The heaven hypothesis: a religious leader's weapon?

Recently the idea dawned on me that fundamentalists are fundamentalists because they expect some reward in the afterlife.

Apparently this is one of the "divine inspirations" I mentioned earlier.

I have a question to ask. What if there is no heaven? No afterlife? No soul to make those things possible? Currently our understanding of the human body (ie, the integration of body and mind) points strongly in the direction of the latter.

Sounds like a bad bet... go against scientific knowledge, and ridicule the same (and in turn be ridiculed), in hopes that reward may come, even though it almost certainly won't.

I honestly don't think "stirring it up" (ie, attacking Darwinian evolution and other known scientific facts) is a good way to get into heaven anyways.

So what's the deal? Is the idea of heaven just another tool religious leaders use to gain control?

I don't mean to be rude, but you just realized this? I thought it was obvious since I heard about heaven or hell, that they are just things invented by the human mind to scare them into belief.

i think this is THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT REASON why i don't associate w/ any particular religion.

i had a question posed to me that i now pose to others who say their way is the only way to heaven.

"if there were no rewards (i.e. heaven) or consequences (i.e. hell), how differently would your life be?"

most answer they would give less thought to what they do and how it affects others (usually said in a less direct way though, of course).

if you are only doing "good deeds" because you don't want to be punished and/or you want to be rewarded, then it defeats the point. you are still doing it from a selfish disposition, which is against everything jesus taught (remember the rebuking of pharisees bc they were doing good deeds from selfish and judgemental hearts and also remember the gentle kindness he had towards those deemed by society as being immoral... he was gentle towards them bc they had good hearts even though they made so many MISTAKES).

i am beginning more and more to believe that at the core of ALL major religions is the TRUTH (the difference btw true good and true evil), but most only see the surface of religions, the part that drives ppl to argue, fight, and prove that they are right.

i really am starting to believe that they were cleverly set up this way so as to decipher btw those who were more bent on finding THE TRUTH from those who are just looking to be "right" for whatever selfish motivation resides in their heart.

imo anyway

[edit on 15-6-2008 by justamomma]

Originally posted by SlyCM
So what's the deal? Is the idea of heaven just another tool religious leaders use to gain control?

It is when they tell you that you have to do it their way in order to go there. It's not for anyone to say what my path is. They should worry about their own.

Anyone who tries to encourage people to do something by injecting fear or lack, is someone I wouldn't take too seriously. Whether it's religious or business.

Many of these leaders have a good heart, but it's often misplaced.

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
I don't mean to be rude, but you just realized this? I thought it was obvious since I heard about heaven or hell, that they are just things invented by the human mind to scare them into belief.

I had thought about it before, but decided to make a thread after some people on ATS began justifying fundamentalism with "I will be rewarded in heaven while you burn" and the like.