Does anyone truly believe there is an after-life?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

pp here. I'm thinking more basically, for those who believe in an afterlife there will be one and for those who expect nothingness, that's what will await. It makes sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I have a heavenly night of peaceful sleep uninterrupted by dreams.

Is it unsuitable for an atheist like me to call it heavenly, or is it an apt reflection of my notion of the afterlife?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes I have a heavenly night of peaceful sleep uninterrupted by dreams.

Is it unsuitable for an atheist like me to call it heavenly, or is it an apt reflection of my notion of the afterlife?

What's unsuitable is engineering semantic games into snark. You're welcome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

pp here. I'm thinking more basically, for those who believe in an afterlife there will be one and for those who expect nothingness, that's what will await. It makes sense to me.

Where in any holy book are 72 virgins mentioned. Citation please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

pp here. I'm thinking more basically, for those who believe in an afterlife there will be one and for those who expect nothingness, that's what will await. It makes sense to me.

Where in any holy book are 72 virgins mentioned. Citation please.

Where has anyone on this board said that 72 virgins are mentioned in a holy book?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

pp here. I'm thinking more basically, for those who believe in an afterlife there will be one and for those who expect nothingness, that's what will await. It makes sense to me.

Where in any holy book are 72 virgins mentioned. Citation please.

Where has anyone on this board said that 72 virgins are mentioned in a holy book?

So you made that up? Saw it in a movie? What?

[Anonymous]

The Quran says something like this, not exactly. If you move the diacritical marks around it could also mean "white grapes."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. In my mind, it's a clear fabrication to help people get through the pointlessness of life and the extreme grief of losing loved ones.

This is so sad. I'm so glad I wasn't raised this way.

This is a NP - I wasn't raised this way either - but I've still come to the same conclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

pp here. I'm thinking more basically, for those who believe in an afterlife there will be one and for those who expect nothingness, that's what will await. It makes sense to me.

Where in any holy book are 72 virgins mentioned. Citation please.

Where has anyone on this board said that 72 virgins are mentioned in a holy book?

heard it on the news after 9/11. There are many sources of belief and information besides in a "holy book"

So you made that up? Saw it in a movie? What?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

pp here. I'm thinking more basically, for those who believe in an afterlife there will be one and for those who expect nothingness, that's what will await. It makes sense to me.

Where in any holy book are 72 virgins mentioned. Citation please.

Where has anyone on this board said that 72 virgins are mentioned in a holy book?

So you made that up? Saw it in a movie? What?

heard it on the news after 9/11. There are many sources of belief and information besides in a "holy book"

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I think of this in terms of software/hardware.
Can software 'exist' without hardware? I guess the engineer could have the whole idea of the software in his/her mind w/o actually coding into a hardware yet.

I heard somewhete that every 7 years our entire hardware is physically replaced (we are not the same molecules anymore), yet we are still 'us'. So maybe it is not too crazy to think we might download our software to a new hardware after this hardware is gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. In my mind, it's a clear fabrication to help people get through the pointlessness of life and the extreme grief of losing loved ones.

This is so sad. I'm so glad I wasn't raised this way.

I was raised that way I really wish I wasn't. It makes life so small and pointless.

I've often wondered how someone who doesn't believe in any existence after this one keeps tucking away this bit of knowing, that all of this ends abruptly and then nothing.

I don't believe in any sort of afterlife and it makes my life all the more important. I'm not just waiting around for the "better life". I am living my life for my own fulfillment and happiness.

[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.

Maybe the brain can be trained to experience or expect a certain "dream" or afterlife as it is shutting down. Maybe the faithful will dream of God(s), and the secular dream of life flashing before them or something similar.

Would everyone be okay with a finite afterlife, where your brain is free to create what it wants to see, until physical death is complete?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

pp here. I'm thinking more basically, for those who believe in an afterlife there will be one and for those who expect nothingness, that's what will await. It makes sense to me.

Where in any holy book are 72 virgins mentioned. Citation please.

- Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal , Sunan al-Tirmidhi

I hope he intercedes for his wife if she's still alive. It's only fair considering he'll be with 72 virgins.

“For the Shahid in the Divine presence there will be six qualities: [1] he will be forgiven from the first moment his blood is spilled; [2] he shall see his seat in Paradise and be protected against the punishment of the grave; [3] he shall be safe from the Greatest Terror [the rising of the dead]; [4] he shall be crowned with the diadem of dignity, one ruby of which is worth more than the entire world and its contents; [5] he shall be coupled with seventy-two spouses from the wide-eyed maidens of Paradise; and [6] he shall be granted to intercede for seventy of his relatives.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

NP. When I held my newborns, the oxytocin produced by my brain was decidedly not based on sexual attraction.

In fact, the post-birth hormones are an evolutionary adaptation that makes a hormonal mother more likely to care for her offspring than a non-hormonal mother. But we don't assume that god(s) did this, because there isn't any evidence linking it to god(s).