This will be offensive to quite a few people.
There. You've had your warning. I'll even put the damn thing under a cut.
Right.
I just want to say, once and for all, that people who believe in a god who loves them unconditionally and would be willing to sacrifice everything for them; who believe that by virtue of believing in this god they almost certainly will go to heaven/paradise/nirvana are by definition vain and prideful people.
This is not an opinion.
It is a fact.
Think about it. What would an omnipotent, omniscient god do with the belief of mere mortals? Why would he/she/it need this belief? Why would he/she/it even care about this belief? And yet these people think that, because they believe, they are the chosen ones while everyone else will be struck down.
I can see why poor people or people in adversity would like to believe in such a god - it is merely human nature to want to bring down those higher than you and/or elevate yourself to a position above them. But for people in a position of strength? I really don't understand, unless they are vain, conceited and prideful. There. Those are two of the deadly sins of the Christian faith already. Are you still going to heaven?
Sure, some people might say that it's because god loves them that he/she/it cares about their belief. ...first of all, I don't see much evidence of a omniscient, omnipotent, loving and benevolent god. He/she/it could be loving and impotent, omniscient and filled with hate, or merely ambivalent. But then he/she/it would not be that god capable of scooping up his/her/its followers and placing them in heaven/paradise/nirvana. Which then brings us back to my first point - what would an omnipotent god do with the belief of mere mortals?
Does their belief make them more worthy of going to heaven/paradise/nirvana? Who is more worthy of going to heaven? A person who has done nothing but good in their lives (hard to imagine, yes, but just suppose) to the extent that they are following every word of a god's holy book, yet does not believe in that god him/her/itself; or someone who has done every evil possible, yet repents on his/her deathbed saying that he/she believes in god while staring death in the face?
TL;DR people who think that because they believe they will be chosen for a position on the right hand of god are vain, self-centered and prideful people. BY DEFINITION.
Right.
I just want to say, once and for all, that people who believe in a god who loves them unconditionally and would be willing to sacrifice everything for them; who believe that by virtue of believing in this god they almost certainly will go to heaven/paradise/nirvana are by definition vain and prideful people.
This is not an opinion.
It is a fact.
Think about it. What would an omnipotent, omniscient god do with the belief of mere mortals? Why would he/she/it need this belief? Why would he/she/it even care about this belief? And yet these people think that, because they believe, they are the chosen ones while everyone else will be struck down.
I can see why poor people or people in adversity would like to believe in such a god - it is merely human nature to want to bring down those higher than you and/or elevate yourself to a position above them. But for people in a position of strength? I really don't understand, unless they are vain, conceited and prideful. There. Those are two of the deadly sins of the Christian faith already. Are you still going to heaven?
Sure, some people might say that it's because god loves them that he/she/it cares about their belief. ...first of all, I don't see much evidence of a omniscient, omnipotent, loving and benevolent god. He/she/it could be loving and impotent, omniscient and filled with hate, or merely ambivalent. But then he/she/it would not be that god capable of scooping up his/her/its followers and placing them in heaven/paradise/nirvana. Which then brings us back to my first point - what would an omnipotent god do with the belief of mere mortals?
Does their belief make them more worthy of going to heaven/paradise/nirvana? Who is more worthy of going to heaven? A person who has done nothing but good in their lives (hard to imagine, yes, but just suppose) to the extent that they are following every word of a god's holy book, yet does not believe in that god him/her/itself; or someone who has done every evil possible, yet repents on his/her deathbed saying that he/she believes in god while staring death in the face?
TL;DR people who think that because they believe they will be chosen for a position on the right hand of god are vain, self-centered and prideful people. BY DEFINITION.