What do people do all day once they get to heaven?

[Munch]

I would ask any Christian who believes they will go to heaven to describe what they will do all day every day. Then I'd ask them "would you do that now here on earth? No hobbies, no spending time with family or friends, no job, no relaxation, no sleep, just bowing to and praising God every moment of your existence, would you do that now?".

In comparison, hell sounds like a paradise, you might get string up and burned, raped by demons, and thrown into a burning lake, but at least hell gives you the option to feel something.

[jonb]

Heaven would be the very hell for humans

Any normal well adapted individual placed in any of the traditional conceptions of heaven would experience suffering. Essentially on a very basic level of how any normal animal functions it is hard wired into us that heaven would produce suffering, the only way to get round this is the individual would have to be drugged, or suffering from a mental condition, or undergo extreme training to dissipate what many theists would say is a christard virtue.

To enjoy heaven you would have to be retarded.

The conceptions of heaven and hell in the Abrahamic traditions are driven by an idea of justice, that ultimately our good deeds are rewarded and our bad deeds are punished. What gawd does not balance in this life gets sorted in the next. The Lutheran concept that gawd knows who will enter heaven before they are born is not at odds with this, essentially it is only a variation on a theme. Even the Buddhist notion of nirvana, 'the escape from suffering' it can be proven could only be achieved by a retarded individual.

Animals are evolved to be nicer than those who could enjoy heaven if it existed. Now I can see that in reading this you might presume this is just the normal guff jonb comes out with made up of opinion and personal invective, but this time I am not going to rest my case on the persuasiveness of my rhetoric, but give you the science that backs it up.

The Mirror neuron

A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behaviour of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primate species. Birds have been shown to have imitative resonance behaviours and neurological evidence suggests the presence of some form of mirroring system. In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neuron

What does this mean? It means and is proven that our brains which are normally developed are hard wired to feel, what the person or thing that we observe or think about feels. You might want to read this-

You're walking through a park when out of nowhere, the man in front of you gets smacked by an errant Frisbee. Automatically, you recoil in sympathy. Or you're watching a race, and you feel your own heart racing with excitement as the runners vie to cross the finish line first. Or you see a woman sniff some unfamiliar food and wrinkle her nose in disgust. Suddenly, your own stomach turns at the thought of the meal.
For years, such experiences have puzzled psychologists, neuroscientists and philosophers, who've wondered why we react at such a gut level to other people's actions. How do we understand, so immediately and instinctively, their thoughts, feelings and intentions?
Now, some researchers believe that a recent discovery called mirror neurons might provide a neuroscience-based answer to those questions. Mirror neurons are a type of brain cell that respond equally when we perform an action and when we witness someone else perform the same action. They were first discovered in the early 1990s, when a team of Italian researchers found individual neurons in the brains of macaque monkeys that fired both when the monkeys grabbed an object and also when the monkeys watched another primate grab the same object.

http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct05/mirror.aspx

Mirror Neurons are why we react on an instinctive level to pictures like this-


Or why when there are so many fears of mass migration of people from alien cultures moving into our own societies one picture can cut through all the talk and people react on a very visceral level.


So could any normally developed human sit happily in heaven while others are suffering in hell and be aware?

I have more to say on this but knowing aitm's sensibilities, I will stop this wall of text for now.

[Mermaid]

aren't there 40 virgins to fuck? That right there oughta use up some time, unless you die when you're 20.

[josephpalazzo]

They will bask in the glory of God. Ain't that enough?!!? Perpetual orgasm...

[pr126]

  The Syrian Refugee Propaganda War of Emotion

The media are complicit in the shift of our attitudes by manipulating people, by distorting the facts and shamelessly showing images of deceased children to use emotion against us. This is a propaganda war and you should not fall for it.

These poor, dead children deserved far better from their parents. These people are fleeing safety from Turkey in order to enjoy a better lifestyle in the West, and the death of their children is on their hands, not ours. It is not our responsibility to even consider helping clean up this terrible mess.

 

[Baruch]

Uggh.  Work forever.  Makes me wonder if they got the descriptions of heaven and hell mixed up.

That is the classic Egyptian version ... of Osiris.  Oh and the class structure there is the same as the class structure here.  If you were a farmer here, you are a farmer there.

Pr126 - apparently you were born without mirror neurons ;-(

Jonb - I take exception to your description of nirvana.  It simply means you stop reincarnating ... which on other terms means you actually stop living (in a system where you can never really die).  For Asians, death is a door between one life and the next, that has no end, unless you are successfully Buddhist.  And yes, there is the justice aspect.  Basically if you eat a hamburger, you will reincarnate as that same cow (to be eaten by you).  If you abuse your wife, you will be reborn as a woman who is married to and beaten by you.

[SGOS]

There are plenty of lurid and detailed descriptions of hell in the world's holy books and their proponents but what do people do in heaven all day? One of the only biblical references to the Godly afterlife can be found in  Revelation 4:8 which says...

The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME." And when the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,…

What the actual fuck? I never did hear this in church. Is it not even creepier than the concept of the Lake of Fire?  I would rather burn in hell, thanks all the same. Maybe someone can enlighten me as to have this sinister spectacle can rightly be described as paradise and who the hell would want it? Isn't it enough to give a person nightmares?

In my teens, I was told by a devout Christian woman that, "Young Christians or those new to fold are advised not to read Revelations right away as they cannot fully understand it until they have become stronger in their faith."  From that I extrapolate that gullibility somehow increases proportionally with faith.

[peacewithoutgod]

What do they do? While they purport to be joyful with the idea of singing and playing their harps on clouds with the angels all day, every day, for millions of years, it's for sure that Jeeeezzzus would tire of that sound after a few minutes. Fortunately for him, being god and all, he's everywhere. This would mean he has self-duplicative powers, which means he has enough dicks for everyone in his hole-y harem to suck on, which keeps him very gratified with the "woship" while keeping them quiet.

[jonb]

Jonb - I take exception to your description of nirvana.  It simply means you stop reincarnating ... which on other terms means you actually stop living (in a system where you can never really die).  For Asians, death is a door between one life and the next, that has no end, unless you are successfully Buddhist.  And yes, there is the justice aspect.  Basically if you eat a hamburger, you will reincarnate as that same cow (to be eaten by you).  If you abuse your wife, you will be reborn as a woman who is married to and beaten by you.

The First Noble Truth of Buddhism is that life is suffering. To live, you must suffer. It is impossible to live without experiencing some kind of suffering. We have to endure physical suffering like sickness, injury, tiredness, old age and eventually death and we have to endure psychological suffering like loneliness, frustrations, fear, embarrassment, disappointment, anger, etc.

So to reach that state 'nirvana' and step beyond suffering, you leave others behind, you cannot do that with intact mirror neurons, because you will feel the others suffering, so in some way that function has to be impaired or you have to be retarded.

Pr yes those pictures are so visceral that we can be controlled by them, but don't worry people seem more than able to wash their hands and to cling to learnt behaviours like repeating the words

It's not my responsibility
It's not my responsibility
It's not

[Baruch]

There are profound differences between the three major schools of Buddhism.  It seems the Theravada is more studied in Britain ... the Mahayana and Vajrayana is more studied in the US.  In Mahayana, one deliberately delays entrance into Nirvana, simply because it is more compassionate and self sacrificing to be a bodhisattva (evangelist aka apostle aka doctor of the soul).  The Theravada in contrast is more monkish, more selfish.  Also dukkha is mis=translated as suffering ... basically it is karma, with a negative slant.  So a bodhisattva, while alive in this world, continues to struggle with karma/dukkha/suffering ... so that the karma/dukkha/suffering of others might be reduced.  But not substitutionary atonement like with Church Jesus ... a living Buddhist is supposed to work out their own salvation ... it simply is helpful to have someone more experienced help you.

For some Buddhists, death in nirvana is an atheist death ... one simply ceases.  And thus one is unavailable to help others ... it is a depressed person seeking the easy way out ... a kind of living death suicide as a monk/nun (same as in Christianity) ... until paranirvana is reached.  Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism are much more social and positive.  Being alive, in spite of suffering, is a challenge ... and meaningful if put to use in meaningful ways.

[Cocoa Beware]

A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behaviour of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primate species. Birds have been shown to have imitative resonance behaviours and neurological evidence suggests the presence of some form of mirroring system. In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex.

One of the most effective ways to torture people is to make them watch someone getting tortured.

[aitm]

It is hallucination, all the way down ;-)

I had a day laborer in Lubbock Tx working for a few days, he was quiet and a good worker, just how I like them. One day he says, "I've seen Heaven". I said "goody for you, I am sure you're dying to get there eh?" He was quiet for a minute then started giving me the details of heaven. Gold everywhere, streets of gold, people happy and walking by without cares, no sickness, all beauty and love and peace and the feeling of wonder and glory was everywhere……"when I was a engineer I saw it"....

"Nice", I says, "bethca can't wait to get there eh, you know the door to the roof is unlocked".  He didn't say anything. So I said, "so what got you here, you know, on the day labor thing from being an engineer?"

"Drug Addiction"…

Okay then….

[AllPurposeAtheist]

C'mon..heaven is a big car wash and you get to wash the godmobile all day and polish the fenders.. Woooo!

[SGOS]

He didn't say anything. So I said, "so what got you here, you know, on the day labor thing from being an engineer?"

"Drug Addiction"…

Okay then….

I had a friend in college who saw the Devil.  He was quite adamant after that the Devil was real.  He saw it when he was on drugs too.  Nothing like a good drug induced psychosis to make a believer out of you.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I had a friend in college who saw the Devil.  He was quite adamant after that the Devil was real.  He saw it when he was on drugs too.  Nothing like a good drug induced psychosis to make a believer out of you.

Let us not forget about our pious friends who "find jesus" and get cured of addiction by the grace of GAWD..  I spent close to 10 years in drug treatment and wish I could tell you how many people think the ONLY reason I was successful at kicking my bad habits was the big invisible thing in the sky. Of course it had nothing at all to do with my own determination and perseverance. OH NO! It was all just the invisible thing in the sky. Yup, it was my higher power.. You know..that rotten orange. LOL