The Meaning of Life

I should probably post this at the start of the post, as posting it somewhere in the middle seems too difficult at this point. It is a quote given to me from a very intelligent person responding to my "There and Back Again" post. Here it is.

"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Probably one of the best quotes I have ever heard in my life (and I don't hear many).

Well, there are two reasons for today's title. One being the movie, The Meaning of Life, another monty python movie. Let's just say that I didn't care too much for it after the first twenty minutes. I had an argumen/discussion with Buddy about judging things too soon. My case was that you really needed to see/read something all the way through before forming an opinion. Well, it turns out that in some cases that is not necessarily true, case in point: The Meaning of Life. Bleh.

However, though I decided to stop watching it after the first hour or so and decided to update my blog, I did pay particular attention to the opening of the movie. It was talking about life, what's the point, are we God's little joke, just strands of copying DNA, blah blah blah. I did stop to think about it though. What IS the meaning of life? Why are we here? I think there comes a time in every young writer's life (that would be mine) where he/she must write about the meaning of life, it is an unwritten rule, or maybe it just happens as one matures... I don't know. I do know that I'm talking about it here and now. If you don't want to hear what I have to say, or if you are closed to other people's opinions that might be more radical than yours, you are now being warned... LEAVE! (waits calmly as the rich people in the back leave...). Okay, now we're here.

First off, everyone has their own opinions, religions, etc, thus, everyone's idea of the meaning of life is different from any others. I'll try not to *bash* any other opinion, and if you feel like I have, I'm sorry, I only wish to point it out. Now, you can't talk about the meaning of life, without talking a bit about death (well, you could, unless you agree with the yin and yang philosophy, that you can't have one oppostie without the other). So, life, let' start at the obvious points: religion. Again, for all of you strict people who stand fast in your religion of choice, you might want to leave. I can only speak from a Christian reference, as that is the only religion I know about (I'm sorry all of the never heard of it/don't know much about it people in the audience).

The Bible tells us God created the earth, the sky, animals, and finally... humans. I won't say "man" as the Bible says, because that is sexist, and that sucks. (I told you it might be a bit radical... didn't I?" Well, did it say anything about aliens? Or things other than earth? No. And that was all good and fine, until people actually left earth and headed into space, finally realizing that the heavans weren't just a painted picture in the sky which moved, meaning that there is more to the universe than, our little tiny planet. So, this fits into the topic because, why was the human race the only ones made in the universe? Or maybe, we AREN'T the only humans. Maybe somewhere on the other side of time and space, is a world just like ours. Or maybe we are the only ones who were made, so is our meaning to life just to take over the entire universe? Or maybe, God did create more things then He's willing to tell us. (I could go into another long discussion about stuff like that, but I won't, I have enough thunderbolts heading my way as it is...)

Well, back to the bit about taking over the universe, I have ehard some people say that the meaning of life is to achieve destiny. Would that be human's destiny? Maybe, maybe not. But does destiny exist? (For that bit, refer back to the "There and Back Again" post). For those Matrix fans out there, the meaning of life is to... (waits for audience to call it out) that's right, the meaning of life is to die.

Dying and the after life (if there is one), is just like the meaning of life, everyone has their own opinion, religion, etc, that contribute to their meaning of life. This is how death and afterlife were explained in the theology classes at my Catholic school. When you die, you discard a body, and you go through purgatory (or something like that) clensing your body of sin, because nothing impure can enter heaven. Well, what is in heaven? Nothing like you ever experienced. And, that's just about it... vague huh? Well, I went to a church service for Easter I believe, and they said that in heaven, you will eternally praise God. And since you have no body, no need for anything, you don't need to take a bathroom break and never come back (kind of like skipping class, except it's more like skipping a lecture from the principle...). Well, I'm sorry, but that sounds (at the risk of being blasphemous) a little, uh, overdoing it. Then, I have heard another opinion from a catholic frind of mine, and he thinks that heaven is perfect, yes, where you can meet all of your loved ones, and enjoy all of the great things in life that you may have missed. Stuff like having a nice car or something, but you were too poor, so instead you got a go-cart. Just for fun, I think I'll put my opinion of heaven. Like one big online forum. Where everyone is there, great famous people like Miyamoto Musashi, and Julius Caesar. Where you can sit and converse as much as you like, and then leave to other portions. You could, like blogger, have your own section of heaven, where you could sit back, and enjoy eternity, maybe even play some life-like role playing video games or soemething.

Well, another thing that would be cool that I'm sure everyone's heard about: reincarnation. I'm not sure if it's coming back at the next link of the giant food chain or what, but just reincarnation in general. Like, if I was Miyamoto Musashi in the past, or maybe Tokugawa Ieyasu, or a farmer. And if so, did I look the same? Probably not if I really was a Japanese person. Would I be recognizeable? Maybe. So thta would just be recycling of souls and spirits. You were a bad person? HA! You'll get turned into a bug and squished a thousand times over! Then come back as a person, with a second chance, and this time, your soul would be good. But while on earth have no recollection of the past until you die.

And there's one other thing I have heard, and I'm not sure if it is any certain religion. Every soul is part of a giant mass of souls, in a spirit world, and sometimes, we feel the desire to come to earth, and experience emotions, like love, hate, ambition. Then when we die, we go back up to that mass of spirits. Our souls have no definite shape, just a general form representing who we are.

Now, to talk about the downside of Christianity afterlife: hell. Sometimes, hell seems like kind of a waste. In my theology class we learned that there is no escape from hell, once you're there, you're there for eternity. Same with heaven. Do you ever get to return from either? Apparently not. So God can keep creating new souls, with individual personalities and features as many times as He wants without making a single double... wow. But then I wonder, what if heaven and hell can get... too full? Well, God is perfect, he can make anything happen, so I guess not. At least with reincarnation, there is always a possibility of having a second chance if you screw up the first one. Squished a thousand times... hmmm, I suppose it's better than an eternity in hell, with no second chance.

I hope those few that remain (hears a cricket chirp in the back of the room) found this article enlightening. I'm sorry if anyone feels offended (though I gave several big warnings), or if you think I *bashed* your religion, I'm sorry and please let me know. There are probably many errors still in this text after it is posted and they'll be fixed whenever I see them.