Words of encouragement from scientism

 It would have been easier were I able to be a Christian.
Linda

But you should understand that the christian life is mostly harder than a normal life.  Wishful thinking would not be enough to keep me there.

I figured all the closed-minded materialists would pile on this one. Of course they consider all the empirical data contradicting their world view to be wishful thinking and fantasy, so in adversity we have no rational choice but to suck it up.

Really. So what about the empirical data? This falls under at least seven headings, each by itself a powerful argument pointing to a world beyond ours. These include deathbed visions, veridical near-death experiences, apparitions or ghosts, veridical past life memories of (mostly) little children, poltergeist phenomena, spirit channeling (mediumistic communications), and terminal lucidity among advanced Alzheimer’s and other dementia victims just before death. If even any of these, let alone all, are what they seem, then some kind of personal afterlife is strongly indicated.

Digesting this information should greatly reduce the feeling of panic at the thought of dying by COVID-19 or any other cause, and this response is well justified by the evidence.

I see you understand that it would be difficult to buy into if it felt like wishful thinking (I realize that it isn't wishful thinking for you).

The Christian life as practiced by the people I know doesn't seem that hard, though.

Linda

I understand that and I've seen it so much in the church.  I feel like saying, "what's the point in believing only the nice comforting things Jesus and his disciples taught and rejecting the rest?"  Cherry picking is human nature, even in the church.  Such is life.   Anyway I try not to preach here (You might find that hard to believe! ) so I'm going to try and stop.  You might want to have a flip through the new testament out of curiosity one day, just to find out for yourself.

From a materialists view, I suppose the meaning in life is simply the fact that s/he experiences meaning and wants to experience more, at least while s/he waits for he grim reaper.

But for the materialist there is no experience. Just inert matter.

But you should understand that the christian life is mostly harder than a normal life.  Wishful thinking would not be enough to keep me there.

Brian, will all respect that is rather self-aggrandizing and somewhat unbecoming.

But for the materialist there is no experience. Just inert matter.

why are you characterising matter as inert?

[Laird]

Goodness me. Who on Earth could these quote-unquote "materialists" be? Certainly, there are none among us. Heavens, not. Not a single quacking duck here! And, certainly, if there were, none of them would be trading on a false standard of evidence in which the balance of probabilities is really "beyond a reasonable doubt", and those who see how the scales tip are deemed to be merely comforting themselves.

There are interesting questions around meaning though, and one of the more interesting ones, I think, is how it relates to survival. It can easily be asked: if the human soul does not survive bodily death; that is, if the human soul is utterly annihilated at death, such that its consciousness is extinguished, never to be reignited, then what meaning does its Earthly incarnation hold?

I am not saying that this question cannot have reasonable answers, just that there is an intense pressure on it. It is one of the more formidable questions, and one which turns on the balance of probabilities.

Brian, will all respect that is rather self-aggrandizing and somewhat unbecoming.

I don't understand how, it is just honest and can be seen in Paul's writings too and is exactly what Jesus taught about the narrow, difficult path that few find.

But for the materialist there is no experience. Just inert matter.

Of course there is experience, and the experience, although it comes from matter, is enough for them.