Dude - that`s heavy!

"There is no emotion" "There is no passion"

HaHa! One for the archives! Thanks.

One word:

Control

I personally lean towards the Sith if I had to choose a fictional religion. I find their teachings to be carnal and thus more in tune with my natural way of thinking and actions. The only thing the average Sith lacks is cunning and control. They use of emotion as a drive to achieve power is a concept I can agree with and make use of. Yet their philosophy would lead one to be consumed by the power rather than to control it. It's mostly brawn and no brains. Perhaps why the most cunning and strong of them make it to the top. Considering we have no force as it exists in Star Wars we can't make use of this philosophy in that context. In reality it is only mentally that we can use their philosophy. Semantically I see it very close to Satanism, but again it's a matter of perception and how you would apply it.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion
through passion; I gain strength
through strength; I gain power
through power; I gain victory
through victory; my chains are broken
and the force shall set me free!" - Sith Mantra(or something of that nature)

I would personally choose to be a Jawa.

They kick ass.

"Through shooting droids in the face, we are awesome.
Through driving around in a massive armored vehicle through the desert, we kick ass.
Through wearing cute little hoods through which the only thing you can see are our glowing eyes, we are mysterious.
WE ARE JAWA. OOTINI!!!!!"

Gungas are way awesomer. (and there - I invented a new word :D)

It's what happens to people who stare to long at the void. They fill it with impression of there life. Most are more comfortable with what they know.

I was once told " Heaven and Hell are here! Right in front of you! Open your eyes. The world is what you make of it, learn from the mistakes of others. Life is to short to make them all again yourself."

I'm sure this quote is an amalgamation of many wise men, but my friend who said it made it stick. So to credit them all in short I'll just say it's philosophicly inspired.

As a child attempting to choke down the idea of afterlife and Christian dogma I naturally had many questions. Most of those questions were met with a wall of disdain.

I once asked, after a long winded instruction by a dazzle-eyed devout Christian (It was that far away empty stare that chills the bones.) what exactly heaven was like and what it would be like to live there.

I was told that the streets were made of gold bricks, that it was eternally green, that children played with peaceful lions, that all my dead loved ones would be there, that there were angels in white robes the floated around with instruments, and that we could all sit in the grass and listen to Jesus talk his sermons.

Needless to say I found it very difficult to believe.

Real HELL, by most Christian religions isn't the way it's portrayed by most peeps, Real HELL isn't a lake of un-consuming fire or a plane of un-ending torment. The real pain and suffering, according to Chirtians, is the sepperation of the immortal soul from the love and light of God.
Of course this is the same God that set up all the rules for us as humans to fail. HE knew damn well that we couldn't live up to HIS standards and rules, and so we are all Damned. Then he, supposedly, sets up all these complicated rules and laws that were supposed to follow. If we do we go to heaven, if not we go to Hell, for ETERNITY. Yeah, a just and loving God that guy is....

You believe in god? You believe in a being of higher power that has predetermined your life?

Spot on, Phosis. Spot on...

I think Ronnie James Dio said it best: it can be summarized like this:

Heaven and Hell exist on earth, you choose which one you live in.

We are all Angels and Demons on earth, you choose which you want to be. (the song fallen angels give a better description than that)

Furthermore, this isn't from Dio, but it fits nice with the above two.

Good and Evil are the decisions of men, not absolute concepts.

I like what I took out of the nihilistic philosophy when I looked into it. That good and evil are concepts of preconception. I don't limit my self to seeing things in a black and white manner.

Well of course things aren't always black and white. Everything can pretty much be summed up in the relation of positive, negative or neutral feelings. Complexe issues have complex answers, but essentially when you view any one part of specific things they are sure to draw one of those emotions from you. I doubt that all of that stems from preconceived ideas about good and evil.