Original Sin?

Quote: FrGamble

We feel we are called to more, to live forever to learn more and to be better. .

'Called', by what. Most invention and progress
happens out of necessity, not by being 'called'.
You want to catch vermin mice, you keep building
better mouse traps. You want to move product
faster, you build better ways of transportation.

We already live forever and have been here forever.
Your ego hasn't, that thing that likes fries and
gravy, likes reading mystery novels, and is the
production of the brain as a survival technique.
That part of us only lives as long as the body does.
The real you, the core you, the one you know so
well you don't even realize is there, goes on and
on and on. The eternal you.

During the 2016 election, Francis criticized Trump’s call for a border wall between the US and Mexico, saying any person who supported such policies “is not Christian”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/05/us-cardinal-raymond-burke-stokes-papal-tensions-by-meeting-nationalist-in-rome.

Looks like at least 100 million Americans are not Christians!

Quote: Evenbob

That part of us only lives as long as the body does.
The real you, the core you, the one you know so
well you don't even realize is there, goes on and
on and on. The eternal you.

This is a good example of the religious or spiritual nature of human beings.

Quote: FrGamble

This is a good example of the religious or spiritual nature of human beings.

But you think the ego part of you, the
one that likes cold beer and pretzels,
the one that went to seminary, the
one that has habits and goals and
knows how to drive a car, you think
that part of you will be rewarded in
heaven or punished forever in hell.

It will do neither, it doesn't really exist.
It's a construct put together by your
brain so it can survive day to day. It
disappears as soon as your body dies.
Parts of it can live on if you die a
violent unexpected death, as has been
shown in children who claim to remember
a past life. But the memories don't last,
your new brain builds a new set of habits
to keep you going in your new body.

I often look back 40 years and wonder
where that person I was went. I shedded
him along the way, he isn't needed anymore.
We chuck the whole thing eventually. It
was the Buddha that made a religion
out of not getting attached to anything in
this life, especially your ego. It doesn't last,
it's a waste of time.

To be honest I can't really follow you on this stuff. It seems so circumstantial, strange, and made up. I only want to continue to point out that you, an atheist, believe in a religious type of teaching about reincarnation or eternal life.

Quote: buzzardknot

During the 2016 election, Francis criticized Trump’s call for a border wall between the US and Mexico, saying any person who supported such policies “is not Christian”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/05/us-cardinal-raymond-burke-stokes-papal-tensions-by-meeting-nationalist-in-rome.

Looks like at least 100 million Americans are not Christians!

Quote: FrGamble

To be honest I can't really follow you on this stuff. It seems so circumstantial, strange, and made up.

Yet it's easy to follow a children's story that
you'll be rewarded after death or punished
forever, depending on how you act and think
while you're here. That silly story, meant to
fool the ignorant and extremely superstitious
thousands of years ago, that story you can
grasp totally. But you just can't follow anything
that actually makes sense.

Really? Is that the what you want us to believe?

Quote: Evenbob

Yet it's easy to follow a children's story that
you'll be rewarded after death or punished
forever, depending on how you act and think
while you're here. That silly story, meant to
fool the ignorant and extremely superstitious
thousands of years ago, that story you can
grasp totally.

This is the story as old as time. Human beings have always felt conscious of punishment and reward for our actions. Just about every religion and for that matter every worldview understands that.

Quote:

But you just can't follow anything
that actually makes sense.

Really? Is that the what you want us to believe?

I really don't think you even understand what you are talking about.

Quote: FrGamble

This is the story as old as time.

Up until a few centuries ago, so was the
story that the sun orbited the earth, or
that witches caused still births and crop
failures. I don't think saying the reward
and punishment story is old, so it's
credible, is making the point you think
it is.

Quote:

I really don't think you even understand what you are talking about.

I absolutely understand it, have been studying
it since the 70's. You understand it also, but
your job description prevents you from saying
so.

Quote: Evenbob

Yet it's easy to follow a children's story that
you'll be rewarded after death or punished
forever, depending on how you act and think
while you're here. That silly story, meant to
fool the ignorant and extremely superstitious
thousands of years ago, that story you can
grasp totally. But you just can't follow anything
that actually makes sense.

Really? Is that the what you want us to believe?

I don't know what religion your describing but it ain't Christianity.