Things to do in Heaven when you're dead

[Archangel Beth]

*beth eyes the twist the thread took*
*shrugs*
. o O (so long as everyone's having fun...)

[jason taylor]

Except for Marines...

[RedMattis]

Why would the marines need to guard heavens streets anyway, its not like demons can get up there for an invasion, right?

[alexondria]

Originally Posted by RedMattis

Why would the marines need to guard heavens streets anyway, its not like demons can get up there for an invasion, right?

The Marine hymn

From the halls of Montezuma

To the shores of Tripoli' ,

We fight our countries battles

In the air', on land, and sea.

First to fight for right and freedom,

And to keep our honor clean,

We are proud to claim the title

Of United States Marines.

Our flags unfurl'd to every breeze

From dawn to setting sun';

We have fought in every clime and place

Where we could take a gun.

In the snow of far-off northern lands

And in sunny tropic scenes,

You will find us always on the job - The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps

Which we are proud to serve;

In many a strife we've fought for life

And never lost our nerve.

If the Army and the Navy Ever gaze on Heaven's scenes,

They will find the streets are guarded

By United States Marines.

[sir_pudding]

OOH-RAH! moto

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by RedMattis

Why would the marines need to guard heavens streets anyway, its not like demons can get up there for an invasion, right?

We were exchangeing in-house jokes about obscure Marine folklore. Sorry if you felt left out.

[BillionSix]

Yeah, I can see it. The jarheads will be all like, "Where's my post?" and will stand there for a century or two doing nothing except looking impressive. While us squids will show up and be like, "Everything cool here? Yeah? Good. I'll be at the bar if you need me."

(hehe. Just playing. Used to be in the Navy here. :p )

Brian

[jason taylor]

Actually I have a thought which may comfort some of the hapless marines that have to guard heaven's streets.

C.S. Lewis once in a moment of idle speculation wondered if in heaven we will be able to "super-multitask"

Suppose you could think about, talk about, and do everything you are interested in at once; and concentrate all the attention on it that you need to direct onto a single object on Earth.

For instance I could listen to travel stories from Marco Polo, and sea stories from Horatio Nelson, Nat Palmer, and Leif Ericson, westerns from Benjamen Cartwright and so on
And of course war stories from the United States Marines while they guard heaven's streets
and hear them all at once.

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by alangriffith

I never claimed satanists who do not believe in satan are not actually satanists, my point was that satanists and nazis both deliberately choose names which deliberately imply something contraversial, then turn around and say 'but I don;t believe in that' when christians, jews or muslims (for satanists) or war veterans and jews (for nazis) tackle them on it.

Coming up next, Jesusism - a new religion which doesn;t believe in jesus. :-P

Back to a somewhat more serious tack (though I'm truly enjoying the Marine humor). Satanists--of the church founded by Anton LaVey--are in fact atheists . I studied modern magic-based religions for my B.A. in Philosophy final paper so I know this one pretty well. LaVey did use the title for controversy, though he also seemed to enjoy the Halloween aspect of it. His Satanism preaches self-indulgence and iconoclasm, and Satan embodies that well. His wisest teaching is that of "enlightened self-interest" i.e. look out for yourself but don't be stupid about it. Stopping for a red light is only unselfish on its surface--it keeps you from getting an expensive ticket or a banged up car.

The demons in IN would have a field day with his works.

There are other religions that go by "Satanism" which are smaller, less centralized, and/or more recent. The Church of Set for instance is an offshoot of LaVey's but focuses more on mysticism--so it is more literally Satanist. Devil-worshippers--what some pagans refer to as "f**ked up Christians" are relatively rare in reality though they get lots of hype. They're disorganized as a rule and have about as much religious credibility as an Ozzy Osbourne album.

So the biggest contingency of Satanist, actually and truly do not believe in Satan, except as a sort of mascot.

[Alejandro]

Originally Posted by Archangel Beth

Having little relievers cry at you is pretty traumatic.

Agreed, however, it would be better for them to face off against a skilled apologist in Heaven before they stare down a Balseraph on Earth.

Learning how to lose is a critical lesson. Older Angels remember the War and their betrayal, younger Angels with no experience of failure and humiliation, how difficult would it be for them to connect to a despondent widower? Or a woman who lost her baby? Or a child, bullied for the very first time?

I imagine that Atheist in Heaven would be of the highest moral and intellectual character. To debate with one would be an experience not unlike fencing with Miyamoto Musashi; an arrogant whelp would be swiftly and utterly dealt with, a serious student or able contender would be another matter entirely.

(\/)
(o.0)
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