Religion and Afterlife

Great words - Hard to live by.

I'm intrigued by the difference between religion and views of the afterlife, but I'm not sure why. Greek Stoicism and Buddhism have similar quotes, although who knows if they are true. They both have to be translated into English, and translations might be incorrect.

For both ways of life, I hesitate to call them religions, the belief in the state of your person in the present moment is the most important thing to concentrate on. Are you accepting the current state, and working to improve your life? Or are you caught up in the frustration of the present and focussed exclusively on the future.

Christianity, on the other hand, focuses on living a godly life to get to heaven or avoid hell. The here-and-now problems should be ignored for a future in heaven. I understand the attraction in the past when Christianity spread through populations. For a slave or serf, the here-and-now was something to be endured, not maximized. The world was difficult and dangerous in the olden days, and Christianity offered hope for a future. It also offered a road forward that stressed community and the common good. Many of us see that particular pillar of Christianity lost and replaced by attacking people that they don't like. Not all Christians, of course, but the leaders of Evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox religions seem determined to build a community of them by attacking those who differ with them.

That isn't new - the Catholic-Protestant war and Islamic Jihads flared for centuries. But doubling down on past conflicts and present hatreds does not further the idea of a loving God. 

I don't know if the focus on the present versus the afterlife drives any actual changes in the way of approaching life and morality. But it is interesting.

I have a truly difficult time with the rise of Trump, but I am trying.

In the case of Stoicism, I suppose you can live that life in concert with being a Christian. The two might even complement each other. A friend of mine is Christian and follows the teachings of the church (a loving church) day to day. So they don't have to be in conflict.