Without getting anything in return, would you f...

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
I don't know if you saw the following later in the thread:

[b]As Penguin pointed out, the question is directed at the idea of following Gods ways for the sake of following His ways without having some sort of external reward / punishment system as incentive / disincentive such as heaven, hell, a downpayment on what one wants, etc.

Is the answer still "yes"?[/b]

Yes. I don't believe that those who have more than me (material as well as nonmaterial) have been rewarded by God for good deeds. A lot of what people have or don't have is circumstantial -- they were lucky or not to be born into the time/place/family they were. Their subsequent decisions were/are primarily within that framework. So clearly (to me) what we have or don't in this life isn't based on being rewarded or punished by God.

The threat of hell certainly wouldn't stop me from doing anything, even if it was something otherwise legal where I live. I'm not interested in commiting murder, for example, but if I were, the threat of being a woman in prison would be enough of a deterrent to get over the thought. If murder were perfectly legal, it still wouldn't appeal to me.

In short, I don't think I'm capable of doing anything good enough to *earn* heaven or bad enough to earn hell. I can only do what seems right in this life.