Fairness - The Commentary

You’d think after studying religions around the world that I’d have formed some definite ideas about the afterlife. But, alas, I haven’t. And I know that I’m in good company – some of the religious leaders that I admire and talk with who are attached to certain traditions seem to be just as vague about it all as I am. Whatever the afterlife is like, I don’t live my life because it is some motivation to do better, be more benevolent, love others more, cherish the planet, or try to live more in the present. Those are things I’ve come to want to do without thinking about what they qualify me for later. And, after looking at all the hells that different religions have claimed could await people who don’t follow whatever formula they assert would allow them to avoid these sadistic fantasies, I just think they’re all conceived to manipulate people into conforming to notions that promote insecure personal or institutional agendas, often political and economic ones. But at my stage in life, I