One day, several months ago, I was having lunch with popular newspaper columnist and TV talk-show host Gawaya Tegule in downtown Kampala.
We conversed about many things, and eventually the topic of religion came up. He told me why he believed in ‘God’, and I told him why I didn’t. It was a friendly exchange. It so happened that sitting right opposite me was a Jehovah’s Witness, and as I was walking out of the restaurant, he asked to speak to me briefly. He talked to me about the wonders of ‘God’ and why I should believe, and asked me if I’d like to meet him and his friend to discuss religion further over some roasted pork on Saturday. I gladly accepted the offer. He had me at roasted pork. I love roasted pork.
Saturday came and I met James (that is his name) and Walter at Bamboo Nest, Bugolobi (in the outskirts of Kampala) and we began a lively debate on the ‘God’ question. Being Jehovah’s Witnesses, they had some very interesting things to say about the afterlife.
It went something like this: basically when Jesus ‘returns’, Jehovah will choose (has chosen?) 144,000 humans to rule with him in heaven with Jesus and the angels. The rest that have been good ‘Witnesses’ get to come back to life when Jesus returns, and live for eternity in paradise here on Earth. You’ve seen the imagery, I’m sure:
Naturally, I asked..
So what happens to those of us who didn’t do what Jehovah said we were supposed to do? You know, like non-believers?
Their answer was..
You don’t get resurrected to enjoy eternal life on Earth in Paradise. In other words, you remain dead.
‘Will we go to hell?’ I queried.
Walter responded..
No, no.. the concept of hell is simply a metaphor. Many Christians have misinterpreted the context of the passages that refer to a ‘hell’. There is no literal ‘lake of fire’. What will actually happen is that once you die, that will be the end for you. No resurrection and life of happiness for eternity!
My next response to them shocked them completely. I said:
Well, if what you say is true, then that’s perfectly fine with me.
They couldn’t believe their ears.
‘Wha..wha..what do mean? DON’T YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER?’ they pleaded.
They really couldn’t understand why a person wouldn’t want to live in bliss for eternity. These guys really thought there was something wrong with me. Who wouldn’t want to live forever?
‘Nope,’ I said, and continued..
It would be perfectly fine for me to just live my live to the fullest here on earth and for it to all end here. I honestly find the idea of eternal life nauseating.
Both of them shook their heads in disbelief. We moved on to discussing other topics before eventually bidding each other farewell – but not before them giving me two booklets, and no less than three Watchtower magazines for me to ‘study’ (man, these guys definitely don’t play around).
Religious people often protest when non-believers accuse them of holding on to their faiths because they are afraid of death, or are anxious about what they think might follow after death. While such an accusation might seem at first like an over-generalisation, it certainly cannot be denied that the desire to ‘beat’ death is one of the strongest motivating factors for choosing to be religious, or spiritual. It was partly the case for me as well, when I was still a born-again Christian 18 years ago.
Going to heaven was a prospect that I not only took very seriously at the time, but one I was actively looking forward to. I couldn’t wait to get to heaven – I remember. ‘What am i still doing around in this sinful, evil, filthy world?’ I kept asking myself. ‘The sooner I died the quicker I’ll get there,’ I thought.
I remember telling my friends that I would be willing die for Jesus if it were required of me to do so. I remember imagining myself in 
heaven, living a blissful, happy life – forever – after I had been killed while preaching the gospel (or something like that). It didn’t occur to me then that half-way across the world, many youths in parts of the Arab world were also quite willing to die a ‘glorious death’ for the sake of their faith, because they believed a ‘better’ life awaited them in heaven.
Indeed, in light of all that is promised in the next life by various religious traditions, to me at the time, focusing on this life seemed so trivial. I was constantly frustrated that Jesus was taking his time with the ‘rapture’. I really wanted to get into heaven to begin my ‘eternal’ life in paradise with Jesus. My life here on earth truly struck me as being rather pointless, and I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Wow.
Of course, as I progressed into an atheist, I began to see things differently.
Gradually, the idea of an eternal life actually started sounding cheap to me. The whole thing is simple, really – we ascribe value to things that are rare. The winner of a lottery marvels because it is not everyday that one wins a lottery. Chances are that he or she will never win it again, after winning it once – and as such, he feels humbled by the experience. We value gold, diamonds, and other precious stones because they are scarce items. The world mourned the loss of Michael Jackson because we knew there would never be another Michael Jackson – he was one of a kind..
All of us, are one of a kind, and that is why each one of us is special. We also won’t always be around.
I began to value my life on Earth because I realised that this life was the one and only life I will ever live. This realisation is what now motivates me to try to live the best life I can – every single day. It also motivates me to strive to help others so that they, too, can live the best life they possibly can – every single day.
"When I got untethered from the comfort of religion, it wasn’t a loss of faith for me, it was a discovery of self. I had faith that I’m capable enough to handle any situation. There’s peace in understanding that I have only one life, here and now, and I’m responsible."
Brad Pitt (Source: Parade 10/07/2007)
I couldn’t agree more with Brad Pitt. We are all responsible, so let’s try to fix this world…NOW. It’s all we’ve got.
Life is something to be treasured precisely because it will not last forever. Every minute counts. Every second counts..
Don’t waste it.
Freethought Kampala 
11 comments
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April 9, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Mudamuli
Thought Brad Pitt was a Scientologist but what do I know?
May 16, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Alvin
I just can’t stomach the idea of heaven,it’s an insult to human intelligence,I guess whoever came up with it knew about the human soul and its need for bliss without working hard…am not a fully developed aetheist yet but am looking at many belief systems at the moment and the more I let go of the whole religion thing,the more I feel in control of who I am and what I want out of life
September 3, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Keith
Life would still be precious even if it lasted forever for we will never repeat any moment we pass through. Once gone, a moment is gone forever! That is what really makes life precious, not the fact we will all die one day. Anyone who thinks living forever is cheap is lying to themselves. If it was so cheap humanity wouldn’t spend a lot of the world resources trying to prolong our stay here.
To claim everlasting life is cheap is as bad an argument as claiming the life of a baby who lived for a few minutes is more precious and more valuable than yours, that has made you live as long as your currently have. Life in every shape, form and length is precious period. For there is nothing else like it. Which makes it the rarest thing of all in the entire universe.
September 3, 2010 at 10:00 pm
James Onen
*facepalm*
As usual Keith you miss the point.
We tend to feel extra sad when a child passes away because life is already fleeting as it is, but sadly the child only got a chance to catch a glimpse of it. As human beings, we know that life expectancy ranges from 60-80 years on average. It therefore saddens us when people haven’t gotten the chance to exploit their once chance at life to the full. This is the reason we feel worse when a 7 year old girl dies, compared to when a 90 year old dies. What part of this is hard to understand?
If life was eternal it wouldn’t be as precious as we consider it today. We fight tooth and nail to survive and to ensure the survival of those we love because this one chance is all there is.
That’s the whole point of the essay, and why it is that to me the prospect of eternal life in heaven is bland.
The bigger tragedy is that heaven is a man-made concept invented to assuage anxieties springing up from a fear of death – yet even grown upss believe such superstitions today.
October 20, 2010 at 10:27 pm
gt
Do you suppose someone like Richard Dawkins a millitant atheist offers the answer to the biggest question of all?
October 21, 2010 at 2:13 pm
James Onen
I don’t look to Richard Dawkins for answers at all.
You see, most atheists like to think for themselves, gt, unlike believers who rely on popes, bishops, sheiks and pastors to do their thinking for them.
February 2, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Rev. Okidi Charles
When God created Man he created him with free will. He has the freedom of choice that is why everyone has his or own opinion but it does not mean that you depend on your own. Every river has got a source and when the source is ignored then there will be no continuity. You have a parent who gave birth to you and brought you up, how would your parent feel or you yourself feel your own child despise or does not recognize you. Let us stop thinking that we are independent. You can not live alone without the support of your neighbour who is created by God. I pray God open up your understanding and you begin to appreciate the importance of others.
February 3, 2011 at 4:12 pm
James Onen
Hi Reverend Okidi Charles,
Unless you can demonstrate it through evidence or argument, I have no reason to believe that there is such a thing as a ‘God’.
‘God’ is an invention of man.
Man was not created… we evolved from simpler organisms through natural selection. ‘Creation’ is a man-made myth, and many a primitive culture had their own variety of creation myth they subscribed to in the past – the tragedy, of course, is that there are grown ups who still believe these superstitions of a by-gone era even today. Today we no more about how the galaxies, the starts, the earth, life, and species came to be.. without the need to invoke gods as explanations.
Pray to ‘God’ if you wish… I’ll pray to ‘Spider-Man’. Both are imaginary so the result is the same 🙂
“Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense” ~ Chapman Cohen
Thanks for stopping by.
May 19, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Andrew
I am a science student and have done lots of research on the subject of evolution, I will just ask some curious questions;
1) Evolution says that the billions of cells in my body all came from a one cell out of some big bang…why? how?
2) Fat boy alludes to the “fact” that we evolved from simpler animals, say monkeys and chimps. I don’t know how long this evolution has taken or whether it has stoped. If evolution has stopped then, then why? If its still going on, then how come for the last 6000 years or so, we have not seen the intermediate forms of evolution i.e. half man half whale.
In conclusion, I believe all the theories that explain man’s or the earth’s origins require a leap of faith. Faith in reason (because the science do not add up) or God or gods or Allah or all the other dieties.
I like this discussions though because of the level of research done before spewing stuff on the blog (unlike others) and the level of tolerance and respect accorded to the different opinions.
May 19, 2011 at 6:30 pm
ilikebroccoli
Well Andrew, always nice to see a science student asking questions…. though I have to ask, are you sure you know what EVOLUTION is? From your questions I can immediately deduce that you could use a little further reading…
1. What is Evolution? Evolution (also known as biological or organic evolution) is the change over time in one or more inherited traits found in populations of organisms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution
Evolution does not say that billions of the cells in your body came from one cell that came out of a big bang. If you must know, you fathers sperm fertilized your mothers ovum forming a single cell, which then proceeded to through repeated mitotic divisions until a blastocysts was formed, then an embryo, then a foetus and eventually you (so yes, in a way, you did come from single cell, or more precisely, two haploid cells that fused to form a single diploid cell). It’s rather beautiful if you take the time to imagine just how amazing the journey is. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/miracle/images/stem_blastocyst.jpg (an electron micrograph of a blastocyst, it’s extremely small).
Evolution does not speculate about the origins of the universe, it just covers how species change over time. Big-bang theory covers the origin of the universe and everything in it possibly how matter came into existence and so forth. (Not to be confused with Sheldon Cooper and Penny… rather enjoyable sitcom ‘Big-bang Theory’). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang as you can see these are two unrelated theories addressing two different subjects.
As regards your WHY? Does everything need a reason in order to occur? I think teleology is given far too much credit, many things simply occur as a result of random chance, evolution does not have a particular goal and we are certainly not the final product. As regards the HOW? Well dear boy, you are going to have to pick up a book or two and get reading… there are loads of information on the web about this particular subject.
2. did fatboy really say the we evolved from simpler animals, say monkeys and chimps?
I do not think that is true, monkeys, chimps and Homo sapiens (human beings) all share a common ancestor, a progenitor if u like. We all came from a common ancestor; we did not arise from monkeys or chimps, that is just a poor understanding of the theory of evolution on your part. Surely they taught you about Australopithecus, Homo erectus, Homo habilis and other such earlier ape-like hominids? Remember early man?
Neanderthals? Does that ring any bells? There is a lot that is not taught in the UNEB curriculum but this is information you can come by if you are willing to look for it. The internet is a treasure trove of knowledge. (Though do mind ur sources, some can be rather biased).
Evolution takes millions of years to occur for multi-cellular organisms like higher primates… there have been displays of micro-evolution (evolution at the level of single celled microorganisms such as bacteria). http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Lenski_results_challenge_creationism ….E.coli after repeated generations developed the ability to utilize citrate which trait it’s progenitors did not possess.
another more recent show of evolution in our generation is an interesting lizard in Australia that is about to stop laying eggs altogether… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1308772/Evolution-action-Scientists-discover-lizards-verge-leap-egg-laying-live-births.html ‘Evolution in action: Scientists discover lizards on verge of leap from egg-laying to live births’
so no sir, evolution has not stopped, it is just occurring too slowly for us to have the chance to see it in our lifetimes. It is estimated that over 99% of all species that ever lived have gone extinct http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction It is highly unlikely that in your life time or mine that we shall see changes in the human species, it will take many millions of years. (6,000yrs is simply too short).
Were you attempting humor or being serious? Why would you expect to see an intermediate between a whale and a human being? Should this be reflective of some sordid sexual fantasy? Evolution is a result of natural selection, genetic drift, random mutation, and gene flow, human beings are naturally terrestrial as such unless you start tying down whole families at a time at the bottom of the Indian ocean at a time, it is going to be hard to select for those who possess traits advantageous for surviving in an aquatic environment (holding their breath for a long time etc… which is still not a guarantee… think u can be around for a couple of million years to see ur results?). On lighter note, you should know that whales are actually more related to cows and hippos http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/biology/2001-09-19-cow-whales.htm
did you know that evolution is both a fact an a theory? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_as_theory_and_fact and http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolution-fact.html
I see no need for a leap of faith perhaps an urgent need for information regarding evolution. Ignorance is not a bad thing by the way, it’s when people decide to be willingly ignorant that problems manifest. The science adds up, all you need is to polish up on ur science and pay attention in class.
😛
phillip
June 2, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Neanderthal Man
Great article James, thank you.
I only wish that more people would apply a similar level of reason and objectivity to subects like this. I find Rev. Okidi Charles comments quite condescending I’m afraid. His argument against a so-called Atheist being, “You can not live alone without the support of your neighbour who is created by God.” How someone who states this can not see the flaw in their own argument is beyond me.
And why is it assumed that because you do not believe in a ‘God’ that you do not appreciate the lives of others? His comment, “I pray God open up your understanding and you begin to appreciate the importance of others…” clearly says this, yet nowhere have you stated that you do not appreciate how important others are. And I think that I would take umbridge with it if someone would make the same assumption with myself.
I have just created my own blog, which I hope will build to something similar to this, and is a place for people to discuss beliefs and interests. If you have time to have a read then that would be great, however I do not believe that I am as informed as you are! My first post was actually discussing the afterlife so would be relevant.
http://www.einsteinsappendix.blogspot.com
Yours thoughtfully,
Neanderthal Man