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...would religion cease to exist?

A large part of religion seems to be an attempt to prepare human beings for life after death. If human beings lived forever, that purpose would be meaningless. Therefore, religion would be neutered. Its only purpose would have to do with involving the godbeing in one's current life. And the necessity of faith itself leads us to conclude that that involvement is so minimal and vague it can be attributed to other natural factors. So what purpose would religion then serve?

It's not inconceivable that, in the future, we would be able to attain some sort of immortality of consciousness by merging consciousness with technology, so maybe this question is more pertinent than we now realize.

If religion would cease to exist if human beings lived forever, what does that tell us about religion?

You know what they say -- everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die to get there. Probably most people would choose to live on right here rather than a heavenly reward.

Lucretia MacEvil wrote:You know what they say -- everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die to get there. Probably most people would choose to live on right here rather than a heavenly reward.

I think that's true. It would also require some form of mandatory birth control, I think.

True religion is about learning to live forever.

I think you're on to something, beastie.

On the other hand, if people were immortal, the suicide rate would drop, but attempted suicides would skyrocket.

Some Schmo wrote:I think you're on to something, beastie.

On the other hand, if people were immortal, the suicide rate would drop, but attempted suicides would skyrocket.

When you think about it, could there really be a worse hell than to be condemned to immortality on Earth?

beastie wrote:...would religion cease to exist?

A large part of religion seems to be an attempt to prepare human beings for life after death. If human beings lived forever, that purpose would be meaningless. Therefore, religion would be neutered. Its only purpose would have to do with involving the godbeing in one's current life. And the necessity of faith itself leads us to conclude that that involvement is so minimal and vague it can be attributed to other natural factors. So what purpose would religion then serve?

It's not inconceivable that, in the future, we would be able to attain some sort of immortality of consciousness by merging consciousness with technology, so maybe this question is more pertinent than we now realize.

If religion would cease to exist if human beings lived forever, what does that tell us about religion?

You've made a good point. Where I am fully with you is that for religionists of today, and interestingly, even more so for apologist intellectuals, personal immortality and eternity as a consumption maximizers define religious ambition. So you are right. If technology can secure longevity, then it's a substitute for religion. Of course, it's possible, and arguably realized that religion can concern itself with God or the greater good, or the ineffable, or generally, something not necessarily congruent with personal profit maximization; which is pretty much the only thing apologists, particularly Mormon apologists, are worried about. So in certain hypothetical cases, technology cannot be a substitute for God. But these are very hypothetical cases when considering greed-infested Mormons.

DrW wrote:

Some Schmo wrote:I think you're on to something, beastie.

On the other hand, if people were immortal, the suicide rate would drop, but attempted suicides would skyrocket.

When you think about it, could there really be a worse hell than to be condemned to immortality on Earth?

I agree that if considered carefully, most rational people would reject immortality. Even Hugh Nibley complained that his brightest students couldn't accept immortality. Perhaps such was a case of the student surpassing the teacher, who thoroughly believed people were "condemned" to live forever.

You know, this living forever stuff would play havoc with both the life insurance and tithing businesses.

What does that tell us about religion?

That we would need to expand our product line and marketing strategies.

Not to worry, fake competitive game shows will eventually wipe out our species resistance to brain clouds. Mortality would be once again around the corner.

moksha wrote:You know, this living forever stuff would play havoc with both the life insurance and tithing businesses.

How would you like to live forever and be a Cub's fan...talk about a living hell.