Afterlife

[cobl04]

I don't believe there is an afterlife, as I am an atheist.

But when my grandmother was on her death bed, I had an incredible conversation with her. Personally, I am petrified of dying. And I asked her, "aren't you afraid?" And she simply smiled at me, and she said "no, because I know I am going to be reunited with Pa Pa." Pa had died three years earlier and Nan had never been the same since. She 110% believed that her death would mean she was finally going to be reunited with the man to whom she was married for six decades. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard, and it's why I would never admonish someone for believing

 

unless of course they're a cunt about their belief and think they can say who can and can't get married.

__________________

[bono_212]

One of the nicer things about the end of my grandmother's life was that she was so very OK with it whenever it was her time to go. Like your situation, my grandfather had preceded her in death, but by about 12 years. They were married for a very long time, not sure exactly how long, but I'd think somewhere around 50 years (I don't recall us having a 50th anniversary shindig, so I think he passed away just short of that). But, yeah, whenever something was wrong with her, she'd always tell us not to worry, because she was (besides being ready to meet Jesus) looking forward to seeing my grandfather again. She was very lonely for those 12 years without him, even though she was always surrounded by friends and family. It was nice, to me, that she had something to be so positive about, despite losing her life's long best friend.

[nbelcik]

Originally Posted by cobl04

But when my grandmother was on her death bed, I had an incredible conversation with her. Personally, I am petrified of dying. And I asked her, "aren't you afraid?" And she simply smiled at me, and she said "no, because I know I am going to be reunited with Pa Pa." Pa had died three years earlier and Nan had never been the same since. She 110% believed that her death would mean she was finally going to be reunited with the man to whom she was married for six decades. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard, and it's why I would never admonish someone for believing

My grandmother is a devout Catholic and one of the main things that's keeping her going is the belief that she'll see my Papa again. He died so suddenly and without warning that she didn't really get to say goodbye, she just went to sleep with him like any other night. I'm so happy that she has that hope and I definitely think one of the pluses of believing in the afterlife is a sense of hope that you'll one day see the people you love again.


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[BEAL]

If it makes people at ease, cool. If it makes people put out conditions to get into for their own personal gain (while living) then it's an issue.

Most of us are scared of death. In fact it's what most likely created these myths in the first place. When we became aware of our own mortality, how terrifying to know that you, everyone you know, EVERYONE will die. Makes sense to calm the anxiety by creating another life to move on to.

As for the NDE or "heaven is real"..there are plenty of scientific articles and scientists who can explain them.

There is no conspiracy to hide the "truth". Don't you think if someone did prove heaven was real, It would be the single greatest discovery of mankind?

Instead it's a book tour and potential movie script. There just isn't any evidence. Circumstantial or anecdotal doesn't count. They are nice stories (most of the time) and again if it does give someone some peace, good for them.


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[Sr. Poop]

Atheist here... there is no afterlife


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[nbelcik]

Originally Posted by Sr. Poop

Atheist here... there is no afterlife


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Like all matters of faith (questions like is there a God), it's impossible to prove whether or not there is an afterlife. If people want to believe there is one, good. If people don't want to believe there is one, good. But it's scientifically impossible to prove.


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[BEAL]

The existence of Santa is scientifically impossible to prove....or fairies....but we don't live our lives with the chance THEY might. We're pretty certain it's made up.

Same with an afterlife. We all managed to cope with finding out about Santa, we can cope with death too


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[Mrs. Sparky]

I consider myself agnostic but I can see the possibility of something beyond the death of our physical bodies. I do think there is a chance that ghosts exist, which would support some kind of an afterlife. I don't put much faith in NDEs because I think it's quite possibly just the brain's reaction to a medical trauma. My dad died from complications of a very minor outpatient surgery. I remember visiting
with him the day before and being bothered by the thought that I was never going to see him again, even though there was no reason to think that. Unfortunately, I was right and I've always been haunted by this. I was very close to my dad and still have very vivid dreams about him, as if he was still with me. I may be naive, but it brings me peace.

[nbelcik]

Originally Posted by BEAL

The existence of Santa is scientifically impossible to prove....or fairies....but we don't live our lives with the chance THEY might. We're pretty certain it's made up.

Same with an afterlife. We all managed to cope with finding out about Santa, we can cope with death too


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Santa and fairies are completely different than an afterlife. Santa and fairies are worldly phenomena that we know are myths. It's possible to prove that there isn't a Santa and that there aren't fairies. Science can disprove the existence of fairies and Santa, just as science can disprove things like ghosts and Bigfoot. The afterlife is something different, it's something that isn't scientifically possible to prove or disprove.


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[diamond]

Originally Posted by Sr. Poop

Atheist here... there is no afterlife


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Well somebody needs to get with this former Atheist, Howard Storm.
Masters Degree, Art Professor.

He went to a bad place, then a good place, and met God.

You decide:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ySuJZ5DEuo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm647n1360A

<>

[the iron horse]

Originally Posted by nbelcik

Like all matters of faith (questions like is there a God), it's impossible to prove whether or not there is an afterlife. If people want to believe there is one, good. If people don't want to believe there is one, good. But it's scientifically impossible to prove.


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I agree. It is a matter of faith.

I respect your answer more those who dismiss faith as a fairy tale
and claim that nails the concrete truth.

It is indeed impossible to prove either way.

[bono_212]

Originally Posted by BEAL

The existence of Santa is scientifically impossible to prove....or fairies....but we don't live our lives with the chance THEY might. We're pretty certain it's made up.

Same with an afterlife. We all managed to cope with finding out about Santa, we can cope with death too


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, could you be a little more dismissive? I'm not sure you were convincing enough.

[IWasBored]

I'm with Beal on this.

[DaveC]

I do not think there is an afterlife, in the sense of "I'm going to see all my family and have a big party with all my friends who have passed on before me, and we'll all have rockin' bodies and hang out with other famous dead people and/or Jesus".

I am not scared of death, not even a little bit (although I am scared of dying painfully, I am not at all scared of "being dead"). I am not concerned that because I don't believe the right thing, or not the same thing as my parents that they will end up somewhere physically different than me.

When I die I expect the atoms of my body (or the ashes of my remains) to decompose into the ground or the ocean where they will eventually break down into organic material to continue feeding the plants and animals of the world. My death will help to foster some small part of the next stage of our planet's life, and I personally find a lot of beauty and satisfaction in that idea.

Everything is interconnected.

[Hewson]

Originally Posted by BEAL

The existence of Santa is scientifically impossible to prove....or fairies....but we don't live our lives with the chance THEY might. We're pretty certain it's made up.
We all managed to cope with finding out about Santa

Wait....what?
Christmas is ruined.
Thanks a lot.

[Diemen]

I've always liked this quote from Neil DeGrasse Tyson:

“Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That’s kinda cool! That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.”

So even if there is no afterlife, we're still one with the universe, and that's a pretty cool thought.

[bono_212]

I've always enjoyed that quote, even without agreeing with him.

And despite what I believe about the afterlife and what will happen to my soul/spirit/whatever you want to call it after death, like Dave mentioned, I do like the idea of my mortal body being a part of some sort of future earth, type deal. I've mentioned to my family before that I really enjoy this concept, instead of wasting a burial plot:

https://urnabios.com/

[BEAL]

Originally Posted by nbelcik

The afterlife is something different, it's something that isn't scientifically possible to prove or disprove.

So what's the difference between what you've described above and non existent?


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[nbelcik]

Originally Posted by BEAL

So what's the difference between what you've described above and non existent?


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Because it's not possible to prove or disprove if there is an afterlife or a God. It's possible to prove things such as evolution and the age of the universe using science. But whether there is a God or afterlife isn't a scientific question.


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[Galeongirl]

You can't prove that there are no such things as fairies or Santa Claus either. Does that make them real? Does it make them not real?
Maybe, just mayybe, belief has very little to do with science. For the life of me I cannot understand how heavily religious people can believe so strongly in their ancient book that they dispel life as it's understood now. I find believing in something spiritual a great thing, if belief helps you be a good person, great for ya... but to use it as a global fact? no, it's a personal thing and should not interfere with global things like science.