I'm not religious, but this story speaks volumes....

[Ghost in the Machine]

> > A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day
> > and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and
> > Hell are like."
> >
> > The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of
> > the doors and the holy man looked in.
> >
> > In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the
> > middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled
> > delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.
> >
> > The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly.
> > They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with
> > very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each
> > found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a
> > spoonful.
> >
> > But because the handle was longer than their arms, they
> > could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy
> > man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering The
> > Lord said, "You have seen Hell."
> >
> > They went to the next room and opened the door.. It was
> > exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round
> > table with the large pot of stew which made the holy
> > man's mouth water.
> >
> > The people were equipped with the same long-handled
> > spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump,
> > laughing and talking.
> >
> > The holy man said, "I don't understand." It
> > is simple," said the Lord. "It requires but one
> > skill. You see they have learned to feed each other, while
> > the greedy think only of themselves."

[patrice]

1. As much as I struggle with the "religious", you have to admit,

Yeshua was RIGHT.

[roguevalley]

17. agreed. too bad people don't actually live the words of God. we

might have a better world. Treat one another as you would treat yourself. never truer words spoken.

[Catherine Vincent]

2. I like!

:kick:

[leftstreet]

3. Nice

[jwirr]

4. I like that also. Thank you.

[emilyg]

5. Love it.

[FarLeftRage]

6. An oldie, but a goodie!

I heard that spoken in a sermon one Sunday morning, many years ago.

Thanks!

[laconicsax]

7. If he really wanted to know, he could have just cracked open his Bible:

Hell: Revelations 21:8

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Heaven: Revelations 21:10-25

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. nd I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

[JerseygirlCT]

8. Love it. Thank you for sharing that. nt

[AlinPA]

9. Thanks.

[nichomachus]

10. Well, it's not necessarily religious

You could place that story in any context -- it doesn't have to be an imaginary deity running the show.

Sharing is better than not sharing -- duh.

[skids]

11. Here's a similar one that stuck with me as a kid...

The evangelicals use this story from The Brothers Karamazov a lot. Too bad Republican politicians and limbots do not seem to have meditated on it.

Once upon a time there was a woman, and she was wicked as wicked could be, and she died. And not one good deed was left behind her. The devils took her and threw her into the lake of fire. And her guardian angel stood thinking: what good deed of hers can I remember to tell God? Then he remembered and said to God: once she pulled up an onion and gave it to a beggar woman. And God said: now take that same onion, hold it out to her in the lake, let her take hold of it, and pull, and if you pull her out of the lake, she can go to paradise, but if the onion breaks, she can stay where she is. The angel ran to the woman and held out the onion to her: here, woman, he said, take hold of it and I'll pull. And he began pulling carefully, and had almost pulled her all the way out, when other sinners in the lake saw her being pulled out and all began holding on to her so as to be pulled out with her. But the woman was wicked as wicked could be, and she began to kick them with her feet: 'It's me who's getting pulled out, not you; it's my onion, not yours.' No sooner did she say it than the onion broke. And the woman fell back into the lake and is burning there to this day. The angel wept and went away.

Interesting paper on the fungibility of such fables between religions:

http://www.edogawa-u.ac.jp/~tmkelly/research_spider.html

[ferrous wheel]

12. Maybe it's just me but the prospect of feeding stew to plump old farts for eternity

is just another way to describe hell.

[immoderate]

13. Most descriptions of heaven are a kind of hell.

--imm

[wildbilln864]

14. k&r! nt

[FiveGoodMen]

15. Most of my family, acquaintances, and countrymen would rather shut down heaven

than to allow anyone to help anyone else.

It's just not American.

Maybe this is hell.

[anonymous171]

16. Wow. I did not see that one coming.

Very Powerful. :)

[odinsgirl]

18. if you think this is good

you should read Mark Twain's version of the Bible...:evilgrin: He has a lot to say about jingoism, too...

[Winterblues]

19. You forgot about Tax Cuts...

:silly: