A RELIGIOUS VIEW ON WHERE ARE WE GOING?

On this glorious Sunday, let me start with something sent by my major provider, a bonus question given by a chemistry professor.  It does not matter whether this story actually occurred or not, for this would be consistent with most religious texts.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.  One student, however, wrote the following:

• First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving, which is unlikely. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.
• Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. 
• Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
• This gives two possibilities:
• 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
• 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
• So which is it?
• If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. 
• The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct..... ....leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.

The key term is "bonus" question, which many times, depending on the instructor, means that this is not to be taken too seriously.  A creative response is desired.  When I taught Technology and Society, I told my students to take only 5 minutes.  Typically, I took three terms used in this course which were so unrelated that I couldn't imagine anyone producing a coherent sensible synthesis.  Invariably, most of them actually came up with something reasonable, and many were truly impressive.

If you've been keeping up, on September 23 I posted on Why Are We Here, then the next day, Wednesday, science day, the title was  Where Are We Going?  On October 4, a Sunday, it was A Religious View on Why Are We Here?  

So today, what about the end?  There are two kinds:  for individuals, and humanity in total.   Taking first Christians, there is Heaven...or Hell.  In 2013 my posting on WHAT DOES HEAVEN LOOK LIKE  showed the following table:

The USA is a very religious country.  Note there are no Muslim countries.  However, in the Middle East and North Africa, they are all mostly in the near 100% category:

While I have my doubts about such a place, often cited examples are from those who supposedly died, saw heaven and somehow returned, sharing what they saw.  A well-cited individual is Eben Alexander revealing his Proof of Heaven

I have no doubt about his sincerity.  My sense, though, is that what he viewed was similar to what I see when I dream.  I hope he's right.  I feel optimistic today, so will not go into Hell.

Other religions:

• Hindu:  Great souls get salvation, most find a new body to start a new life.
• Islam:  Very similar to Christianity, for the early writings essentially came from the same place.  There is a simpler variation in that one goes to Paradise or Hell.  Roman Catholics have a midpoint called Purgatory, from which anyone who enters, eventually is sufficiently purified to enter Heaven.

• 
  Buddhism:  More like Hindu than Christian in that, while the body dies, the mind goes on forever.  The ultimate rebirth is enlightenment, the state of Buddha.  Othewise, you relive another life.  But all is not so simple, for there are different sects into other forms of reincarnation.  For example, you can return as a cockroach, or worse.

• 
  Judaism:  Should be similar to Christianity, with an infinite soul that somehow gets to Heaven.  However, there has been an evolution, for originally, there was no Hell, and, more recently, a sense that there is no Heaven, no Hell and no nothing...if that is possible.

Next, I'll provide a perspective on the future of humanity and religions in two time frames:  the year 2050 and forever.  By this study, the Muslim population will increase, while the unaffiliated will drop.

Worldwide, faith is increasing.   84% has some religious affiliation.  However, faith is dropping in the USA.  For the record, COVID-19 has increased religious belief.

What about the really long term future?  Religion has a term, Eschatology, dealing with the ultimate destiny of humanity.  Go to that link for how different religious treat this subject.  I'll just summarize two, the Hindu version:

• The Universe will be dissolved and regenerated.  Again, kind of makes sense, for there is at least one theory in astrophysics saying the same.
• How long?  311 trillion, 40 billion years.

Then one from Zoroastrianism:

• Good will eventually prevail over evil.
• Creation, initially perfectly good, was subsequently corrupted by evil.
• The World will ultimately be restored to the perfection it had at the time of creation.

I took a stab at this a decade ago:

Yes! The Golden Evolution, in my simple solution (hold your breath, this is as crazy as making hydrogen free in Chapter 3 of Book 1), then, is the process by which there is general acceptance that Man created God when it was vital for our early ancestors to have an all-watching and morally satisfying divinity, but that an omnipresent protector is today obsolete. The only way for the Dennett revolution to happen is first for the sudden emergence of a global test of monumental proportions. Step One, to challenge our survival: a cataclysmic series of events, such as, perhaps, oil suddenly jumping to $200/barrel and tens of millions perishing through global heating one hot summer, with the prospects of Planet Earth converting to Planet Venus (where the surface temperature is 900°F, see Chapter 5 in Book 1) to arise with such fury that all elements of Mankind compellingly unite and take coordinated action, which would be Step Two. Having overcome this global crisis (let’s be at least positive about the outcome), Step Three would be that evolutionary transcendence towards a higher respect for the environment and a fading away of the supreme being concept.  (One by-product would be peace on earth forever.)

Traipsing back in time, I have two songs being considered for #79:

• Mr. Lee:  The Bobbettes
• It's Almost Tomorrow:  The Dream Weavers

Yes, there are songs more deserving of these in any list of 100.  But these tunes bring back special memories.

Mr. Lee was written by the Bobbettes of a schoolteacher they strongly despised.  This was in the 6th grade at P.S. 109 in East Harlem, New York City.  He looked like Superman's Clark Kent, and was conservative, uptight and with nervous eyes.  However, when you listen to the lyrics, it's about a loving tribute?  What happened?  Atlantic Records told them to revise the original.

Song #79 is It's Almost Tomorrow, written by the leaders of the Dream Weavers, Gene Adkinson and Wade Buff (that's also his voice) in 1953 when they were in high school.  Released in 1955 when they were students at the University Florida, other members of the group kept changing.  In any case, they ceased to exist soon thereafter.  While they were a one-hit wonder, even this piece of music was destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire that wiped out 175,000 master tapes.

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