If you don't believe in god then you certainly don't believe in a heaven or a hell. But that also means that you won't ever see your friends or relatives again, because if there is no god then such a place could not exist because a creator didn't create it.

Explain

Atheism means not to believe in a God or Gods, it says nothing about whether or not there is a soul or an afterlife.

But I personally do not believe in God, souls, afterlives, thetans, Xenu, Zeus, or any of piece of craziness out there, and you pretty much cleared it up yourself. I won't see them ever again, you explained that, so I don't need to.

Buddhism has hell(s) and a heaven like place and no God.



But most atheist don't believe in an afterlife, not all though.

For the tone of you post it sound like you were under the impression that the did, were you?

quote:Originally posted by shadowmartyr:

If you don't believe in god then you certainly don't believe in a heaven or a hell. But that also means that you won't ever see your friends or relatives again...

Explain

Ummm... I think you just did

I'm not sure what needs to be explained...

Well my point is, don't you find it kind of well...sad, that you won't ever see the people you once loved ever again?

Not everybody dwells on their mortality day in and day out...thus not everybody needs an afterlife comfort blankey to let them sleep at night. Some of us are fine and dandy believing in no gods, a god, lots of gods, natural gods...none of which have afterlives or damnations.

Some of us believe in no deity, yet believe in some sort of spiritual revival at death.

People believe all sorts of weird shit: categorizing all atheists into not believing in an afterlife is ignorant at best...shamefully retarded at worst.

quote:Originally posted by Hexadecimal:

Not everybody dwells on their mortality day in and day out...thus not everybody needs an afterlife comfort blankey to let them sleep at night. Some of us are fine and dandy believing in no gods, a god, lots of gods, natural gods...none of which have afterlives or damnations.

Some of us believe in no deity, yet believe in some sort of spiritual revival at death.

People believe all sorts of weird shit: categorizing all atheists into not believing in an afterlife is ignorant at best...shamefully retarded at worst.



=/

quote:Originally posted by shadowmartyr:

Well my point is, don't you find it kind of well...sad, that you won't ever see the people you once loved ever again?

Of course we find it sad. It's truly tragic but there's nothing we can do about it so we make do as best we can. On the bright side the realization of the lack of afterlife leads to an increased sense of morality in my opinion.

Eventually you realize that this life is all we have and that it is up to us to make the world as great a place as we can. Also you realize that you can't count on some supernatural being to punish the wicked and sort things out in the end. Justice is up to us if we don't fight for it no one will.

quote:Originally posted by shadowmartyr:

Well my point is, don't you find it kind of well...sad, that you won't ever see the people you once loved ever again?

Don't you feel sad knowing you could be split from your loved ones if one of you made it to heaven and the other to hell? Same situation basically.

But in anycase not really, when there's nothing after you're dead then obviously there's nothing to be sad about.

quote:Originally posted by shadowmartyr:

Well my point is, don't you find it kind of well...sad, that you won't ever see the people you once loved ever again?

Personally, I don't think you are going to see your loved ones ever again either.

You lost all credibility before when you asked someone to explain something that you answered in the statement above.

Some mormons tried that on me the other day (a different lot this time). I went and grabbed my Osteology text book, showed them a few skeletons and asked them,

"If this guy believed in heaven and hell when he was alive, do you think he does now?"

They didn't really know what to say.

How can you be certain...if there is an afterlife...that there is a mind for such thoughts and memories anyway?

Would "afterlife" require the physical body, or might it actually be something else beyond the limitations of the physical?

With no body, is there a "mind"? Is there even emotion?

It's just like before you were born. Nothing. And I hope there isn't an afterlife, everyone in THIS life make my life miserable.

quote:Originally posted by shadowmartyr:

If you don't believe in god then you certainly don't believe in a heaven or a hell. But that also means that you won't ever see your friends or relatives again, because if there is no god then such a place could not exist because a creator didn't create it.

Uh, I kind of knew that already. It's something that we accept. In turn, we don't understand how you could believe what you believe, just as you don't understand why we believe what we believe. We simply believe that when you die, your body stops working and that's it. The only way you "live on" is be reproducing and continuing on your chain of genes.

I'm an aethist, for the most part. But I'd be a lot more likely to believe in a higher power then an afterlife.

Sometimes, when it's night, and the sky is clear and the moon is full...then I think maybe its not a coincidence that it's all so perfectly orchestrated. That we have the moon at night, and the sun during the day. (And yes, I know the moon isnt always out at night, and sometimes it's out during the day). But still, I get moments where everything seems to fit together so perfectly.



There are two reasons I'm an aethist.

1) I dont believe in an afterlife. If some fanatic didnt promise you it, you wouldnt even consider such a place exists through rational thought. It's just a recruitment tool for religion.

2) There may or may not be a higher power. If there is, I doubt it's sentient. And even if it is sentient, it's beyond -ridiculous- to think that an entity responsible for the entire universe is all compassionate and really gives a damn if one little creature on one little planet broke up with her boyfriend, or got fired from his job.

And I find it particularly peculiar that christians believe that humans are gods chosen. Even though he supposedly created all the organisms on earth, he doesnt seem to care about the individual lives of animals. (I'm not an environmentalist in the least) But dont you think a wolf starving in the forest would matter just as much to 'God' as some of the bullshit problems that humans are always praying about?

Christians are so ego-centric. How can you honestly believe in any stretch of fiction that of all gods creations, we're the only ones that matter? Were the rest all just fuck-ups? I dont think god is allowed to fuck up.

A soul doesn't need to be created by god, it could be an act of nature that we aren't able to see in this dimension. I think that there are two dimensions, and that souls use bodies as a host in order to interact with the physical dimension. Of course Im not really sure. I am sure that there is no God, or Judgement, or any end-times prophecy bullshit.

quote:Originally posted by CBUM:

A soul doesn't need to be created by god, it could be an act of nature that we aren't able to see in this dimension. I think that there are two dimensions, and that souls use bodies as a host in order to interact with the physical dimension. Of course Im not really sure. I am sure that there is no God, or Judgement, or any end-times prophecy bullshit.

Question: Do you believe the 'soul' you're referring to is sentient? If not, then what you're really talking about is a kind of life energy. If you do believe its sentient, then can you offer a plausible explanation as to why we have no memories of the other dimension?

in athieism there was no creator to make the world and THAT (to the best of my knowledge) exists

quote:Originally posted by reallystupidstuff:

in athieism there was no creator to make the world and THAT (to the best of my knowledge) exists

Do not say god is the answer, god is a big question mark itsself, hidden under an abstract concept. Who created god? What is god? Where did he come from? What will happen after god?

People who believe hide life's question mariks under god and just don't see that god itself is a big question mark. God is not an answer, it's a combination of unsolvable questions.

Now science has already discovered how the world was created, pretty much every scientist in the world agrees that the big bang created this universe. There also are a couple very solid theories about what was before that. Theoretic physics my dear.

Atheists just accept the fact that there will always be things which we don't know so we don't need to take all those questions, throw them on a pile and call them god.

Edit: to stay on topic: There is only one answer to wether there is something after death or not: time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell. Just be patient and you will know the answer propably sooner than you want to.

[This message has been edited by Amos (edited 12-17-2006).]

I believe in what I think is TRUE, not what I hope would be nice.

quote:Originally posted by shadowmartyr:

Well my point is, don't you find it kind of well...sad, that you won't ever see the people you once loved ever again?

Not especially. You have to remember that if there is no afterlife, you won't be able to be sad. Once you die, that's it. So in the present, you can be with those you love, and in the future, you won't care.

quote:Originally posted by shadowmartyr:

Well my point is, don't you find it kind of well...sad, that you won't ever see the people you once loved ever again?

I think it's equally as sad that I can't feel the earth's electromagnetic field like bats and birds, that I can only see in 3 colours rather than 3 billion, and that I only possess one penis. We can all dream though eh?

I'm an atheist. But I'm going to Valhalla. http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

quote:Originally posted by shadowmartyr:

If you don't believe in god then you certainly don't believe in a heaven or a hell. But that also means that you won't ever see your friends or relatives again, because if there is no god then such a place could not exist because a creator didn't create it.

Explain

The advatage in being an Athiest in this situation is that I value my relationships with my family and friends more. I understand that at any moment I can/will loose them so get more out of having them in my life, than say someone who might think "well, no big deal if we are mad at each other...it will work its way out in Heaven".

Let me ask you a question

Is it not comforting knowing 100% that your loved ones will live on in your memory?

Or is it better to just hope you will see them when you die?

quote:Originally posted by shadowmartyr:

If you don't believe in god then you certainly don't believe in a heaven or a hell. But that also means that you won't ever see your friends or relatives again, because if there is no god then such a place could not exist because a creator didn't create it.

Explain



What the fuck?

Are you actually attempting to claim that because we would like things to be a certain way, that is an argument that they are?

You can't be serious.



It's like looking up at the sky, pointing at an atom bomb, and saying "Guys, if you think the atom bomb is going to land and explode then all your loved ones here will die. Hence, it can't be there."

Do you actually look at your argument?

Do you listen to yourself?



Why do I actually have to point out how absurd this entire idea is?



I'll say it again in case you missed it.



Our wants and desires do not effect reality.

Jesus Christ.

Stop using the fact that your fantasies are comforting as arguments for them.