Depressing
If you were looking for that final bit of motivation to commit suicide - this film looks like it would fit the bill.
shareYES! That's what I've been looking for!
shareOnly if you look at it from Qohen's (religious) point of view. I see it the way Management explains in the end: the problem with religion is that there's always an afterlife, which makes life on earth less important.
That's why he tries to prove the zero theorem: in his eyes, that proves there is no god and people will finally start living their lives the fullest, knowing it's the only one they have.
So if anything, the movie's message is, in my opinion: seize the day!
Funny,
That is exactly the opposite of what I was taught as a christian. I have always believed that what we do in this life is very important. Perhaps it is merely a definition of living life to the fullest.
It is true that things have been sometimes severely twisted. Such as the offering of absolution and the born again thing. However, I think that most Christians and those of other religions believe that their actions have consequences with direct bearing on the afterlife. Take a look at the 10 commandments for reference.
Too bad its also true that so many have done so much bad in the name of god/gods that seem to want nothing to do with it. But its an odd statement to say that people of faith/religion do not value life on earth.
What have you been taught as a christian? I was raised an atheist (a badly informed one to be honest) and I snickered at the studies claiming that children raised in families that "said of themselves to be religious in a way" boasted far better resilience, the ability to remain mentally functioning/positive/hopeful during and after traumatic events like natural catastrophes. To me religion is a beautiful "program" we run to better withstand traumatic events and thus life as a whole. As with all things that give any sort of power it tends to be a double-edged blade though. You can lean on your crutch when you would be able to walk perfectly without it or you can use it as a club as well to beat someone over the head with it. Minus one to me for that metaphor.
To come back to your point: If what we do in this life is important - then to whom else but ourselves? What neural incest! So: Let's come up with god to have someone else who cares. And let's make him portable! As god is in everything. I'm not ridiculing whatsoever. Check my tone.
We might feel - in general - a bit lonely and as a consequence usually come up with god. It's in many ways an interesting thing to peddle, as absolute authority can but be the topic of infinite discussion, for which religion provides apt grounds.
But we discuss wrongly. Nothing gets better. Life is still considered worthless by so many people and while they won't say that, they will just act like it therefor driving their kids insane. Why don't we all stop letting others abuse us to gain wealth? Why don't we effin gandhi that whole *beep* down? Because our minds are enslaved by religion's history and it's deeply hidden mental or neurological traces. The promise of afterlife lingers as if a threat from the very heavens above. It echoes throughout generations. The echo of power itself, the thought of total control over every human being. It seems that we'll have to get to the bottom of it to have it replaced. We'll have to see it before we can fight it.
Have a nice day too! Greetings.
Embrace me, singularity. Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh!
Interesting thoughts.
Maybe my upbringing was different. I was taught to live a good life, that included service to others.
It may be true that living good to try to get to heaven may be selfish. But where the service to others comes in is very unselfish. To do good unto others was how I was raised. If I give a homeless guy a dollar, that may give me a warm feeling for a few minutes. It may even make his/her day. But, as an act of service I have given a coat or shoes to someone in need. Again, makes me warm and fuzzy for a while. It also may have changed that persons life completely. They in turn could do the same for someone else. Maybe even someone that could someday revolutionize the world we live in.
Be it religion/faith in a god and the afterlife or just human conscience the effect is the same. So if being religious and living 'properly' is the motivation to do good in the world where is the harm. Whatever gets us to treat the people around us with decency and respect.
It is true, I am not a sunday church goer. Partly for the reason you speak of. The dominion over others is a problem, no denying it. The pursuit of power and control is not exclusive to the so called religious though. In my humble opinion.
The New Testament and Jesus' central teaching, "Do unto others, as you would have done unto you"
Somewhere along the line the message got all twisted, probably by the Roman Emperors who saw it as a means for human farming and control....controlling your body, as well as your souls/spirits.
God is not religion and religion is not god.....from god to religion there is a middle man interpreting, and he is fallible.
http://myimpressionz.tk
For most religions, it's the middle book. Somehow, just because it is written down apparently means it is unquestionable truth.
Most Christians today don't even realize that the different books of the Bible are poorly transcibed copies, most of them from the same source (hence the repetition). For most of those I've asked, they really do believe that, for example, the book of Matthew was written by Matthew. Or that the book of Luke was written by Luke. They're not.
The problem of course is that books can be rewritten, copied, expanded on. Hence why from the original Old Testament (which probably has origins somewhere in Persia's Zoroastrianism, some sort of Baal cult in Phoenicia, or Egypt's Atenism) spawned the Talmud/Tanakh, the Bible, and the Quran. And because each of these are infallible written words supposedly, their followers now happily kill each other over a few paragraphs of difference.