Does anyone truly believe there is an after-life?

[Anonymous]

^^^ and why is any souless entity of greater universal value than a Perdue chicken?

[Anonymous]

I'm agnostic. I honestly believe that it really isn't something we can know with any certainty -- what happens to consciousness or "self" after life. We know what happens to the body. We know the brain shuts down.

On the one hand, we can explain away our sense of self as a construct of our brain, and so of course, it dies with the brain.

But I don't know that there's any way to definitively prove that.

That said, I find so much of what various religions espouse to be pretty far-fetched. I also don't fully get how people can say humans have souls but other animals do not and then piece together a whole set of rules for what happens to human souls when they die.

A lot of it is an exercise in imagination. Speculation. Maybe wishful thinking.

But who knows. I do think that the concept of afterlife comforts a lot of people. It's painful to think that loved ones who have died are really and absolutely no more.

I'd love to believe -- really believe -- that all of the people and animals I loved that have died are still with me. But I don't know.

I also sometimes think that death as an absolute end can also be comforting. Life is beautiful, but it is also hard and difficult. And sometimes I like the idea that one day it all ends -- not just the body part, but also the thinking part, the emotion, the mind.

But where does that leave us as far as "meaning" goes? Well, much has been written on that topic! And there are so many philosophies and schools of thought. I find existentialism is probably the most compatible with agnosticism. But even existentialism has its limits. And often, any and all attempts to explain some sort of meaning to life becomes absurd.

But it's not easy to live with absurdity, so most people may spend brief periods of their lives accepting the absurd nature of existence, but they don't stay there. They find some sort of system of belief that enables them to function.

I could ramble all night on this topic!

[Anonymous]

^^ God is love. Love is meaning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ God is love. Love is meaning.

I'm the agnostic poster. The problem is that "love" is just as difficult to define as god. It's a pretty difficult thing to pinpoint, and a lot of what we call love or how we try to define it can be explained by biology.

So that answer really isn't an answer. It's replacing one difficult to define term and existentially questionable entity with another.

[Anonymous]

Agnostic poster here. I would like to say (after going back and reading the exchange between the atheist poster and some other PPs) that I really don't get why these discussions have to turn so nasty or turn into "I'm smart and you're stupid" or "atheists are mean."

I have known some brilliant people who are religious, and I've known some equally brilliant and very kind/compassionate/ethical people who are atheists. I don't think the issue is intelligence. I don't think it's lack of intelligence that causes people to believe.

I think there are very strong psychological reasons to believe, though, and I think some people are unwilling to admit that what they see as "strong faith" is really a strong desire to believe in something that gives them meaning and order and comfort.

I also think that often atheists, on the other hand, lose sight of one of the fundamental principles in the philosophy of science -- that even accepted scientific theories are not supposed to be viewed as absolute certainty. Hume (one of the pivotal figures in the history of the philosophy of science) was very clear on this idea -- we can't know for certain the sun will rise every day, but we can act *as if* it will because it has risen every day for the last whatever many days. So making truth claims of absolute certainty is actually not very much in keeping with science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ God is love. Love is meaning.

I'm the agnostic poster. The problem is that "love" is just as difficult to define as god. It's a pretty difficult thing to pinpoint, and a lot of what we call love or how we try to define it can be explained by biology.

So that answer really isn't an answer. It's replacing one difficult to define term and existentially questionable entity with another.

And yet , love exists.

[Anonymous]

I also think that often atheists, on the other hand, lose sight of one of the fundamental principles in the philosophy of science -- that even accepted scientific theories are not supposed to be viewed as absolute certainty. Hume (one of the pivotal figures in the history of the philosophy of science) was very clear on this idea -- we can't know for certain the sun will rise every day, but we can act *as if* it will because it has risen every day for the last whatever many days. So making truth claims of absolute certainty is actually not very much in keeping with science.

I have never made such claims. I acknowledged that science doesn't have all the answers - yet. What was fact in the past is now fiction. But I suppose that people read what they want to read on these threads . . .

For example, there are many claims of UFO sightings. However, despite these sightings from around the world, there has been no conclusive evidence supporting these reports. Even pictures and videos aren't viewed as credible sources.

So until we prove a theory, which could take decades, there is no credible evidence of an afterlife - imo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ God is love. Love is meaning.

I'm the agnostic poster. The problem is that "love" is just as difficult to define as god. It's a pretty difficult thing to pinpoint, and a lot of what we call love or how we try to define it can be explained by biology.

So that answer really isn't an answer. It's replacing one difficult to define term and existentially questionable entity with another.

And yet , love exists.

and can be explained by hormones

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ God is love. Love is meaning.

I'm the agnostic poster. The problem is that "love" is just as difficult to define as god. It's a pretty difficult thing to pinpoint, and a lot of what we call love or how we try to define it can be explained by biology.

So that answer really isn't an answer. It's replacing one difficult to define term and existentially questionable entity with another.

And yet , love exists.

and can be explained by hormones

NP. You're not thinking love. You're thinking sexual attraction.

[Anonymous]

To each according to his faith (or something to that effect). I have a gut feeling each person will get the afterlife (or lack of thereof) he or she expects.

[Anonymous]

I've always been on the fence about God, though I try mighty hard to be a good Christian and believe in God.

After my dad passed away, strange occurrences happened in our home about 4 months after he passed away. We couldn't explain it and there wasn't any logical explanation as to what was happening. I always believed my dad didn't love me or care for me, but I had never expressed that to him. I also didn't show him much love for the past 15 years - but I was able to see him several times before he passed away.

Though I'm still unsure, I'm more optimistic. My DH fully believes there's an afterlife - doesn't question the idea - ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've always been on the fence about God, though I try mighty hard to be a good Christian and believe in God.

After my dad passed away, strange occurrences happened in our home about 4 months after he passed away. We couldn't explain it and there wasn't any logical explanation as to what was happening. I always believed my dad didn't love me or care for me, but I had never expressed that to him. I also didn't show him much love for the past 15 years - but I was able to see him several times before he passed away.

Though I'm still unsure, I'm more optimistic. My DH fully believes there's an afterlife - doesn't question the idea - ever.

The Apostle Thomas (doubting Thomas). Did not believe Jesus had been resurrected until Jesus told him to put his hand in the wounds. God respects a open hearted skeptic .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To each according to his faith (or something to that effect). I have a gut feeling each person will get the afterlife (or lack of thereof) he or she expects.

I hadn't thought of it like this before, but the afterlife he or she expects. Hmm. That is something to think about!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've always been on the fence about God, though I try mighty hard to be a good Christian and believe in God.

After my dad passed away, strange occurrences happened in our home about 4 months after he passed away. We couldn't explain it and there wasn't any logical explanation as to what was happening. I always believed my dad didn't love me or care for me, but I had never expressed that to him. I also didn't show him much love for the past 15 years - but I was able to see him several times before he passed away.

Though I'm still unsure, I'm more optimistic. My DH fully believes there's an afterlife - doesn't question the idea - ever.

So you assumed God did it? That your father was seining a message from the beyond? If so, join the legions of others from pre-scientific centuries who assumed anything they couldn't explain must have supernatural origins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To each according to his faith (or something to that effect). I have a gut feeling each person will get the afterlife (or lack of thereof) he or she expects.

I hadn't thought of it like this before, but the afterlife he or she expects. Hmm. That is something to think about!

I wouldn't waste to much time on it. Think instead of other instances in life where just expecting something to happen actually caused it to happen. Also, think about what that would mean on an individual basis --e.g., one person expects 72 virgins, another expects to be surrounded by angels sitting clouds playing harps, another expects an eternity at the racetrack with winning bets, another expects to be with deceased relatives. Is that what God(or some extraterrestrial force) is setting up for us?