Quote:Scottywotty hit it right on the head when he said that heaven can even be boring sometime.
He is right. Been there a few times too LOL
Keep coming back here for a little more "action".... I might be addicted to ELS. LOL
Interesting perspective. But as for the murder issue, I would never want to come to earth to be a murderer, even though it would stave off boredom in heaven. I don't even feel comfortable with the fact that I have any sins at all, let alone something like murder. I constantly ask God to help me overcome the sinful thoughts in my mind. Most of my sins are mental stuff, like jealousy, arrogance, selfishness, lack of compassion, etc. Even these mental sins, where it's not something even approaching an act of murder, are enough to sting my conscience severely. When I get to heaven, I know I won't be asking to come back to murder a little girl, or as a rapist, or whatever other "action" it might potentially be interesting to engage in. My soul would simply self-destruct. I could never live as a heinous sinner. It is so horrible -- it violates my self-image so much (I am a person who really wants to be good and always feels bad when I do wrong) -- I simply could not accept such a fate.
Quote:The law of retribution may not apply in all cases. In the case of a heineous crime, it may either be a "pre-arranged" event by all of the parties invloved.... the killer and "killee"
something like that, or it may be a case of a younger spirit in earth living starting on a new round of lessons.
Come "check-out" time, it is not a case of how good or bad you have been. It is what you have learned from your trip down here. The concept of sin as we know it down here is almost foreign up there.
If that is the case, how do you explain hellish NDEs? Many people who have had hellish NDEs believe it was because their lives were full of sin.
I do not believe hell is eternal, but I do believe there is just punishment, redemptive punishment, to help people overcome sin. If a person has a life of heinous crime -- and especially if the person feels no remorse -- it seems that justice requires that the person face some kind of punishment in the afterlife. Not eternal damnation, but a punishment that will cleanse their soul of the sinfulness.
Quote: What about Hell and payback, etc ?
Heard that a lot. You take your beliefs with you when you go. Come check-out time, you believe that you led a sinful life and deserve to be punished for your sins.... so be it if you insist on it.
Is that really necessary ? You came down here to learn. Mistakes are human. Thats why we came down here in the 1st place. Why be punished for what you came down here to learn ?
The problem with your cosmology is that it implies that people who feel no remorse and do not fear punishment for their crimes will have a better afterlife experience than those who know they did wrong and feel bad about it. This idea that "you take your beliefs with you." I don't think it's a create-your-own-reality universe we're living in. That is solipsism. I do not believe in solipsism. If the universe works that way, then it is very screwed up, IMO. I believe there is a Higher Power who is in control and works for the betterment of all souls. Allowing souls to just wallow in their own beliefs does not foster growth. People often need to get exactly the opposite of their beliefs when they die. The fearful need to be comforted; the arrogant and remorseless need to be brought low. I would like to think that is how things work.
Quote:Sometimes the most evil person in the world might one of the good guys so to speak . Took me a long time to understand that part. Later on as the pieces fell together, the whole operation finally made a lot of sense. Since then, I have been extremely careful not to make any judgements on anybody because we are all in this together.
Well it is certainly true that Jesus taught us not to judge each other. I agree with his philosophy and yours on this point. But isn't it somewhat disconcerting to believe that an evil person like Hitler or Charles Manson or Osama Bin Laden could be a highly advanced soul, while a humble janitor who gives 25% of his meager salary to charity could be a weak and rotten soul? I mean, how can a person really go through life believing this? Don't you worry about your own soul, if you believe that even a person who tries to do a lot of good could actually be one of the worst souls? Doesn't it seem unfair that "advanced" souls might be able to just do any horrible thing they want, without being held accountable by God for it? I don't like that belief system one bit. It fills me with negative thoughts. It also contradicts the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles.
Quote:I know that some of those ideas may go against some of your reference points now. Hang loose, keep asking questions... we have a lot of high power people that live here who can help you in your spiritual quest !! Love Bob
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I appreciate your thoughts and your willingness to engage these issues with me. They are indeed profound issues of concern. One thing I would mention, however, is that according to your own stated philosophy, we really don't know how "high power" any of the people here really are. I mean, if good people can really be bad, and bad people can really be good -- then there is basically no way to tell. Chew on that!
Freebird