remember where you were before you born? Thats where you go after you are dead. You body deteriorates and all the atoms that make up "you" go in all different directions. There is no evidence that anything resembling "you" can carry on after your death. There is no magical soul inside you. "You" are nothing but the complete collection of atoms that make up "you". You won't know death when you are dead. Just like you didn't know life, before you were born. If hell is nothing more than separation from god, you are already in it. If hell is fire & brimstone, there is no evidence that such a place exists.
uhhmm I find it funny how people feel the need to persecute those who have faith but not those who have authority and power.
The Pope just cleared suicide as a sin. He said mental problems do not mean you sinned. hooray Popey?
So the pope is god now? He is allowed to clear certain sins? What a joke. The pope is nothing more than a power hungry man just like politicians.
Can you source that, sumliminal? I find it interesting. But to clear up a misconception Dave, the Pope did not "clear the sin". What he said would have been to the effect of expounding on existing Church teaching (or clarifying a teaching that is viewed as previously implicit) which is that sin is a concious act (or lack thereof) to be a sin (and you have to know it is a sin). If you punch someone in the face on purpose, sin. If you are pulling on a role and it breaks and you knock into someone who then spills coffee on themselves, not a sin. If a baby cries for attention, not a sin because the child cannot know that that is a sin (unlike what St Augustine would have wrote).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_election Popes are elected. They don't sceme their way into the Papacy, well at least not anymore. What is imporatant though is that a Pope is not better than anyone. Popes still sin. If Popes really wanted to make a killing relics, indulgences, and the sort would still be for sale.
Technically suicide would be considered a sin, just like any other sin. "One sin is like another". There are only 2 sins that would "deserve" going to hell - blasphemy and your basic turning your back on the Lord. Usually when one commits suicide they are so unbalanced, sad, etc. that I doubt some or even most are even responsible for their own actions and God is a merciful God, so I would Never, ever judge one who commits suicide. Even theologians disagree about what blasphemy is - is blasphemy denying against the Holy Spirit, giving credit to the devil for God's works, or what - I've heard different things and they all seem to have some credence. However, suicide is Not blasphemy. I've had this "discussion" w/ theologians/pastors - some agree with me and others agree to disagree w/ me. No matter what, I personally don't think your soul will ever vanish. Even physics states that energy can't just disappear, but just changes form, right?
His post wasn't "persecution", he was answering your question from his views. The pope is regarded as the interpreter of God's will on Earth by those that deal him such authority over them; the idea that suicide means one goes to hell, or the idea of hell itself both come from people anyway, as opposed to God. Unless, you know, someone can come up with a direct quote from God saying "That suicide thing means you go directly to hell/non-being"
2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to moral law. Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide. 2283 We should not despair in the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance http://home.att.net/~faithleap/suicide.htm
Ok, that is from the Catechism. So I guess the pope didn't "just" say it, but I understand what you were writing regardless.
