Only for our minds. “You” cease to exist, your parts are recycled… 
Australia has a Sea of Faith too (started by Don Cupitt), but this one is the U.K. one. The U.S. has a group started by John Shelby Spong, but I have to look up that link and I think it is called Progressive Christianity. Anyway, I think these groups apply to the topic at hand because they are progressive. I found out about these group as I was “losing faith in faith”, as Dan Barker would say, so I didn’t get too deep into it.
Such a comfort! I’ll be useful at last. My son says he’s going to have me turned in to cat litter.
Are you more comfortable knowing that your body might contain genes that once belonged to Genghis Kahn?
Genghis Khan a Prolific Lover, DNA Data Implies
An international group of geneticists studying Y-chromosome data have found that nearly 8 percent of the men living in the region of the former Mongol empire carry y-chromosomes that are nearly identical. That translates to 0.5 percent of the male population in the world, or roughly 16 million descendants living today. Feb 13, 2003
Genghis Khan a Prolific Lover, DNA Data Implies
It doesn’t. Comfort. I have purely British genes I’m afraid. As in since the last ice age. I’m glad he paid back a little after his literal decimation of humanity. Partially refilled that void.
Nice rationalization, metaphor. But I’m not talking that and neither is religion, even Buddhism. We’re talking a continuation of awareness beyond death. And your metaphor doesn’t actually work. Those things are perfectly natural, physical, normal human attributes for hundreds of thousands of years.
martin-peter-clarke, post:46, topic:8550"]
Nice rationalization, metaphor. But I’m not talking that and neither is religion, even Buddhism. We’re talking a continuation of awareness beyond death.
It is you who is talking in metaphor. Fact is that 95% of scripture is metaphorical.
There is no afterlife except in the memory of the living.
The continuation of awareness beyond death is physically impossible.
The mind is an emergent quality of the brain and that means when the brain dies the mind and awareness die with it.
But that is nothing to be afraid of, nothing at all. You continue to exist in the memories of the living minds (brains) you leave behind. Anything else is just wishful thinking.
Afterlife awareness is a human imaginary construct without any evidence. Else Jesus should have been well defined by now. But apart from small glimpses of evidence that he ever lived, there is not a shred of evidence that he continued to exist in some vague and undefined afterlife, except in the memories of the living.
To answer the OP.
IMO, all religions are regressive regardless of any fancy title you might assign to a specific offshoot.
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Life after death, unrealizable as it is, is a metaphor for what? Fear is as organic as death. Just hope I’m too knackered one way and another to care.
Yes, you answered your own question. Fear of death is the author of fables.
But to repeat Anil Seth; “When the end comes , there is nothing to be afraid of.
Nothing at all!”
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I loved that. It’s so nuanced. So unintendedly ambiguous, superpositioned.
Comment 47 very nicely explicated.
then
What’s ambiguous about it?
Though I’ll give you credit using superposition makes it sound oh so profound.
But in the end, there’s nothing.
And nothing to be affaid of.
Keep looking, you’ll see Seth’s nicely unintended ambiguity, the layered superpositioning. It’s all about signal to noise, beholder’s share, that kinda stuff.
I would rather think Seth knew exactly what he intended to say. This is his field of expertise and he is an experienced lecturer who tailors his lecture to the interested layperson. He has more in-depth videos out on YouTube where he discusses the subject in greater detail.
I’m sure he did. I’m sure he does x 2. But I also know that he had no idea of the nice ambiguity. Unless he really is that good and it’s there as a challenge. Daring one to see it.
And that is the fundamental gist of his “proposition” that human thought is a form of “controlled hallucination” which allows for the emergence of an “expectation” that allows one to engage in actual observation and visualization of 3 D objects from a single POV.
Ceci n’est pas une pipe ", French for “This is not a pipe”.
The Treachery of Images
I am a capitalist, not a socialist. We could solve the problem by teaching religion in schools. Knowledge is much better that people running around chasing their tails with stupid ideas.
You are arguing against yourself. You are claiming to be Capitalist, whereas Jesus was Socialist. Make up your mind about what you want taught in schools.
Fact is that unrestricted Capitalism in business is equivalent to unrestricted Parasitism in nature.
Both processes of consuming all resources cause the eventual death of the host.
This is obvious today in the wanton use of natural resources in the quest for profit that is causing the entire environment to become unbalanced and causal to the rapid increase of extinction of species unable to evolve fast enough.
That is except for insects and viruses. Like humans , these species are on the increase and eventually there will be a war for domination of the earth itself.
According to Hellstrom the insect will win because, where man can alter his environment, the insect can adapt to any alteration in the environment.The insect has been around a lot longer than mankind and has withstood billions of years of drastic extinction events.
And today we are in the midst of the 6th (Anthropocene) extinction event. Are you sure you want to compete with the insect in a toxic environment or try to live in symbiosis with nature in a clean balanced environment?
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I don’t see the relationship between capitalism/socialism and religion.
I don’t think that Jesus was a socialist. The concept would have been totally foreign to him.
I think that teaching philosophy, history and sociology of the main religions in school would be a great step.
Now, in France, history and natural science are taught. Teachers have more and more problems with some children and parents when what they teach conflict with religious teachings.
You are wrong in that assumption.
Greed is an evolved result of the hoarding instinct. But where in nature animals only hoard that what they will need for hard times, mankind hoards for unneeded power and luxury.
Mankind takes more than what is needed and that is forbidden by by the laws of nature.
Early on, religious scholars have recognized this and to their credit made “greed” and “gluttony” part of the seven “deadly sins”, as opposed to “temperance” and “charity” as part of the seven “living virtues”.
Seven deadly sins
Seven virtues
Bible Verses About Greed
God knows that money is on our mind a lot. So much so that Jesus spoke and taught about money more than he did any other topic! God knows that greed will destroy us.
If we become focused on accumulating more wealth, we become focused and driven by greed and are never content. Often, greed opens the door to other sins and we find ourselves falling farther from God and what He has for our lives.
We must be careful to protect our hearts and minds against greed and to practice contentment. Not only to live being satisfied and thankful for what God has given us but also in being generous in giving!
I am a Socialist (Humanist) atheist. Why do I know more about this than Capitalist theists? But then, I don’t believe that God gave the universe to man to “lord over”.
In reality we are no more important than ants, a much older and successful species.
I know that’s an inconvenient truth!
You left out psychology of religion. I agree up to a point and that is where people begin to battle over who’s beliefs will be taught- Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian could function fairly well together, but then you get into other protestant groups and Fundamngelical groups who can’t agree on what version of Xianity will be taught, then you throw in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Skink, etc. Religion per se cannot be taught in a public school. Public schools must stay secular, but private schools can teach religion.