gods.
If Mankind evolved from nothing, and returns to nothing; and he is just a little more advanced form of animals -- why bother with any form of civilization? Why prisons and laws and reforms? Why governments to control the lives of these mounds of walking clay?
Can laws be passed to prevent a lion from killing a deer? Or a coyote a rabbit? If we are nothing more than those animals, then we are nothing better.
Survival of the fittest, isn't that the law of nature? So, for the betterment and the survival of mankind, shouldn't the biggest, the meanest, the most selfish be left to feed off the weaker as it is in the rest of nature?
Why does man make a lie and mockery of his belief? For selfishness, of course.
The weakest of man often rises to the top, and gains control. And the only way to keep that control over the strong is to have laws contrary to what he believes.
If the weak who is in control were to be the strongest, than he would change the rules and the belief system of the masses to afford him what he wants.
As evidence of this, take a look at the history of Rome, or France, or England, or China, et ad nauseam.
If life, in fact, is not as has been believed since man appeared on this earth, then I would be more inclined to believe that it is all an illusion, a child's nightmare. This would make far more sense to me than any of the prevalent theories that the "intelligentsia" puts forth.
Then, concerning Judgment, which is what brought about this page in the first place, I would prefer to err on the side of caution. If there is no God, no creation, nothing to give reason to living a decent life, then I have lost nothing as far as eternity is concerned.
But, if there is a judgment, if there is an eternal destiny, if there is a hell -- then I pity those who believed otherwise and led their life accordingly.
It would seem to me that the Creator will be more inclined to take exception to those who believed on Him, and failed miserably to live up to expectations, than He would on those who never even believed in Him in the first place, but led decent lives.
If You were God, the Judge, what would you think? How would you judge?
As for me, if I knew from the beginning of my life that I was nothing more than an intelligent form of cockroach, that it made no difference if I was the worst scoundrel that ever lived, or the finest example of manhood; I would choose to live a life of Belief, and doing what I considered right.
Not because I could gain materially, or socially, or any other such way; but because I have discovered that by doing so I get the best reward mankind can receive outside of Eternity. I get to feel good about myself. Which is something I doubt a cockroach can do.
