Cognitive Dissonance

There are some troublesome questions rolling about in my mind, and there is no way for me to answer them:

Why are we told that this world is real and good, but that the world after death (which is unverified and unknowable) is even more real and better? Did not the same God make both? Is this the result of the prophets not being able to understand what they are being told through intuition?  Or does God not want to explain his full reasoning regarding the future to the people He is trying to guide. If any teaching about space gets interpreted spiritually as Heaven, and any promises of technology are regarded as miraculous, is this the intention of God, to keep us motivated until a far future that we could never conceive? If He was ever to speak clearly, would it not require even more faith, and suspension of reason, to believe what was obviously impossible in ancient times?

Which kind of "Matrix" are we involved with? When is a spiritual education/challenge not just a simulation of reality? How is a world created by a God any different from a game created by a computer programmer, if they are both sufficiently detailed to delude the player characters? If the next world is more real, does that mean that this one is less than fully real? What if "suspension of disbelief" is enforced by the hardwiring of the virtual reality mechanism, so that we will never know we are in a holographic game?

And why are we warned to avoid being seduced by the pleasures of this world, to beware the sin of falling prey to vanity and temptation, and to fear that they might cause you to lose your chance to enjoy the next world? Why is it said that this world is corrupted by evil, temptation and selfish pride? But the descriptions of Heaven sound so desirable, tempting us to believe that we will get everything we will ever want. Will we be so changed that our very desires will also be transformed? That's brainwashing, or becoming a "post-human" being. Is that supposed to be a good thing, when God does it to you? Jesus said we would be transformed in ways we can not now understand.

What is spirit, and the soul? If we do get hints, why can't they be studied and verified? Too much is demanded of faith. Our lives have become a game of delayed gratification, which is supposed to be blessed and joyful, even enthusiastic. But life is still full of suffering. Somehow, we seem to be only markers, placeholders supporting the game until it progresses far enough to comprehend the great divine revelations coming at the game's end? ...or is it just the intermission before we start "Part 2"?

Why are we designed to want to try, and maybe discover a desire for things that are not good for us? Why do we not desire only what is going to be for our benefit?  Is it better for humanity as a whole for us to be generalists, to make us more adaptable in difficult situations, able to progress and learn, because we are willing to risk and experiment? If so, then why is it sinful to try things that might be harmful? Why do we not intuitively avoid the risks of trying something that others have already learned is harmful, if God is going to count it against us if we try it again? Is it really a sin to fail to learn from the mistakes of others? I don't think that's fair. That covers most of the sins we commit.

We are being condemned for a design flaw, not for our own faults. One might as well condemn society for failing to adequately teach us, so that our inclination to discover is stifled, even to the detriment of society, and progress itself. It's a self-contradictory conundrum. The individual's experimental intelligence is sinful, but fault also lies with the inadequately stifling indoctrination by society. Something tells me that we don't clearly understand the intentions of God.

We are meant to progress toward a too-vague goal, which is really only an aim. And we are given poor "guidance" which only tells us what not to do, and offers "laws & ethics" as the right way. Plus, it seems likely that even the true goals have been disguised in terms of a fantasy several millennia old. Let me backpedal, just to say, the Book we have is pretty good. It got us this far, but not without some major difficulties. Isn't this game due for a major update, maybe even a total rewrite, or at least a next Chapter? We seem to have gone through a few of those already, and we could use a few more instructions. But then, we are probably meant to figure all of that out for ourselves, so that we can still continue to feel that it somehow really matters.

Or is the Apocalypse due, to bring the end times and the great War to End All Wars? Will it finally determine who wins, and gets to claim the prize? Will the winner get to write the rules for the way we shall live in Heaven? And will the loser be vanquished utterly and destroyed, or confined to the Hell that the battle for Earth will create?

Too many questions, with contradictory answers. There is no way to know what is the real truth. Cognitive Dissonance.