Unlike the cat and depending on what you believe, we only have one life. I find it interesting when people peddle the unknowable as something they know and I find it even more interesting when so many people believe and trust that now they know. Personally, I am from the camp that assumes that once my eyes close for the final time, they will not reopen but if they do, I will be ready anyway.
It is pretty simple in my opinion to play both sides of the equation and hedge bets as all that I need do is my best as often as I can possibly manage it. Some may argue that I am right or wrong in my approach but, I can only assume that they have not thought too deeply about their own experience and beliefs for I am yet to meet any two people who absolutely adhere to the same set of rules without exception.
What this indicates to me is that even if their set of beliefs is correct and they are following 100 percent to the letter, others are not as their actions are slightly removed which means, if there is a heaven that requires absolute adherence to gain access, only one person (if that) is likely to qualify. If there is leeway to allow for error, that means that the boundaries of the leeway itself are unknowable. Essentially, the only way into heaven is to be lucky you happened to follow the precise set or, didn't cross an unknown disqualifying boundary. This doesn't sound like a system designed by a God in my opinion, it sounds like a system designed to hack the insecurities of the masses by making conditions of success unknowable.
I may not have the nine lives of a cat but, I can build flexibility in an attempt to land on my feet no matter the circumstance, which when it comes to an afterlife is quite simple, do the best I can and if there is a God like so many seem to believe, it will understand and evaluate my life on doing my best and if there isn't, I would have led a personally rewarding life. Win/win considering both situations are so open to interpretation and error that attempting to commit to knowing 'the way' would be quite risky.
I don't really judge people much for their belief systems as for the most part, they had nothing to do with their development and once held, can be very hard to shift. This goes for religious beliefs or political and the like as the environment one grows up with has a lot of influential power. I don't mind discussing belief systems with people however as I find that there is a lot of value in all sides of the argument that can help me be a little better tomorrow. Dismissing all information because of some poor information is not helpful for my development as it means that evolution of thought ceases as there is always error and static in the communication itself.
Anyway, me doing my best need not interfere with you doing your best and if it does, then it isn't the best which means I have failed. And, if your adherence to gain access to an afterlife requires harming others, what kind of afterlife do you expect is waiting for you? Oh well, such is life and death.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]