Does an obession with an afterlife distract us from our lives? Explain if it affects you and why.?

Question

If you have done something wrong broken all or one of the ten commandants will you worry the rest of your life you are going to hell.

Answer 1

While this is not a philosophical question at first glance, I think it may be.

I think for devout religious people an obsession with the afterlife is the driving force in their behavior (e.g. going to church every sunday and not using the lord's name in vain). But, they are generally happy with the sacrifice thus I don't see how it could 'distract' them from their lives.

I am not devoutly religious nor deterministic so it does not affect me.

But this whole concept is more fundamentally seen in economics and philosophy as a whole. It is called fetishism.

Karl Marx talks about how human beings, since their labor (the only thing in which they value) is no longered valued and the objects created with said labor is instead valued, that people will begin to value objects more than their own abilities. This theory is called commodity fetishism and it results in commodities, i.e. Playstation 3's having 'governing powers' over human beings. People were killed over an object because of it's apparent value in the case of PS3s.

This same concept can be seen in religion. Religion has taken the value out of a human life that does not follow their rules, but only values those who belong to the church. This alienation causes one to value their faith more than they value themselves - in which case they will similarly act irrationally to protect said faith (Crusades, Islamic Terrorism).

Answer 2

No because I don't think I believe in a permit hell. If God is full of so much love how he can he/she throw you into a permant horrible place? I feel like you can reverse what you did wrong by doing things right later on. Therefore, I can't be distracted by if I'm going to hell or not, but if I hurt someone and what will I do about that. If you worry to much about the afterlife than you aren't even worrying about your real life.

Answer 3

I think that people's obsession with the fear of dying distracts us from living in the present and the only gift we have is here and now.

Whether or not there is an after life is totally beside the point. Nothing can be proven either way but logic seems to dictate that it does not but logic isn't always correct.

However, knowing the truth, one way or the other is beside the point. What really matters is what are you doing right now? The only way to be happy is to stay in the moment and explore all life's experiences as "interesting" and not "good" or "Bad".

The ability to step away from an uncomfortable situation and not take yourself too seriously in order to stay in the moment, is the greatest gift a person can give themself.

STAY IN THE MOMENT...don't dream too much of the future or regret too much of the past.

"Life is a banquet and most poor bastards are starving to death." Auntie Mame

Answer 4

I'm one of the sad people who don't know if there's an afterlife or not. That's what wakes me up in the middle of the night. Since we don't have all the answers about THIS reality, how do we know there's another one? People can talk about it and say that they know the truth; perhaps they're right. But I've learned over the years that what one person says isn't always the truth; add that to a majority, and you could have a billion "truths." I figure I'm going to find out when it happens, although I'm not entirely looking forward to it; as Carl Sagan put it, we'll find out who's right when it comes. But in the meantime, I try to follow the rule most doctors follow: do no harm. If I really do have to justify myself in front of some eternal judge, I'm hoping that'll keep me from being sent to "Hell" or reincarnated as a dung beetle.

Answer 5

I don't not worry about such things because as Don mentioned Hell is a fictitious place that was invented to control and put fear into the common mans heart. So I do not fret about such things. I imagine that if someone is constantly making their decisions based on whether or not it will tip their afterlife scale in the direction of hell, then I can see how this would distract them from life here on earth. It is best to let go of such fears so you can do the ultimate good, and that is love unconditionaly.

Answer 6

No way. I've broken almost all of the ten commandments but I'll never worry about hell, because I've accepted Christ as my personal Savior. The truth is we've all broken God's laws. That's why Jesus died for us, because otherwise it would be a price you could never pay. You see, God loves us, but He hates sin. To Him it's like mud or dirt that is unclean. In order to get into Heaven which is eternal presence with God, you must get all that crap(sin) off you. God doesn't want mud tracked through His house because it's Holy. That's where Jesus comes in. However if you refuse to get clean(accept Christ) then you can't come in. Did your parents let you back in the house with muddy clothes/shoes on? I don't think so. That's when people go to hell which is eternal separation from God. God doesn't send people to hell. Hell was created for Satan and his fallen angels. But if you don't let God cleanse you of filth then there is only one other alternative. There's a book called "A Divine Revelation of Hell" Check it out.

Answer 7

Yes there are sometimes i think about it and what will happen if i die and leave all the fimiliar ppl i know and love and go somewhere where i will be judged for all the wrong doing i made in this lifetime and that why i try to ask GOD for forgiveness and help me from doing the wrong things over and over again. I don't let this one factor of not knowing what will happen after i die and leave here to put pressure on my daily life, i make the best of it and try my best to live a life that GOD wanted us to live.

Answer 8

I believe in an afterlife but i don't think i am obsessed with it .I certainly think about it a lot the same as i think about my life now.I believe this life is just a very short journey to an eternal life and i try to imagine what eternity means.As far as committing sin,we are all weak and vulnerable and commit sin in various ways but if we are truly sorry for having offended God our sins will be forgiven no matter how serious they may be.

Answer 9

The after life does not concern me because after nearly 60 years of thinking about it I finally realized that hell is a simple religious fantasy. A fantasy invented to induce fear and control people.

Proof of this can be found in the bible if you actually read it instead of just taking someone Else's word for what it says.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 10

I don't worry about if I'm going to Hell or not. I've run into many people who deprive themselves of so much fun (that doesn't hurt others) and pleasure (that's not immoral or hurt others) because they focus too much on what is NOT going to get them to heaven. I don't want to live like that. I'm living my life for this world.