"Second, I have never understood why believers cry and are sad when a loved one (specially one who lived up to old age) dies and supposedly moves to a much nicer place, where again supposedly later on they will meet again. Or is it the opposite of "there is no atheist in a foxhole"?"
I think it has to do with sadness of losing someone you love, be it a parent, child, wife, etc.
I don't think it has to do with religion or atheism at all.
So a believer thinks they are in a better place...why wouldn't they be sad that they lost their father, mother, child, etc. Why shouldn't they miss their loved ones even if the loved ones have gone to a better place?
They are attached to a member of their family, and when that attachment is broken by death of a love one, they feel sadness at that loss. They aren't crying for the person who left, but they are crying because they are without the person who brought them happiness. They are crying at the loss, mourning the personal loss.
Doubt is natural and a product of the intellect that can doubt everything but it self...except for the wise one who have come to doubt the certainty of the intellect, as they know the intellect is a limited instrument with a relativistic point of view when searching for truth beyond the reach of the human intellect. Doubting the doubts of the intellect is faith in something greater than the human intellect.
Fear is natural. Acting against the natural fear is courage.
Faith is not the absence of doubt, but a decision to believe in something greater than the intellectual doubts. Just like the courageous keep moving forward in the face of fear, the faithful keep moving forward in the face of doubt.
Despite the advancement of technology and intellectualism over the past several millenniums, man is not really any more evolved emotionally than man was thousands of years ago. Same fears, same human weakness, same 7 deadly sins are thriving...just now we have the hubris of pure intellectuals who believe they are their own higher power. Pure intellectualism is the highest form of self delusion.
Quote from Pekelo:
First, pretty much all religions have a claim about the afterlife, not just Christianity. Second, I have never understood why believers cry and are sad when a loved one (specially one who lived up to old age) dies and supposedly moves to a much nicer place, where again supposedly later on they will meet again. Or is it the opposite of "there is no atheist in a foxhole"?
And no it isn't natural to question. If you haven't questioned your faith, why would you question it now?? It is only natural to question if you had doubt all along...
