I don't know about you, but I didn't ask to be born. Maybe you did, but I certainly didn't. I've had a couple of years now, in this type of existence. And it's interesting to note that many of us get to be here for quite a while. Granted, it's not "forever". But, it's longer than a few minutes, or even a few hours. A lot of us get to be here for decades. What should we make of it? This march that we're on. This march towards death.
Death. It looms before us. Like a door at the end of a long hallway. A door that we can't avoid. We can look away and ignore it. But that's a good way for it to come upon you, unawares. Everyone opens it eventually. And what happens to them? None of us on this side know for sure.
Some say nothing happens. Others say that it's just a door to another hallway like the one we're currently in. Still more say that it's only the beginning. The beginning of either eternal torment or eternal bliss. One thing's for sure though. There are no passive observers here. Sure, some people might not care. But everyone will have to open that door and see what waits for them. Even those who don't care.
What should we make of this, my fellow marchers? My fellow door openers, who are just as surprised to find themselves in this place as I am. What do we do? My time here has taught me a couple lessons. And some of those lessons say that to live in a state of existential fear or anxiety simply doesn't help. Another lesson, that my dad taught me growing up, is that I should avoid actions that might cause an increase in the misery that I experience. Those lessons where taught with a belt. Sometimes, on the side of the road right after church. Granted, it took a while for that lesson to really sink in, but I eventually got it.
At said church, I was taught that if we failed to meet certain criteria, then what met us on the other side of the door was eternal torment. And that is exactly the type of thing I would like to avoid, if possible. But, of course, as mentioned, that is just one theory among many competing theories. So, how should we go about investigating this? Here's what I think, my fellow marchers:
Motivation
I've already touched on this, but it's important to find the motivation for why we ought to investigate what's beyond the door. Sure, we won't know for sure until we cross over, but we can determine which worldview we ought to favor and which ought to be left behind. For me, and for most people, the best motivation is the threat of everlasting pain, anguish or loneliness. Or, even worse, all three at once. Some other people are motivated by the prospect of eternal bliss. Whichever it is, I would say that that is adequate motivation to spend the little time we have here on investigation.
Analyzing Extremes
Since we don't have forever to look into this matter, I think it's best to start off analyzing worldviews that say that the choices we make here in this life impact the one beyond the door of death. Death's Door.
Why?
Because if I can't change what happens, then it will happen no matter what I do. If I can't change the fact that I'll be going down the River Styx, then I'll be going down the River Styx. If nothing happens after I die, then nothing happens. If what I believe or do has no impact on what happens after I die, then, even if the worldview is true, it's not important enough for me to consider until later on. What's more important to me is to determine if I can avoid eternal torment. So, here is the criteria that I think we should start with:
Any worldview in which our choices in this life don't have eternal consequences, should not be considered worth believing in.
Any worldview in which our choices in this life don't change our eternal state after death, should not be considered worth believing in.
Any worldview in which our choices could result in eternal torment, should be believed to be true unless/until it's outmatched by a competing worldview during our investigation or proven to be false beyond a reasonable doubt.
Any worldview in which our choices in this life bear eternal consequences, should be investigated first.
Sure, worldviews described in 1 or 2 might be true, but they have little practical advantage (eternally speaking). I'd say, look into them if you've become extremely convinced that all the worldviews described in 3 and 4 are false.
Welp! That's it for now. There's definitely more that we should consider, but I'll talk about that in Part 2. Thanks for reading!