Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for June 19, 2023

I don’t believe Calvin should expect to be eternally rewarded even if there is an afterlife.

One of my favorite C&H. When people ask me what my religious beliefs are, I show them this cartoon.

Karma will be sure to reward you…..

What’s more heavenly than peace and quiet all to yourself?

Just as stressful as not knowing how good you have to be to get presents from Santa.

That first panel is why dying is one of the scariest things to me.

Imagine your consciousness being shut off, and just staying that way forever and ever. It’s impossible for me to imagine without becoming uncomfortable.

No wonder people invented the idea of afterlives as a coping mechanism. (Though reincarnation is probably the least scary idea to me. If it turns out that when you die, you end up being born into a completely new body with no memory of your past life, I’ll be okay with that.)

Calvin is far too shortsighted to care about what happens in the afterlife. He can only see the present.

They all promise an afterlife without a shred of proof they can deliver. Spoiler, Life is now and that’s all you get.

I’m hoping for just enough afterlife that I can say “I told you so.”

It’s a test of critical thinking skills

I reckon things for me after I’m gone will be very much like they were for the 14 billion years before I arrived. Enjoy what you’ve got right now while you’re here to enjoy it!

Knowing my luck, the “road to hell” saying will wind up as just the opposite: Calvin in Paradise, and me roasting for eternity. Anyway, time to listen to Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell album. Haven’t played it in over two decades. RIP Ronnie.

But you’re going to still have the annual behavior evaluation period called Christmas.

Live every day like it’s your very last — and like you’re going straight to Hell regardless.

Oh, I’m sure the Devil will be more than happy to “reward” Calvin for his behavior—especially after he sees yesterday’s strip!!

…or eternally punished for his behavior…

Calvin, being Calvin, is incapable of imagining that there’s anything wrong with his behavior. So, as far as he’s concerned, if there is an afterlife, he will be eternally rewarded in it.

In today’s strip, Calvin and Hobbes are once more showing the difference in human and animal attitudes. Calvin is human enough to consider life after death whereas Hobbes takes the view that one life is good enough.

There is no afterlife. You only get this one life. You are your own God. You decide whether you turn your one life into heaven or hell. Please do not attempt to turn other people’s life into hell though.

A National Park Service sign read: take only pictures, leave only footprints

If one sees footprints as one’s affect on his/her family and friends and pictures as either memories or something tangible that can be viewed from time to time, one has completed his/her task.

There are promises and imaginative depictions of the afterlife, but no verified reports.

It’s noticeable that there is a highway to hell and only a stairway to heaven…. Anyway Hobbes, being a cat means you have nine lives, so enjoy…..

A kid like you will always have a reward offered.

What if there’s an afterlife, but it’s a lot shorter than this one….

I don’t think you have too much to worry about Calvin since there is no after life, this is all we get so use you life wisely. Trust me, I was dead for five minutes when the hospital overdosed me on High blood pressure medicine, flat lined for five minutes, came back to life just before they were going to use the paddles on me. Death =Nothing.

I submit that people who live to die so they can be eternally happy in heaven, are missing the point. It’s like working at a job you hate only for the paycheck.

Interesting how deep Calvin can be when he’s not in school…

Your afterlife is in what you leave behind for others to remember you by.

“Heaven knows I tried.”

You won’t necessarily be rewarded, Calvin.

YOLO

Even if you don’t believe in an afterlife if you’re a complete butthead someone is going to want you dead and then make it happen. Not like this is firsthand experience or anything.

It doesnt matter what religion you are, you are promised something. Your own Castle, streets lined with Gold, 89 virgins….This is also why there are the ME,ME, ME thinking of Get me, give me I want it now!

And there it is. The reason for religion. Of course, Tigers don’t really do religion do they. Still, better be safe than sorry.

Darn humans – never satisfied with anything.

Maybe you would like to NOT know, Calvin.

“Let the mystery be” – Iris Dement

Well kiddo, I wouldn’t worry about it. You’ve got one foot in hell already.

Don’t worry; you won’t be eternally rewarded, Calvin!

This is genuinely not something I think too much about. There are people to love and dishes to do in the meantime.

I always liked this one – May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.

Tree shade, fresh Breeze and a friend to hang around. What more a six year old may like.

I think his answer will come soon- – - -

I just think of all the people who will feel foolish waking up after they’re dead just to find out there is no afterlife.

Hey Calvin…wouldn’t we all?

My opinion has always been that if the afterlife were so great, we would be getting postcards from people wishing we were there. :)

Yes, postcards. If there is e-mail in the afterlife, I’m not going.

That’s hard bargaining for a six year old. But you will not come to know right now, I guess. Maybe if you turn 40, you may understand better.

Calvin better hope there’s no karma.

“[I]swear there ain’t no Heaven, pray there ain’t no he||,but I’ll never know by living, only my dying will tell”…-BST

Maybe I’m living an afterlife now, I just don’t remember my previous lives because I was somebody else

Surely Calvin means Eternally punished for his behavior. There is no way he can think he is a good person.

I was raised in a religion that has no formal position on afterlife. I don’t practice it now but I still respect a lot of the things I learned about it when I was a kid.

Calvin sure is named after the theologian who believed in predestination.

There is no Heaven.. for a cartoon character

Rest assured that if you think that God will reward you for your behavior, know for certain that you will be – unless you have rested your trust in the completed work of Jesus to forgive you for your behavior.

LOL… he is always looking for a chance to be bad !

Be grateful for what you have anyway. Hobbes has the right idea.

I am reminded of the Peggy Lee song, “Is That All There Is”…..

Religion serves many purposes, but a significant one is keeping the masses in line. Monarchies of the past loved that part.

It’s called faith for a reason.

why does he worry? he has been 6 for 30- something years now.