zomgwtf said:
Well, it just sort of came with the whole idea of death being the end. I mean like I don't particularly think of my life as very special or important at all. I mean like it IS special and important to me but on the grande scheme of things it's rather insignificant.
I was also not raised religiously really, I attended church with my mother when I was quite young but that was it. I studied religion on my own terms and found them to be useless to me. I was never raised thinking that when I die I go some place special, maybe that also had an impact on it.
Who knows all I know is that I don't really mine the thought. That's not the same as saying I don't respect my life and to prove I accept death as the end I'll kill myself, because that's not true at all. I really want to live out a full and hopefully great life and to help others in life and possibly even bring about new conscious life.
Interesting, I also was raised in a religiously neutral household. My mother took pains to raise me Jewish, but not with the faith or the belief, but the culture. I stuck with it until my Bar Mitvah, chanted my Torah and Hav-Torah portions, and have only returned to a temple for funerals, and weddings.
Like you, I was free to study, and I don't see my life as special (beyond, as you say, that it's special to ME lol). That being said, I find the concept of dissolution very difficult to accept. By no means do I want to hurry to my end, as you also point out...
I suppose I just wish the universe was a more comforting place. That said, I wouldn't trade my view of the world for peace of mind in a delusion. I want to be asking "How?" and "Why?" on my deathed... I just wish I could expect something more than the oblivion before my birth.
I believe that to be the case, but it is terrifying. We are very very odd animals, we humans. I'm afraid, because I love life, and an eternity of nothing seems a bit overwhelming.
EDIT: @GreatEscapist: Heh... I'm that "dude", and yeah, sarcasm definitely makes things lively, but it has to be in the context of some more content.
As for your view of the soul is very much what we find in Judeism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Bhuddism (and more), that the soul is the captain of the ship, the seat of who we fundamentally are beyond thoughts and desires. The thing is, a lot of religions look at that, and don't see a need to assign everyone a place in "eternity".
Take the Greek Mythology and all predecessors back to Sumeria) of Hades. Some really awful people end in Tartarus, and the truly valerous end in Elysium. Most get blaaaaaah, and fade away under a willow tree, if they make it across The River Styx at all. Norse mythology is similar, with the majority either ending in Hel's domain, or literally handpicked by Valkyries from the field of battle. Hinduism takes more of a "recycling" approach, but again, the notion isn't individual perfection, but perfection of spirit. It's pretty clear that it must have been one hell of a strong motivator, especially given short and brutal lives (by our standards). That said, these common themes are more about social engineering than anything else. Christianity is interesting in that it is so individually focused; EVERYONE has a place in heaven, or hell (or maybe limbo, which really seems hellish to ME), which is... odd in a different way. Ah well... no one ever claimed religion or mythology had to be rational.
