Do you really worry about consequences in the hereafter?

[SeattleUte]

Pascal's wager has always struck me as an impoverished ethical guide and a miserable way to live. It seems pretty common among Mormons, however, from my observation. Living right should be its own reward. But don't let me influence your vote. (Most here will be too scared to vote, I venture.)

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I was just in a conversation with a friend about this the other day. Interesting poll. Is this also from the urinal book?

[Tim]

I answered "no," and here's why: the word "really" threw me off. Do I live in a way that I believe will bring me the most happiness in the eternities? Yes. Do I live my life so that I don't screw myself over in the hereafter? Yes. Do I worry about it? No. Do I *really* worry about it? Absolutely not.

Now, I know that you used the word "really" as a means of suggesting that you're more enlightened that we simple-minded believers (like "Are you really going to put mustard on that turkey sandwich?" or "Are you really going out with that ugly girl?"), but I'm not falling for your intellectual machismo.

Anyhow, I don't really worry about the afterlife. I sure as crap better make it there, what with all the sacrifices I've made (I would love to be a wine drinker. I would love to relax on Sundays. I would love to be sexually frivolous), but I don't really worry about it. I worry more about how on earth I'm going to con a woman into marrying my sorry ass and reproducing with me.

[SeattleUte]

You can vote yes, a lot or yes, a little by the way, i.e., vote more than once.

[TripletDaddy]

You can vote yes, a lot or yes, a little by the way, i.e., vote more than once.

Aka, the "robinfinderson" clause.

[LA Ute]

The question, as posed, is unanswerable and frankly smacks of trollism. Mormons view this life as a test, a proving time, and so of course anyone who buys that doctrine lives his or her life with the hereafter in mind. But to frame having an eternal perspective as "worrying" about the hereafter is . . . well, the kind of thing we expect from you here.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I got credited for two votes, as I voted Yes and A Little. The last two choices seemed subparts of the first. I worry very little about the hereafter, but since I worry more than zero, I had to say yes.

Turning Paul on his head for a moment, I think if we worry mainly about the hereafter, we are of all men most miserable. But since I believe real happiness in this life is best achieved by fidelity to core gospel principles, and I'd live pretty much the same way even if there weren't a hereafter, I'm good either way.

In my early 20s, I remember a few of my peers really worried about marrying someone because, while they loved the potential spouse deeply, they just weren't sure if he/she was the right one for ETERNITY. Fifty or sixty years, no problem, but eternity? I thought it was stupid, and assumed if with all my worldy faults I could find someone whom I could love, and who would love me, for a half century in this imperfect existence, eternal bliss would be a snap. So far, that's working out for me.

[il Padrino Ute]

Push poll alert!

[creekster]

By "really" you mean "truly" and by "worry about" you mean "act solely or primarily based upon", I assume?

[SeattleUte]

I got credited for two votes, as I voted Yes and A Little. The last two choices seemed subparts of the first. I worry very little about the hereafter, but since I worry more than zero, I had to say yes.

Turning Paul on his head for a moment, I think if we worry mainly about the hereafter, we are of all men most miserable. But since I believe real happiness in this life is best achieved by fidelity to core gospel principles, and I'd live pretty much the same way even if there weren't a hereafter, I'm good either way.

In my early 20s, I remember a few of my peers really worried about marrying someone because, while they loved the potential spouse deeply, they just weren't sure if he/she was the right one for ETERNITY. Fifty or sixty years, no problem, but eternity? I thought it was stupid, and assumed if with all my worldy faults I could find someone whom I could love, and who would love me, for a half century in this imperfect existence, eternal bliss would be a snap. So far, that's working out for me.

One of my childhood memories growing up in Sandy, Utah. My friends Bruce, Brent and I are weighing the moral consequences of stealing Christmas light bulbs on a house we're casing. Bruce and Brent are about six months older than I am. Bruce turns to me and says, "John, you should do it, you're not eight yet and we've been baptized."

[Babs]

Pascal's wager has always struck me as intellectually dishonest, and I imagine it must be an awfully unhappy way to live, assuming anyone actually tries. Plus, it presupposes that salvation (or whatever you want to call it) can be earned through strictly external participation, without any sort of genuine agreement with a particular doctrine or ideology.

[pelagius]

Pascal's wager has always struck me as intellectually dishonest, and I imagine it must be an awfully unhappy way to live, assuming anyone actually tries. Plus, it presupposes that salvation (or whatever you want to call it) can be earned through strictly external participation, without any sort of genuine agreement with a particular doctrine or ideology.

Plus it's a lame programming language.

[creekster]

Pascal's wager has always struck me as intellectually dishonest, and I imagine it must be an awfully unhappy way to live, assuming anyone actually tries. Plus, it presupposes that salvation (or whatever you want to call it) can be earned through strictly external participation, without any sort of genuine agreement with a particular doctrine or ideology.

Correct, at least for christians. Following Christ is not a costume drama where you suceed if you act properly and wear the proper clothes even if inside you resent bitterly that you are so cast. Instead, it requires that you become a follower from the inside out. Whichis the probhlem with the poll, in my mind; it pre-supposes the lack of such a conversion.

[Goatnapper'96]

Plus it's a lame programming language.

I can say without reservation that when I threw my turbo pascal programming textbook on the post TEE (Term End Examination for those of you who attended less chivalric institutions) bonfire, it might have been the highlight of my educational experience. I took some classes I hated, but I am not sure I will ever find the depth of enmity I had for turbo pascal.

[RC Vikings]

One of my childhood memories growing up in Sandy, Utah. My friends Bruce, Brent and I are weighing the moral consequences of stealing Christmas light bulbs on a house we're casing. Bruce and Brent are about six months older than I am. Bruce turns to me and says, "John, you should do it, you're not eight yet and we've been baptized."

That's pretty funny. Did you take them?