And more philosophy.

[ysobelle]

What's the purpose of heaven?

Comments

[briansiano.livejournal.com]

To punish the religious.

[ysobelle.livejournal.com]

You're a bad, bad man, My Liege.

[emalia.livejournal.com]

To give humans a carrot.. Really..

[delynfirebrand.livejournal.com]

To placate people. Heaven is the authority's way of convincing people to deal with nasty circumstances now, because of the hope of a reward in the next world. And people buy into it all the time, too.

[surlywench.livejournal.com]

heaven is where you rest.

[briansiano.livejournal.com]

Other reasons for Heaven:

Social control.

Incentive to behave without the requirement of payout.

To foster obedience to judgements.

To reduce acts of personal vengeance.

False hope for when there is no real hope.

Deferred gratification without the requirement of payout.

To satisfy a desire for karma.

To encourage belief in absolutes, which encourages obedience to our leaders' commands.

[meekay.livejournal.com]

Control.

[johnbroadfoot.livejournal.com]

To keep the gullible in line.

[hemitheos.livejournal.com]

To feel safe.

Deep thoughts...

[vixynne.livejournal.com]

Because who would follow a god who lives in a van, down by the river?


Actually, I think Heaven serves as a way for us to promise ourselves there's more to what we experience than simply what our limited senses can process.

It's our answer to "isn't there more to life than (insert disappointments/stress/regrets here)?"

It's comfort...it's hope. And I like living in a world with comfort and hope nearby.

[hennabee.livejournal.com]

Heaven was how people tried to explain the state at which they surpassed the every day and became truly one with themselves and reality around them. Having attained that, they would want to come back and try to tell others in order to encourage them to see it as well...and because it was something that occured under such extraordinary circumstances, the average human assumes that the individual got there because of some exceptional feature of their character. It may or may not be true, as it's within every person to surmount what they limit themselves to being every day and become Themself.
Heaven is only a breath away if we allow ourselves to drop preconceived notions about who we are and open up to our true nature. The lights, the singing, the angels, are all attempts to explain what it's like for this to occur. This is, of course, imho.

[irishcoyote.livejournal.com]

To boot god's Ipod.

[ysobelle.livejournal.com]

Freak.