If everyone knows that God exists and if everyone knows that God won’t send anyone to hell, then wouldn’t it be the most morally correct thing to do to kill everyone so they can get to heaven (ecstacy) quicker?
If we were in such a state, I expect there would be some philosophy about why we were on the earth before going to heaven, and killing everyone would threaten that good.
I agree. For example, say people in heaven cannot evolve without adapting to certain situations on earth (that Heaven’s serenity cannot provide). People may have specific goals for their lives on earth which are needed for their goals on heaven. If they remain only in heaven, not making trips ot earth for experience, then a major part of heaven, learning and evolving, ceases to exist. The pain of earth, in this case, is necessary for the experience of ecstacy (in this case, a kind of joy experienced by everyone supporting each other in the growth of both the individual and the collective).
I don’t care about our beliefs then, I’m just asking if under the ethics we have now it would be considered an ethical thing to do.
What do you mean by the “ethics we have now”? Is there some current guide of what is and what is not ethical behavior based off the belief that there is a God that will send us all to heaven when we die?
I am having difficulty making sense out of your last comment and your first question.
What I mean is that before we attempt to rationalize God’s reason for putting us on Earth, I want to know if that would be considered a morally correct thing to do.
No. I don’t personally believe that we’re here for a reason. I also think that Heaven is perfect in every way, though I can’t really describe it more than that. I switch in and out of believing (or wishing) in reincarnation (my religion is best described as “Catholicism with a Buddhist twist”).
I believe that people will get reincarnated until they achieve the most perfect form they can achieve as a human, then God takes them in as a reward.
I don’t really believe in Karma, but if Buddhists are to be believed, then killing everyone would: 1.) Hinder their quest for perfection, and therefore their entry into Heaven; and 2.) It would significantly delay your arrival into Heaven.
No. You could kill yourself. But you would have no right to make that choice for others.
It is not a matter of “rights,” but intentions. If God does in fact exist, he judges a person by the intentions, not by the deed. The wager made by the vigilante, who claims to “fight violently for God’s will,” is one that trusts in the power of God to judge correctly. If God does not exist, then the intentions and deeds do not matter anyway.
If the Devil exists, his agents are present here and will be until the earth is destroyed. These agents are those who failed in a previous life…those who had dishonest intentions, or, those who were initiated as a lost soul…due to recent dishonest intentions in this life. This is why the trajectory of the earth and its increasing chaos is apparant. It is filling with evil agents…while those who live with good intentions move on from this world.
Among the populations of the earth, there are new souls, protectors (Gods agents), and the evil lost souls. The game is played betweem them for the possession of souls. The Devil is trying to build an army. Gods agents are going to stop it.
So, if God exists, this is a perspective you can take on the situation at hand. The intentions mean everything, but nobody has any “rights.” You’ve heard the saying before “God sees through you.” He and only he can judge you. Your fellow men cannot do this.
Gifts are things which usually make people happier. Heaven is the ultimate happiness. Earth, in comparison, is a great sadness.
Therefore, there could be no greater gift than to kill somebody.
Sure there’s a greater gift.
To kill the killer of somebody and protect them. If God wanted there to be no existence, he would not have created life. What is the point of living if God wanted everyone in heaven? Why would he even create the earth? He wouldn’t have created this process.
What if God doesn’t make sense?
And to kill the killer would be depriving them of bliss, and giving their killer (who is supposedly “bad”) bliss.
Then it would be impossible for you to entertain your theory. How could you say that “the greatest gift is to be sent to heaven?” What if it was a nightmare? What if God is manevolant? I certainly wouldn’t want to go to heaven if he were.
No. Stay inside the envelop of our theory here. Remember, the killer who had bad intentions would go to hell. Hell is not blissful.
If this were the case, then God would appear to be either lying or truthful; either there is some reason for us to be here, or there isn’t. Since there can’t be no reason, then God would have a reason.
What if the reason was to see how quickly we could kill ourselves?
I would choke on a tub of beans.
Assuming that everyone actually really “knows”, that they have undeniable proof for this knowledge, then I don’t see why they would feel comfortable making such extreme actions according to mere “what ifs”.
With the knowledge that God provided them with undeniable proof of heaven’s existence (I’m also assuming that heaven has to be the ecstacy we commonly interpret “heaven” as, not merely a place called “heaven” that can be completely hellish), I think the people would have made the habit of gathering information to carefully analyze before making such morally significant actions (that can be avoided).
The people are either trained in philosophy, and have found this undeniable knowledge as a result of their attempts for truth, or God has actually appeared to to all of them individually and explained these truths.
I’m not sure why you dismissed MRN’s initial response (well, I have an idea…). The ethical thing to do, of course, would be to try to find out, beyond doubt, whether or not there is any need to live on earth. Why God put them there instead of on heaven. The two pieces of knwoledge the people have is not sufficient to make that decision. Too many “what ifs”.
I didn’t ignore/dismiss, I answered it later.
The comedian Doug Stanhope has a funny bit about this - he asks why, if death leads to eternal salvation and all the good stuff, Christians still wear seat belts.
Hahaha.
I love Doug Stanhope.
Not everyone knows (believes) this.
What makes you think that your soul is immediately transported to Heaven upon your death? It’s just as plausible that it stays here on Earth until Judgment, in which case time isn’t really a factor and it’s irrelevant to kill everyone.
That’s a side issue though, my real problem with that idea is that we’re not all going to Heaven, and killing everyone now allows no one the chance to change so they can be sent to Heaven at all. You deny everyone that right by saying that they should all die right now as is.