I believe in karma if you include rewards/punishments in the afterlife

I believe in personal destiny. What you do in life depends on you. It is not predetermined unless you decide you want it to happen and work to achieve it.

Then again, I'm starting to warm up to the idea of Atheism based on what I've learned and Roman/Greek mythology.

Don't want to get this thread moved so just pretend I didn't say that and I don't believe life is predetermined.

atheism makes no sense to me.

if you're right ok small moral victory for you and maybe you had a little more fun than the average christian along the way
if you're wrong you burn in hell for eternity

christianity doesn't even require you to not sin, it doesn't weigh the bad against the good(I'm not including catholicism, possibly the most corrupt prominent religion in history). you accept jesus and have 0 chance of going to hell, why take the gamble? atheists need to admit to themselves that we don't know. that's their point usually, that there is no evidence, but if you don't know there isn't a hell why take the chance of spending eternity there. people don't realize what eternity means. this life is a trial-run, the ultimate test if you will

No, Mr. CrazyCoffey, I haven't killed anyone. Not yet, anyhow.

The heathenism to which I was referring could probably be more accurately described as debauchery. My earlier life (prior to being transitioned to relative normalcy by the beautiful and witty Mrs. FAX) was associated with rock & roll, after all. As I'm sure you're aware, it is incumbent upon all rock musicians to partake in every known form of unseemly conduct.

But again, destiny is not "karma". Karma is a system of barter. You trade good deeds for good fortune and vice-versa. Destiny is a plan that unfolds in your life regardless of your behavior.

FAX

I think many would disagree with this. If you accept destiny, then your behavior couldn't be any different than it is.

I had a nice long reply, but don't want to send Mr. Fax's thread to DC. I will say that I've thought that myself and feel if you are faking it and don't believe why would you be saved? That's the hipocracy that made me give up on organized religion. As of right now I do believe in a higher power, it's just in question.

karma is another form of religion to a sense. that sense being that there are different beliefs or forms of belief in what that word means. you say it's a barter system, while I referred to it as, if you do a good deed when you didn't have to, you get rewarded for it at a later time, in this life or the next, regardless of premeditated thought for that reward.

but, again, I'm only trying to throw a different perspective to your reflections on why you have good things now, when you don't feel you deserve them. I argue that you weren't as bad as you make it out to be. Sure, you didn't live the best life early on, but you seem to be a kind enough soul, that I suspect you were also a kind person overall in your younger life, offering the perspective that you have deserved the good life you enjoy now.

just my 2 cents, Mr Fax......

hence the great religious debate..... but what do we know, none of us have died and seen what happens next. Something, nothing? who really knows?

yes, that's not how I feel or how i view believers, but a very skeptical agnostic almost Cartesian perspective but I think that alone should convince atheists to rethink their ideas

no atheist has any proof that god doesn't exist. it's personal opinion/theory/blind assumption just as much as believing, so why take the risk, why not read the bible and see what you get out of it. the possible alternative is far too risky

if you still have it, pm me your reply. I am curious and wouldn't mind continuing this


way off topic: I think 'life' is essentially a proving or testing ground for god's love. if the bible is to be believed obviously our actions(whether or not we accept jesus) determine whether we enter hell(described as a place without god's love cast into a lake of fire), or heaven, where our rewards are based on our life

Exactly. And that's why I'm still debating it myself and not just going with one way or the other. When your open to alternate possibilities, you will often make a better choice...in my experiences anyway.

Haha, I don't go to DC often. I might need to head over and see if this is a topic of discussion going on. I have only talked to a few people on the subject and enjoy the debate. It's sometimes strange when I'm arguing both sides.

I've never really gotten into DC myself. this is the first time I've approached the subject on here

While your future may not be predetermined, there is no way to prove it is not.

I'll also add that you do not make choices based on free will, all of the choices you make in life have a desired consequence that is tied to the decision. No one can make a decision, just for the sake of making a decision - and that is why our fates may be predetermined, because we can not make choices based on free will alone.

I do not believe in destiny.

I believe that each individual is in control of their own fate and they and they alone make their own destiny.

which is kinda of the same thing kbeg is saying too, we don't know, so hedge your bets. Kinda anyway......