[devonin]

Originally Posted by Rebelrunner26

what if heaven is universal for all religions? if man was made with one of the primary thought processes to be the capacity for religious belief, to me that somewhat proves that there is a god. look at the aztecs, the egyptians, the inuits, native americans, vikings, etc...just about everyone that i can think of throughout history had some form of worship for a higher/more powerful being, whether it be the ground, the elements (rain, snow, wind, etc.), the sun, or a theoretical figure (i.e. gods/goddesses) that can't be seen but is still believed in and worshiped through various rituals and what not...to me that says yes, there is a god by virtue of the fact that religion has been present across the globe for thousands if not millions of years.

I could instead suggest that humans have the capacity to invent explanations for phenomena that they don't understand yet. The first religions were generally based around crediting a god or gods for all of the processes that we've now come to understand scientific causes for. God caused the sun to rise and set, god caused the rains to start and the rains to stop, god used the lightning to punish people. Religion seems like the natural offshoot of being scared witless by the power of the natural world. If nature is easily able to just wipe me out, it actually seems like a pretty logical construction to apply an anthropomorphic concept to nature that we can try to appease. I don't think you can use the fact that "people all over invented things they thought were in charge of stuff they couldn't understand" to suggest that there -must- be a god simply because a lot of people thought so.

but i guarantee there are some blokes in the middle of the jungle/forest/desert/wherever in south america/africa/siberia that have absolutely ZERO CHANCE!!!! of being exposed to jesus or christianity.

Christianity, while still claiming very strongly that they are the only faith through which you can gain access to heaven have a clause for 'righteous unbelievers' that basically says "If you've never been given a chance to see that Christianity is the only true faith, but you lived a sufficiently good life, you can get in anyway" Most other major faiths either have a similar clause or don't insist that you must be a member of their faith to gain access to their good consequences. Buddhists for example will tell you that you don't need to be a Buddhist to reach enlightenment, it just helps set you on the path.

**jews are the "chosen people" yet they don't believe in jesus...i'm pretty sure that they are WAY more devoted in their practices of faith than i am, therefore shouldn't THEY be the ones to get into heaven over me???**

You are hardly representative of all christians any more than your example here is somehow representative of all jews. I know many jews and many christians across all spectrums of devoutness. Christians suggest that the jews stopped being the chosen people as soon as they refused to acknowledge Jesus as the son of God. While Christians wait for the second coming, and judgement, Jews generally are still waiting for God to live up to His half of the covanant and send them their King to free them.

mankind is selfish and an individual will always do things to benefit his/herself. now, can it be said that an individual will not do ANYTHING without some kind of personal reward? in other words, is it possible for there to be a truly selfless act?

If you define "Gaining my own sense of well-being" as a "benefit" then no, I don't think there can be any such thing as a selfless act, because even if you do something where nobody will see it, nobody will find out about it, because you think it is the right thing or even just a nice thing to do, if you feel good about yourself for doing the right thing with no reward, you've just rewarded yourself.

An additional thing to consider: Napolean once said that all human actions are motivated by fear or greed. Either you want the consequences of your action, or you are afraid of the consequences for not acting. It's a little cynical, but there aren't many counterexamples you can throw at it.

Originally Posted by Reach

This is the basis for one of the more major religious dilemmas. From what is written, not every religion can be true. Either one is right or they're all wrong.

Or each one is right for the people who follow it. You can resolve the dilemma easily by granting that each one has its own internal ruleset and you are obliged to follow the one that corresponds to your beliefs. Though I mean, it's pretty much just the Judeo-Christian faiths that want to suggest that -only- followers can get into heaven. Most other world religions tend towards "Being part of the faith will make it much easier to follow the rules, but it isn't necessary if you still end up following the rules"