Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for October 05, 2010

Until you get There, that’s the way it is….

Yes, it certainly is uncertain if there is an afterlife.

There is only current life.

“You don’t seem to be on the list…”

Ah, “tis the Maybe Not part that is troubling…..the energy of the soul cannot be destroyed….it is the essence…..

^Fairportfan if you buy the voting machines and control the Supreme Court you fool everyone.

Maybe is a trapdoor. If you get the answer wrong, you’re going down.

I stood at the Pearly Gates and heard St Peter say to the woman before me “Well, you could have done more, Mother Teresa.”

baslim, the church did away with Limbo a few years back. Not sure what they did with the souls that were in there. Kinda leaves them in, um, limbo….

Why do I think of “trap door” when I see that floor mat?

aafflin, spammers go to hell>

Just hop over the mat.

Uh, Oh , Dirt in the doorway,,, Not Good!

The uncertainty is where you will end up, not whether there is an afterlife.

^ how about a little proof of that one

and Wiley, love the gatekeeper too………smooth

Something can be true, but not provable. Conversely, being certain is not the same thing as being right.

If we could be completely certain about the afterlife – which we obviously can’t because it’s a one-way ticket – we wouldn’t need to be given faith, and learn to walk in it. Since faith is one of those qualities of character without which life wouldn’t be worth living in the first place, we’re better off for not being certain about everything.

Personally, I take this as evidence for a wise and loving God. You may take it otherwise, of course.

aircraft-eng, I resent your implication that republicans cannot be compassionate. I have been a registered republican since I was 18 and I’ve probably donated more time and money to worthy and needy causes than most who post here, and I do it not for any tax breaks, but because it’s the right thing to do. And I can truthfully say that nearly none of those donations were to any organized church or religious entity. And among my family members, I am not a rarity. Just because your view of something is a stereotype, doesn’t mean it’s true.

For the record though, I am no longer registered republican, but neither am I registered democrat. I miss out on many primary elections for changing to independent, but as of right now, I can see no way that either party is working for anything other than to remain in or regain control of Congress.

I agree w/ MisngNOLA, although I don’t see anything wrong with donating to churches or other religious entities if that’s where your heart is. The incumbents are ALL mostly interested in gaming the system rather than fixing problems. I started Dem, switched to Rep, and now in disgust am waiting for ANYONE to vote for that isn’t a complete idiot! One of the best reasons to vote for the non-incumbent is that we already know for certain the one in office IS a jerk, and the one running only MIGHT be one!

Wiley, I don’t know how you do it. You keep outdoing yourself. This one is going right into my favourites. Am sending this on to all my “religous” friends and wishing them good luck!

Grmbly Walnut, agree with you about political candidates. I now vote for thebest person in my riding versus the party. Then I can at least be happy with my little corner of the world (hopefully.)

“Riding”? A Canadian equivalent of precinct, or Congressional district?

Seriously, you guys should check out the Modern Whig Party (www.modernwhig.org). It could use a better name – it sounds like something from a “Saturday Night Live” sketch – but it was formed by veterans returning from the Gulf wars with the purpose of cutting through the posturing and sloganeering, getting back to sensible social and political values, and doing what works rather than what tickles some special group or other. I think it has potential for The Rest of Us.

Love the velvet ropes and the burly bouncer angel with sunglasses and a skinny black tie standing behind St. Peter. So, is heaven really an exclusive club? Do we have to do something special to get on the entry list?

Another Non Sequitur immortalized in The Family Plot Blog’s Death Cartoon Collection! http://thefamilyplot.wordpress.com/category/death-cartoons/

@ Varnes (on the removal of Limbo) Carlin said it best (on his Class Clown LP, so it isn’t a recent developement). “I hope they promoted everybody, and didn’t leave them just hanging in space.”

@ SCAATY ridings are probably equivalent to congressional districts, since they are for electing members to the lower house of parliament. they aren’t uniquely Canadian, though, being a result of the English side of our country’s heritage.

yyyguy, Carlin lives! and the ‘welcome’ mat as trapdoor is good too. does the bouncer have a hunch back and where are the coconuts (that the african sparrows can/can’t carry)?

There is no proof of an afterlife, nor is there proof there is not an afterlife. Eventually we will all find out, Just be patient, and enjoy what you’ve got>

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again. Just don’t let your karma whack you on your way out the door.

Let’s see: Limbo was developed by St. Augustine to answer the question of what happens to unbaptized babies, who never had a chance to choose for themselves. The Catholic Church has come to see that it shows a poor understanding of God’s boundless mercy, and that either God allows them to make their own choice in some fashion that we cannot know, or else, as true innocents, God welcomes them to himself. So we really don’t know.

Which is not to say that God doesn’t know.

And, yes, Mother Teresa probably could have done more. She was a sinner, after all.

However, it is not by works that we earn heaven. We do not earn heaven at all–it is by grace that we receive it.

Any works we do are in response: because God first loved us.

Anyway, that’s what we believe.

There must be an afterlife! Note how the “door man” resembles Steven Segal, when he is not dead, just his career is.

Oh, a riding is just a geographic delineation. Electoral districts were once upon a time based on county boundary’s, however as population in certain regions warranted, more or less providing equal representation (voters to elected member), county’s were further subdivided into smaller units known as a riding.

@ Shirttail Slim,, Thanks,, you said it before I got around to it.

Proof? Just look at the picture. It’s on the internet so it must be true.

The way some people behave, I can understand why they hope there is no afterlife…

It’s not that hard to prove to youself whether or not there’s an afterlife. But I’ve got other things to do. We all find out, eventually.

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Also known as: Pastafarianism Founder: Bobby Henderson What’s that? It was originally intended as a satirical protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public schools. In an open letter sent to the Kansas State Board of Education, Henderson parodied the concept of intelligent design by professing belief in a supernatural creator which closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs. Henderson further called for his “Pastafarian” theory of creation to be allotted equal time in science classrooms. After Henderson published the letter on his Web site, it rapidly became an Internet phenomenon and a symbol for the case against intelligent design in public schools. The central belief is that an invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. Where do I sign? www.venganza.org

There is a picture of spaghetti and meatballs with eyes

Ah Wiley - as always you have managed to stir the discussion - love ya work

I believe in the Church I believe in the government I’d rather donate my money directly to causes I deem helpful.

I want to know who is the suit and shades alongside of St Peter.

Looks right dodgy to me.

i dont get it. angel with a podium, backed up by steven segal with a necktie and wings. must be a christian thing. beats me. oh: LEW: and i don t send money to organizations that have real estate valued at 100 times my income for a lifetime. i do get extorted at threats of jail or torture and cough up something in april every year, tho.

If Stephen Segal or the Pastafarians is the best anyone can come up with…

I was hoping that it wasn’t someone like Bishop Brian Tamaki. If that name does not ring a bell, then I am sure that there a large number of self-appointed “men of god” that could as easily qualify for the job… especially in the US.

exo, WTF? Most conservatives make less money than liberals? What is the color of the sky in your world? State your source. I’d love to see you explain to Jesus that the reason you didn’t help people who were suffering, was because it was public policy. If you call yourself a Christian, you lie, sir!

SCAATY, thanks for that link to the Modern Whigs. Besides Whigs, I could probably use a wig as well, although I have been rewarding the hair that has stayed by letting it grow as long as it would like to.

@varnes, here’s a reference: http://blog.beliefnet.com/castingstones/2008/04/conservatives-give-more-to-cha.html?bt=polmashup (see first two paragraphs especially)

There are many others available, but most/all refer to the book mentioned in the article.