if you don't understand that you can thank god when you "lose" then what's the point of debating? don't you realize that a person might thank god for the lessons we learn when we "lose"? humility is a big deal and a lesson god wants us to learn over and over again throughout our lives, lest we become prideful. it's fairly simple (in this particular scenario anyway).
i normally love these kinds of threads, but when a poster like ryanatut is on them, i really find them pedantic. and i don't know why, because much of the time i agree with several of the points of view that ryan brings up. i think that it is his complete stubborn acceptance that he is right and everyone else that disagrees with him is wrong that turns me off. especially as a skeptic myself. we don't know ANYTHING about the afterlife or the spiritual. we just don't know. questions are good, but declarative truths, to me, from both sides, are abhorrent.
The issue of an afterlife is totally distinct and separate, imo, from whether some guy rose from the dead 2,000 years ago after 3 days and more than likely in a state of decomposition.
