Well, I just stumbled upon a pretty nice piece of logic. Very enlightening as well. It deals with a quote from Richard Dawkins's Unweaving the Rainbow:

"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara".

Well, I was writing a letter with this quote contained in it, and was thinking about it. Especially "The potential people that could have been here in my place...". So, as the person I am writing this letter to is religious, I predicted a thought that the person would have as to why that person was born: "I was born because I am a part of God's plan. I was born so He could use me to help others, and He loved me and wanted me to experience the glory of His creation". A thought along those lines at least, as that is what I thought and was told when I was a Christian (and am still told). However, if you really think about it, knowing that instead of someone else being born you were born, that thought I just mentioned is incredibly sinister, arrogant, self-centered, and conceited.

Quoting my letter:

To say that one was born because God has a plan for that one's life, is to say that God did not have a plan for the others that could have been born instead. And to say that one was born to help others and because God loved that one and wanted that one to enjoy the creation is to say that God did not think the potential other people that forever lost their chance to live could help others, to say that God did not love them, and that God did not want them to enjoy the creation.

It is saying that, because out of all the people that could have been born instead, that one was the one chosen. And to me, that thought demeans ones own birth, is arrogant and says to the other potential people "Haha, God picked ME and not YOU". How very self-centered.

In the process of finding out all that, it dawned on me that the knowledge that countless others could instead be in the place I am now speaks to me saying:

"Not only do you have this life to enjoy for yourself, to be awed in it, to find happiness in it, but you have this life to live for the people that at the moment of your birth forever lost their chance to ever exist. The person that could be living in your place never will have a chance to see the face of the earth because of you being born. You owe it not only to yourself, but to the others that were not born, to live this life out to its fullest, to learn as much as you possibly can about your surroundings and life itself, and focus on this life only, for anything less or focusing on a life you may or may not have after this one is a smack, an insult, to those who could be living in your place."

Not only that, but to even insist, hint at, think about, dream about, or even convince people of the idea of an afterlife is much more arrogant, self-centered, and conceited than a man proclaiming to be God, for why should you or I or anyone for that matter be able to have an afterlife while countless other people will not even have the opportunity to live once. And to even believe that you are going to have an afterlife is much worse than thinking it.

So think next time, before you tell someone how much God loves them or you, or what God has done for you, or to even talk about an afterlife, about those people who God did not love enough to be born in your place, or will not be able to say "God has done something for them", or even get a chance to live while you ramble on about how you are going to enjoy an afterlife.

End quote of letter.

How very eye opening that was for me. Not that I thought this life was nothing special, as I already knew that life itself is a very precious thing. But to have it in a sight such as that, is amazing. I just had to share it all, for something like that is to great to keep a secret.

First post by the way, so hello everyone!