What is the meaning of life? We all die, so what is the meaning. Religion tries to bridge the gap with absolutist answers to this problem of existence by giving immortality to it's members in good standing(so join us or parish).Helps to pay the bills using fear of annihilation to keep members as a source of material $$uport.
Suffering And The Meaning Of Life
by Brokeback Watchtower 12 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Brokeback Watchtower
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Wasanelder Once
Your Karma ran over my Dogma.
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David_Jay
Not all religion does this.
There is no promise or guarantee of eternal life in Judaism. Concepts like Olam HaBa are not by any means assured. So if that's what you really think, then you're wrong about that...and maybe a lot more.
It might be due to the bad taste the experience with Jehovah's Witnesses have left many of us with, but the idea that all religions offer absolute answers and a way to eternity is a narrow and, yes, ignorant view.
There are no definitive answers for me as a Jew. And as for death making life meaningless -- well, that's hogwash. Knowing that our time is limited by an end should give each moment of life meaning. Instead of viewing it as punishment as Jehovah's Witnesses paint it, death is often viewed as a well-earned reward to some Jews and other religious disciplines.
While I cannot promise others will take to this advice, Judaism sees that the real solution is to embrace the temporary nature of life. Why look for the beyond? It will only take your focus off the now of life. You cannot savor the food in your mouth now if you are wishing for a better meal of tomorrow that may never come.
There is suffering, yes, but the worst type might be when we deny the transitory nature of our existence and choose to live in lies and fantasies about an eternity that may not be waiting for any of us. If you lose sight of what you have now, even if it be little and broken, you will never have even that if your head is up in the clouds wishing upon a dream. And if there is nothing more than today, you're an idiot if all you do is complain about the fact that it will one day be over. Crying that your party will last only an hour will cause you to miss the very purpose of your party.
Life will always be futile if you don't make the most of what you've got. You may not have been dealt the same hand as the guy sitting next to you, but you can still win at poker with the worst cards and a good bluff. Your garden won't grow on its own unless you work to make it produce food and flowers--otherwise all you will have is dirt. It's your own fault if you do nothing with the dirt you're given.
One must find the intrinsic value in the present. That's what we're taught in Judaism. If there is an eternity awaiting us from a benevolent God, we won't get it if we label the life we have now as something that doesn't deserve appreciation. What parents give toys to a child who never appreciates the ones they already have?
You don't need religion to find value in a limited life. You need determination and action. If you aren't going to give life at least that, neither a religion or lack thereof is going to do you any good.
If you don't know the meaning of life, it's your own damn fault. If your life has no meaning its because you failed to give it any.
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dubstepped
Why does death equal meaningless? Why does there have to be some bigger meaning?
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waton
very well said David, I knew a few JWs of jewish background. why would they embrace WT doctrine with such a valuable, positive outlook, were they , and you back then not clearly aware of these positive, pragmatic (almost deist) jewish values?
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David_Jay
Waton,
I had to live with my aunt after being rescued from my parents due to child abuse. Of no blood relation, she was a JW. Therefore my teenage years until I was old enough to live on my own were spent under the shadows of the Watchtower.
I began my return to Judaism three years before I officially left with the help of a rabbi.
To an extent I was somewhat aware of some these values and customs, but was fought tooth and nail by the Witnesses when I tried to incorporate them then. It was my incentive to leave when and how I did.
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waton
David Jay, I would have liked now, to query the Jewish witnesses that were converts as to why their new wt worldview on the meaning of life and suffering contrasted with what they left behind.
The suffering of "jesus" is not of such epic proportions compared to endured by others, even in natural death of that period. Only the "virgin birth " makes it outstanding.
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smiddy
I knew a jewish family in Melborne back in the 60`s ,I often wonder if they are still associated or have gone back to their roots.
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Brokeback Watchtower
Why does death equal meaningless?
I think meaningless because no matter what you do in life can have eternal universal meaning if you die and are gone from the matrix and it is from the individual perspective. Where as religions teach everlasting life gives meaning or a goal in life to strive for and so adds meaning to that persons life. That is my guess.