The Random Thoughts Review

There are two main views that permeate humankind as we know it. Either there is a God or there isn’t. I’m going to lump a bunch of the various religions into the group that believes that there is a God and call them Believers. Further, I’ll lump those that don’t believe in a higher power as being Nonbelievers. I’m not meaning either description to be disparaging. They just seem rather accurate in this context.

Now, let’s look at the way that life works.

Believers go through their time on earth being ridiculed and being generally made fun of for believing in anachronistic ideas that are totally without basis according to modern science. Nonbelievers go through their time on earth wondering just what Koolaid the Believers are drinking. After a random amount of time (generally something between 0 and 116 years in modern society) the person, Believer or Nonbeliever, dies, and their time on earth has reached completion. (Yes, I’m ignoring reincarnation. I’ll save that for another essay)

Now, let’s look at the topic at hand. First, let’s say that there is no God. In a worst case scenario here, the Believer ends their existence, having used their time on earth fighting for a cause that ultimately ends up being null and void. The Nonbeliever ends their existence still wondering what was up with the insane Believers. Either way, it’s over. Finished. Done.

Ho hum. Not very interesting.

Next, let’s say that there is a God and look at the worst case scenario here. The Believer ends their time on earth, having endured the ridicule. They then go on to spend all of Eternity in Heaven (feel free to substitute whatever word a particular religious sect uses to describe this situation. I think that pretty well all of them have some concept of eternal life). They get to rest easy knowing that their (max) 116 years of strife and tribulation on earth was worth it. The Nonbeliever ends their time on earth and immediately realizes that God was, in fact, real. They then proceed to an eternity of considerably less bliss than the Believers. Whether called Hell, Eternal Damnation, or something else, the Nonbeliever will have a long, long time to think about the (max) 116 years that they had to make their choice.

So, as we draw near the end of essay, there are still two ways to look at things.

If you are a Believer, your worst case case scenario has you ending your time on earth having fought for a cause that is null and void. If you are a Nonbeliever, your worst case scenario has you spending eternity in a place where you definitely won’t need a jacket to keep yourself warm.

So, my question to you becomes: What factors have I missed in this essay? What am I not considering that makes the above text invalid or incorrect? Help me out. I’m sure that there are people out there that will see flaws in the description above. What are they?