depends on if you did useless things, like making stupid comparisons between religion and beer (yes I still remember that)
It was an accurate comparison and I stand by it, no matter how much it offends the beer to be brought down to that level.
after death, you will be rewarded for it. if there is nothing after death, then the belief that what you did was useless could also apply.
Rewarded? No modern religion rewards you based on how you live. They just "reward" you based on what you believe. Even if you did get rewarded, then wouldn't it all be pointless? Back to the saving the orphanage, what if sending them into the afterlife would give them a better "life"? Would it not only be futile to save an immortal life, but actually a negative thing?
you ended his crusade before things got worse, that counts for a lot. besides, he may be laughing now, but you get the last laugh when you see him burning for it.
Worse? Worse for what? Causing finite harm? Sending people to paradise? Nothing he did would amount to anything, either.
And wouldn't it be sadistic to watch him burn? I can understand killing someone in a godless world, ending what they would do, but when their is an afterlife everything he did was pointless, what harm would he do?
Why would there be a hell? Does even a Nazi, who did finite crimes, deserve to be tortured literally forever?
it means the pains you experienced in this life can be relieved in the next. what you said could also apply to no afterlife by saying, "If there is nothing that will reward you for your service in life, then what's the point of living?"
Do you do nothing unless you think you will receive a reward? Do you have no altruism in you?
So lets say you save the orphanage and don't get any credit, in this life or the next. Would it matter? Would you say "Screw this, I am not savin' no orphans unless someone pays me!" while watching them burn?
the legacy will only continue until your line has ended. if there is an afterlife, then your legacy lives forever. who wouldn't want that?
Want what? Everything you did in your life would be futile. Everything you did in the afterlife would be even more futile. Would you rather leave a long, futile, legacy, or a short and fulfilling one?
try saying that when you have to knock on his door, then I will believe that.
Many people have, why should I not be one of them? My time won't come for a while, and I am sure you won't know when it happens, but I will be sure to take it like a man. Dieing is frightening, the whole reason fear was put in was to keep you from dieing. Death, however? It is only as scary as the day before you where born.
it's kinda like a failsafe, if theres nothing after death, then you can thank your religion for preventing you from doing anything stupid.
You mean like running into a communications center with a bomb? Or shooting up an abortion center? Religion seems to cause a lot more stupid things than it prevents.
if there is, then the guy who didn't believe will get his punishment for doing anything that was bad, and there will be nobody to blame but himself.
Do you only do anything you do for these selfish reasons? "I only help if I get rewarded. The only reason I don't do bad is because I am afraid of punishment" is something someone who doesn't deserve an afterlife would say.