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I think life is meant to be endured, not enjoyed.

Do you believe life is meant to be enjoyed or endured?

  • Neither. There must be something else.

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  • I don't know.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

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    22

grasping the after wind

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Perhaps you might have misunderstood my post?

The key word in my post was "know" (in "I do not know of this alleged god ..."). Yes, I am aware of claims about it, and have read about it, but I do not know of it in the sense that I have no direct personal experiences with it.

So what was the point of your post then and how did it relate to the post you quoted? Was the idea simply to belittle the religious beliefs of others and get a chance to call the Christian's God "it"?
 
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Dave-W

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I do not see it as a command at all. Why command someone to do what they want to do anyway. No It is permission, not command. It is God telling them he approves.
You cannot tell from any English version what is a command and what is not.

In the Hebrew it is a command. It has been recognized by Rabbis as such for well over 2000 years.

From the Chabad website:

The first mitzvah [command] in the Torah is "to be fruitful and multiply." As the verse in Genesis1 states: "And G‑d said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth...'" After the Flood, G‑d repeated this commandment to Noah: "And G‑d blessed Noah and his sons, and He said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.'"

This mitzvah is considered a "great mitzvah" and in some cases even overrides certain other laws.

Furthermore, by having children one is actually hastening the ultimate redemption. In the words of the Talmud, "The son of David [Moshiach] will not come until there are no more souls in the [Heavenly storage house called] guf." In a similar vein, the Midrash tells us: "Just like the Jews were redeemed from Egypt in the merit of their having children, so too they will be redeemed in the future in the merit of having children."

One who intentionally does not fulfill this mitzvah is considered analogous to a murderer – for he, too, has depleted life – and is said to be minimizing the Divine presence in this world. From this we understand that one who does fulfill this mitzvah is increasing the Divine presence in this world.​
 
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ananda

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So what was the point of your post then and how did it relate to the post you quoted? Was the idea simply to belittle the religious beliefs of others and get a chance to call the Christian's God "it"?
There was no intent to belittle.

My post to jayem was a statement of fact that I do not know, and of surprise that jayem, listed as an Atheist, would write in a way which suggested that he believes in the Christian God.
 
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jayem

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There was no intent to belittle.

My post to jayem was a statement of fact that I do not know, and of surprise that jayem, listed as an Atheist, would write in a way which suggested that he believes in the Christian God.

I do not believe in the existence of the Abrahamic, i.e., Judeo-Christian god, or any god. The topic of this thread is the purpose of life. I was just remarking on the Genesis legend. It could be interpreted that the Abrahamic god's instructions to the supposedly first human beings correspond to the biological imperative of all life. Which is to reproduce itself. In no way am I suggesting that this confirms the veracity of the Bible. On the contary, virtually all religions have fertility gods who are worshipped and highly revered. OTOH, some religious sects (like Catholicism and some Buddhists, as you surely know) teach that celibacy for the clergy is godly. But if you think about it, celibacy has to be one of the most unnatural sexual practices of all.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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In the biological sense, there is only one purpose of any individual's life. And that's to reproduce. To get his/her DNA into subsequent generations as often as possible.

So, why all the abortions?
 
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OldWiseGuy

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You cannot tell from any English version what is a command and what is not.

In the Hebrew it is a command. It has been recognized by Rabbis as such for well over 2000 years.

From the Chabad website:

The first mitzvah [command] in the Torah is "to be fruitful and multiply." As the verse in Genesis1 states: "And G‑d said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth...'" After the Flood, G‑d repeated this commandment to Noah: "And G‑d blessed Noah and his sons, and He said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.'"​

We have long since "filled the earth". We have been overfilling it now for hundreds of years. Where is it written that mankind should populate to the point of starvation, disease, and poverty for most of the world's people?
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Enjoyed, because life has no meaning.

It is the enjoyment of life that is killing us, in the west. Most of the world is dying because they cannot endure.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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"Life isn't just to be endured, it's to be enjoyed."
Gordon B.Hinckley

It's also been said that "Life is a marathon, not a sprint." Of course this implies great endurance is needed to finish.
 
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ananda

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It is the enjoyment of life that is killing us, in the west. Most of the world is dying because they cannot endure.
For some reason your post reminds me of this parable; the extreme competition in this world is killing everyone (the exponential increase in the population adds to the competitiveness):

An investment banker was at the pier of a small Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, “only a little while." The banker then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The fisherman said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The banker then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The fisherman fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The banker scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The fisherman fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the banker replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the fisherman.

The banker laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions – then what?”

The banker said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Same reason there's celibacy. We've evolved brains that can override our instincts.

Well either we aren't killing the unborn fast enough or we are not 'not having kids' fast enough. Everywhere you look there are people........cluttering up the place. :eek:
 
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