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Goodbye Jesus

Is There An Afterlife?


Brother Jeff

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Is there an afterlife? Many people throughout human history have strongly believed so, and mankind has created many myths about gods and forms of the afterlife over the centuries. For some, these stories are clearly mythological in nature and while there may be some cultural value to the tales they are not taken as literal history or religious truth concerning what happens after death. For others, their cultural god or gods are very real and the stories told in their holy books are considered to be literal historical and religious truth. Several brief explanations of different afterlife beliefs are available at this link:

 

http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/cressida.htm

 

As should be obvious, stories of the gods and the afterlife differ considerably from culture to culture. What should also be obvious is that all of the stories are plainly myths. I really like the fact that Christian mythology is included on that site as mythology since that is plainly what it is, though many people in our culture believe it to be literal truth. I certainly once did myself. I spent 15 years of my life as a devout fundamentalist Christian.

 

Personally, I don't think that there is an afterlife. I can't be absolutely positive that there isn't one, but I do tend to strongly doubt it. I used to be fascinated by the NDE phenomenon. I enjoyed visiting sites like http://www.near-death.com, and I read a great book on the subject from the survivalist point of view entitled The Complete Idiot's Guide to Near Death Experiences, by P.M.H. Atwater. I seriously considered the possibility that NDEs could be glimpses of the afterlife, until I began to look critically at the evidence that exists against that viewpoint. The articles of interest on the subject that I found on the Net includes one by Keith Augustine. He has written an excellent article on the subject that strongly makes the case that NDEs are not glimpses of the afterlife:

 

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/kei...tine/HNDEs.html

 

I used to believe that reincarnation was a probable reality, but now I regard it as only a very remote possibility. I really don't believe in it anymore, but I'm just not quite ready to ditch the possibility altogether. Accounts like this one keep me thinking "maybe":

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Technology...4217&page=1

 

I used to believe in the existence of the soul. As a Christian, I strongly believed that I had a soul that was the "real" me, and that it had been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and made alive (after having been dead because of sin) when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior on March 7, 1985. I no longer believe that there is such a thing as a soul. There is not any evidence for its existence, and it seems to me now like a primitive and mildly amusing concept.

 

I also tend to doubt the reality of an afterlife because of one experience I had several years ago. I was put under general anesthesia when I had my wisdom teeth removed. I remember being quite startled when I woke up. It was as if I had just suddenly popped into existence from nothingness and my mind in its shock at suddenly existing exclaimed, "Holy shit! I exist! Glory!" I have no memory at all of anything that happened while I was under anesthesia, and I don't recall being bothered at all by my lack of consciousness while I was unconscious. I strongly suspect that if I had died while they were removing those teeth, I would have never known it since I would have ceased to exist.

 

I no longer believe in the claims of any religion. I don't believe in the gods or the afterlife scenarios of any religion. I think the main reason that I still hang on to very remote possibilities like reincarnation is that I don't wish to die. Life is generally wonderful, and I don't want it to end. What mentally healthy person does? As Dylan Thomas wrote:

 

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

Modern medical science can prolong life, but in the end death is inevitable. I don't mind admitting that I fear it. I accept that fear as a natural fear of the unknown, but I also recognize that it isn't really a rational fear to have. Many years ago the Greek philosopher Epicurus had this to say about death:

 

Accustom yourself to believing that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply the capacity for sensation, and death is the privation of all sentience; therefore a correct understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life a limitless time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality. For life has no terrors for him who has thoroughly understood that there are no terrors for him in ceasing to live. Foolish, therefore, is the man who says that he fears death, not because it will pain when it comes, but because it pains in the prospect. Whatever causes no annoyance when it is present, causes only a groundless pain in the expectation. Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not. It is nothing, then, either to the living or to the dead, for with the living it is not and the dead exist no longer.

 

I guess I must be a fool for fearing death, but I'm working on getting over it... :grin:

 

Someday I will hopefully be as calm and rational about death as Mark Twain was. From http://www.christianityisbullshit.com/quotes.htm:

 

Mr. Clemens was once asked whether he feared death. He said that he did not, in view of the fact that he had been dead for billions and billions of years before he was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.

Thoughts?

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Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

Great poem. It made me fall more in love with the villanelle.

 

When I was younger I told my mom that I wanted my consciousness to be preserved in some sort of artificial being, in a body that can function well like Data's from Star Trek. Then I got the, 'that's against God's will and his design' speech...

 

I don't think you're a fool for fearing death. It may be pointless because it is the inevitable end to life but fearing it doesn't make you a fool.

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I'm not sure at all if there's an afterlife, or even what form it takes if there is one. Do we go to an alternate dimension? Do we reincarnate? Do we dream for all eternity, and perhaps create our own afterlives?

 

I don't fear death - at least I don't think I do. It's either nonexistence or perhaps one of the above, perhaps. I'm not worried about the Xian hell, since the rest of the religion is a farce :)

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I honestly don't know whether there is an afterlife, but I think that if there is, you will spend it as you have lived your life on earth. I'd base this thinking on two old saws, to wit, "As below, so above, as above, so below", and "Birds of a feather flock together". Thus, if you have lived a good life, you will spend the hereafter in the company of those like yourself, if you have lived as an absolute bastard all your life, you'll spend the hereafter in the company of those of a similar stripe. Having said that, I don't believe there's such a thing as the heavens and the hells described by various sects, christianity included. I certainly don't believe there is some stern Judge sitting up there to send you to the one or the other. It is more that you will have chosen your company for yourself.

 

It makes sense if you think about it. In this life, criminals don't spend most of their time in the company of honest citizens, and vice versa. To continue, I also believe that if such an afterlife exists as I have described, there will be re-incarnation to go with it. That is to say, one can only learn so much in a single lifetime, and one can only make so many mistakes. Thus one would have to spend several lifetimes in order to finally "get it right". How long would you spend in the afterlife in good or bad company? That would, I think, depend on how good or bad you had been whilst on Earth. Well, that's enough philosophising from me.

 

'Course, knowing my luck, I'll probably get whatever is the celestial version of a well-worn military justice routine:

"Ay-bout TURN! By y'r left, Double MARCH!" and the rest of it goes sorta like:

 

"Eft right eft right eft right eft right HALT! Ay-bout TURN! Watch yer fingers! SLAM!"

 

"Jeez, it ain't half dark in 'ere, ey? ..."

Casey

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I doubt that there is an afterlife.

 

But if there is one then it will probably just involve consciousness continuing in some way - probably through other things.

 

Even if consciousness winks out - there is a sense in which everything that is you is recycled into other things - some of which will eventually include living things and even conscious living things.

 

For this reason death does not scare me anymore.

 

It's ironic though - I was far more scared of death when I firmly believed in an afterlife. I think this is because I was always doubting and wondering "but what if I'm wrong". Now that I have grappled with the concept that there is nothing after death I have realised that there is nothing to fear about this because all your molecules get recycled as other things and life itself carries on anyway. So now there is nothing to fear - and the only doubt I feel is an openness to the possibility that maybe I might be proven wrong and there is an afterlife.

 

It's far better to find security in non-existence and hope in doubt - rather than security in a fanciful afterlife and fear in doubt.

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I don't know if their is an afterlife or not.

I hope so cause I really love life and don't want to miss out on anything.

I fear death cause I mean what's feel like to have the body shut down? Also will I be in a dark box wanting to get out.

Everything about it just seems so scary to me. I hope I don't have to find out anytime soon. I kinda hope when I die I am a 90 yearold man with alzhemers then I wont know if I'm dieing anyway.

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I don't fear death anymore than I fear dreamless sleep.

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Even if consciousness winks out - there is a sense in which everything that is you is recycled into other things - some of which will eventually include living things and even conscious living things.

I think in similar vein to this I would say in that hope of seeing some sense of continuance of ourselves, I see it in our participation in memes. Our thoughts and ideas and words and actions all shape and create parts of the experience of existence for others. As we add what is uniquely "us" to the whole, we continue, we influence, and we create. Others "digest" us so to speak. We are gods in this sense, and are immortal. It's no small thing.

 

So is there life after death? Not in the sense of looking through my own two eyes in some new "me", but "I" continue in my influence, no matter how small that may seem to be, in the human experience of life. We exist in ideas.

 

Do I fear death? Only in that I instinctually wish to avoid death. But will I be at peace in the idea of my own death. That's the real question.

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I do not believe that there is an afterlife. If I am wrong about that then it seems self evident to me that we are not meant to count on it even if an afterlife does exist. Instead, it seems we were meant to live for this life and worry about the next life when we get to it.

 

I fear death, but I have a healthy fear of it. If ,through science, we can live longer than before I will definitely support such research. Even though death is inevitable I would live as long as I can so long as living is enjoyable to me. I doubt very much that I would choose to live forever if it actually was even possible.

 

OK. I do admit that there have been some times that fear of my mortality has kept me awake at night, but luckily not too often. Never during the day, but when I need to get some sleep.... :vent:

 

Thanks for posting this Brother Jeff. I have no doubt that you will eventually succeed.

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I don't so much as fear death as I fear the path to which I will get there. As one gets older and the body falters, there's a host of evils just waiting to take advantage - cancer, dementia, etc... I can only hope that death will be quick and somewhat painless. As to what awaits, one can only speculate. (again I remain the eternal optimist)

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I am aware of no Before-Life so why should expect there to be any After-Life?

I don't look forward to death but I know it is inevitable and see no reason to fear it, although when my time comes I would prefer it to be as painless an ending as possible, hopefully at a ripe old age, in my sleep or with a 19 yr old Playboy Bunny, on top...sucks for her, but what a way to go...orgasmed to death...Weeeeeeeeeee!!! I mean after all, people have been dying for a really really really long time now and as far as I know no has come back to complain about it after the fact (though some people would disagree with me on that point...but as in all things show me the proof and then we will talk, until then...I aint buying any).

 

Jeff you say you don't really believe in an After-Life but I know from reading some of your posts that you do believe in ghosts which I would think has to tie into a belief in at least some sort of an After-Life by default as ghosts have to exist somewhere don't they? ...maybe we can just call the place for ghosts the After-Death and just leave out all the god stuff ;) . At any rate if there is an After-Life, I am personally unaware of anyone that has come back to give any critique of the pros and cons of dying and whether it is worth the effort :shrug: So unless and until I recieve some good solid information about dying and the After-Life, before I die, I will continue on as I have been and simple do my utmost to refrain from dying for as long I possible can and enjoy Life as much as I can while I am alive.

 

In other words I will worry about the After-Life, well, After-Death, unless of course I am right and there is no After-Life just the Earth to Earth; Ashes to Ashes; Dust to Dust stuff (probably one of the few accurate conclusions attributed to the bible but not actually found there...though many seem to believe this comes from the bible...go figure...don't they ever read that thing? (although I guess it is based on Genesis 3:19 (King James Version)) so they are sorta' right I guess, one of the few things I think christians get right, well on the dust part anyway the rest of it is crap :grin: .

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Jeff you say you don't really believe in an After-Life but I know from reading some of your posts that you do believe in ghosts which I would think has to tie into a belief in at least some sort of an After-Life by default as ghosts have to exist somewhere don't they? ...maybe we can just call the place for ghosts the After-Death and just leave out all the god stuff ;) .

I believe in ghosts, but I don't know what they are and I don't know that their existence necessarily requires a supernatural explanation. It could be that what we refer to as ghosts are just normal folks in another time period interacting with us. Before you tell me that sounds just too weird and that I'm nuts, let me explain. I had a friend several years ago explained to me her theory (based on quantum physics) that all time is NOW, it just happens I suppose in what we would call different dimensions. This would explain accounts of slips in time where people have found themselves temporarily transported to a different time period (while remaining physically in the same location), but it also might explain ghosts. I dunno...it's just a theory that I haven't given a great deal of deep thought to. I do know that when I was approximately 12-years old, I saw something floating above our driveway for a brief time, and more recently (about three years ago or so) I had the experience of having my dirty socks, of all things :twitch: , moved from my bedroom to my Dad's bedroom during the night. We had just moved into this house at the time and our landlord had told us that the previous occupant had been murdered there by her husband. So I'm wondering if this unfortunate woman's inner spook was still hanging around there and wanted to make herself known. But nothing else unusual happened the whole two years or so that we lived there. So, heck, I dunno...

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I don't believe that there is an afterlife. Though, were I in charge of the universe, reincarnation would be the way to go. There's always that wish in the back of my mind that we are reincarnated when we die. I don't remember any past lives, though, so it doesn't seem likely. Even if something uniquely you was reincarnated, it's a moot point if you don't remember anything before the current life.

 

Neither do I fear death, I believe that when the brain ceases to function we no longer exist. When I'm dead, I won't even know it, so what's to fear? Interestingly, I greatly feared death while I was still a born-again Christian. Even though I believed that I would go to heaven when I died, the Christian idea of heaven was as disturbing to me as the notion of hell. First of all, eternity is a long time and I rather expect I would tire of it after a few eons. Secondly, heaven sounds frightfully dull. Spend all my time worshipping an egomaniacal deity for eternity? No thanks. At least in hell there'd be some interesting people.

 

That out of the way, I do fear dying. An altogether unpleasant affair, that, unless you die in your sleep or sustain a very sudden head injury.

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Secondly, heaven sounds frightfully dull. Spend all my time worshipping an egomaniacal deity for eternity? No thanks. At least in hell there'd be some interesting people.

 

:HaHa: If fundamentalists are right then I think it would be more fun in hell. The flames might smart after a while but at least there'd be plenty of drink, drugs, prostitutes, S+M, homosexual sex and general debauchery to make it all seem fairly tolerable.

 

But singing hymns all day while kissing the butt of some tyrannical deity whose idea of a good time is tea and scones after church? I think I'll pass on that!

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I was almost forced 2 believe the christian beliefs by the pastors......this is one part i can't be too skeptical(as I knew very little).However,i heard a statement that if you do good ,why should yoube afraid?(althought i am unsure)

i think i believe in the gaia theory........

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There isn't any proof for an afterlife. It also makes no sense.

 

As for death, I side with Epicurus on this subject...

"Accustom yourself to believe that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply awareness, and death is the privation of all awareness; therefore a right understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life an unlimited time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality. For life has no terror; for those who thoroughly apprehend that there are no terrors for them in ceasing to live. Foolish, therefore, is the person who says that he fears death, not because it will pain when it comes, but because it pains in the prospect. Whatever causes no annoyance when it is present, causes only a groundless pain in the expectation. Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not. It is nothing, then, either to the living or to the dead, for with the living it is not and the dead exist no longer. But in the world, at one time people shun death as the greatest of all evils, and at another time choose it as a respite from the evils in life. The wise person does not deprecate life nor does he fear the cessation of life. The thought of life is no offense to him, nor is the cessation of life regarded as an evil. And even as people choose of food not merely and simply the larger portion, but the more pleasant, so the wise seek to enjoy the time which is most pleasant and not merely that which is longest. And he who admonishes the young to live well and the old to make a good end speaks foolishly, not merely because of the desirability of life, but because the same exercise at once teaches to live well and to die well. Much worse is he who says that it were good not to be born, but when once one is born to pass with all speed through the gates of Hades. For if he truly believes this, why does he not depart from life? It were easy for him to do so, if once he were firmly convinced. If he speaks only in mockery, his words are foolishness, for those who hear believe him not.

 

We must remember that the future is neither wholly ours nor wholly not ours, so that neither must we count upon it as quite certain to come nor despair of it as quite certain not to come. "

 

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I no longer believe in the claims of any religion. I don't believe in the gods or the afterlife scenarios of any religion. I think the main reason that I still hang on to very remote possibilities like reincarnation is that I don't wish to die. Life is generally wonderful, and I don't want it to end. What mentally healthy person does?

That is a very honest statement. I completely relate to that. I find no evidence of an afterlife and no proof of any God but I really wish for an after life. My life with all its headaches and day to day bumps and ups and downs is completely out weighed by the joy and happiness I have with my family and my friends. I would love to be with them forever. I have never grown tired of them or life. Everyday and every week and every year is a new story with them and I no matter how good or bad life may get I love being with them always.

 

I fear it. I accept that fear as a natural fear of the unknown,

 

I myself don't fear death itself because of there is nothing and we will be nothing then we will feel nothing and we will know nothing just like you said when you were out then came to. you didn't know or feel nothing.

 

My real fear is here and now. I live with it everyday. My fear is that when I die or a loved one dies that I will never be with them again. this is painful for me. Sometimes when I think of that it nearly brings me to tears.

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I don't believe in an afterlife. I think it's a delusion driven by a craving for the self, the 'I am' if you will, to continue eternally. I think that if any irrefutable evidence of continued existence after the 'death' of the physical body were discovered, it would not prove any religious/ spiritual belief. It would force mankind to rethink the notion of what 'life' and 'death' really are.

 

 

Someone once asked me, "What about a ghost that is capable of an intelligent haunting? What would you call that?"

I replied, "Not dead." ;)

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Brother Jeff: I believe in the reality of ghosts, having seen one myself. I never saw a ghost until this last January. I woke up and the figure of a woman with long dark hair was standing beside my bed with her back turned to me. At the same time, my cat was making a weird sound, as she does when she sees something like another cat outside the window. As I watched this figure, it became transparent and disappeared. I don't expect anyone else to believe it, but I know that I saw it. Nothing else has happened in this house the last 7 years I have lived here. It is not an old house. It is a townhouse constructed in 1989. I don't know what it was. I won't say it was a spirit of a dead person. It may have been an image of something from the past.

 

I believe that consciousness survives the death of the body. I know I can't scientifically prove it. I have read many athiest views on non-survival after death. They are reasonable but just don't seem deeply persuasive to me. I don't believe in any eternal states like heaven or hell. Re-birth seems very possible to me. I liked reading Casey's post. It may be like that.

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All of the scientific evidence is that there is no afterlife, though because of spiritual experiences I've had I do believe there is.

 

For example, have you ever fallen asleep and you can't remember thinking a single thought? Then you wake up and your self returns? It seems that all that we think and feel emotionally ( which of course our thought and emotions are the product of our soul) comes from the physical brain, and the chemical-- not spiritual-- interactions going on in it. Otherwise, how can people become totally mentally ill as a result of physical factors? Aren't mental illnesses attributeable to chemical imbalances? But if our thoughts come from the spiritual realm, then why is our soul so troubled by chemical changes? Some people become so totally mentally ill to the point of being like a different person ( or even being multiple people in one at various times). So it seems that changes in the chemical makeup results in like a different soul. Or how about paranoid schizophrenics? It has been shown many times that those who suffer from those things have a reduction on the gray matter of their brains; thus their "soul" is afflicted by the physical? If the soul exists independently of the body, it would seem that the soul would stay the same and manifest the same way regardless of a loss of physical matter.

 

People think that humans are unique, having a soul, becomes we feel such emotions. But I can tell you that I have had a dog who can feel all the same emotions. He could feel love, sadness, anger, fear, happiness. And you could see emotion in his eyes. Same with cats. Humans are not unique in having emotions or a consciousness, so why are they unique in having a soul? And I have never heard it taught in any serious religious context that animals have a soul or go to heaven or hell either, since they don't have a soul.

 

What about those who get amnesia and completely lose their memory? A blow to the head in the physical made them to loss a part of themselves in a sense? How could the spirit be controlled by the physical realm?

 

What about changes to the personality that come as a result of taking antidepressents, antipsychotics, etc?

 

What about people who are in a coma? Where is their spirit at that time? It is as if there is hardly any thought going through their head, yet the neurons have not totally quit striking. It's like their soul has been decreaed. How is that possible if the soul is eternal? And if the soul is eternal and affected by physical disorders to the point of seeming to diminish, shouldn't it even more then be totally annihilated by fires of hell if they exist?

 

One other thing I was thinking about is what about blind people? People talk about near-death experiences where they can see outside their body from the spirit realm to the physical realm. If this were true, then why can't blind people ( or even you or I when we close our eyes) see spiritually? If the spirit is still there inside us why wouldn't we be able to see things spiritually?

 

Anyone have any thoughts on these things? I for one would be more than happy to accept the fact that we simply cease to exist upon death. That is certainly much better than burning forever in hell.

 

I had undeniable religious experiences, feeling the spirit of God though to the point where, despite my logic and thinking, I just can't believe that there is not something after death, a heaven and hell.

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All of the scientific evidence is that there is no afterlife, though because of spiritual experiences I've had I do believe there is.

 

For example, have you ever fallen asleep and you can't remember thinking a single thought? Then you wake up and your self returns? It seems that all that we think and feel emotionally ( which of course our thought and emotions are the product of our soul) comes from the physical brain, and the chemical-- not spiritual-- interactions going on in it. Otherwise, how can people become totally mentally ill as a result of physical factors? Aren't mental illnesses attributeable to chemical imbalances? But if our thoughts come from the spiritual realm, then why is our soul so troubled by chemical changes? Some people become so totally mentally ill to the point of being like a different person ( or even being multiple people in one at various times). So it seems that changes in the chemical makeup results in like a different soul. Or how about paranoid schizophrenics? It has been shown many times that those who suffer from those things have a reduction on the gray matter of their brains; thus their "soul" is afflicted by the physical? If the soul exists independently of the body, it would seem that the soul would stay the same and manifest the same way regardless of a loss of physical matter.

 

People think that humans are unique, having a soul, becomes we feel such emotions. But I can tell you that I have had a dog who can feel all the same emotions. He could feel love, sadness, anger, fear, happiness. And you could see emotion in his eyes. Same with cats. Humans are not unique in having emotions or a consciousness, so why are they unique in having a soul? And I have never heard it taught in any serious religious context that animals have a soul or go to heaven or hell either, since they don't have a soul.

 

What about those who get amnesia and completely lose their memory? A blow to the head in the physical made them to loss a part of themselves in a sense? How could the spirit be controlled by the physical realm?

 

What about changes to the personality that come as a result of taking antidepressents, antipsychotics, etc?

 

What about people who are in a coma? Where is their spirit at that time? It is as if there is hardly any thought going through their head, yet the neurons have not totally quit striking. It's like their soul has been decreaed. How is that possible if the soul is eternal? And if the soul is eternal and affected by physical disorders to the point of seeming to diminish, shouldn't it even more then be totally annihilated by fires of hell if they exist?

 

One other thing I was thinking about is what about blind people? People talk about near-death experiences where they can see outside their body from the spirit realm to the physical realm. If this were true, then why can't blind people ( or even you or I when we close our eyes) see spiritually? If the spirit is still there inside us why wouldn't we be able to see things spiritually?

 

Anyone have any thoughts on these things? I for one would be more than happy to accept the fact that we simply cease to exist upon death. That is certainly much better than burning forever in hell.

 

I had undeniable religious experiences, feeling the spirit of God though to the point where, despite my logic and thinking, I just can't believe that there is not something after death, a heaven and hell.

Jason, I can tell from this post and others you have made recently that you are really questioning things right now. That's excellent, and I want to encourage you do continue to do so!

 

There is no such thing as a soul. There is no evidence at all for its existence, and it's not needed to explain anything at all. Animals don't have souls, and neither do we. When we die, we cease to exist. That's a reality that can be difficult to face, and hence we have religions and spiritual beliefs of all sorts that have been invented to shield us from that harsh reality (and make tons of money for those in power!).

 

Our thoughts and emotions are not the products of a "soul". They are the products of the activity of neurons and chemicals in our brains.

 

Mental illness is caused by structural abnormalities in the brain, or by chemical or hormonal imbalances in the brain.

 

Near-death experiences are caused by oxygen deprivation in the brain and the eyes, and they in no way indicate the alleged reality of an afterlife. See this excellent article on the subject by Keith Augustine:

 

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/kei...tine/HNDEs.html

 

There is also a great article from Time magazine that you may find interesting:

 

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...80394-1,00.html

 

You don't have to worry about burning in hell. Hell is a religious concept with no demonstrable basis in reality, and it's an obvious myth.

 

I have had powerful spiritual experiences myself, but I realize that those emotional experiences arose from within my brain and that they in no way indicate the reality of anything supernatural, including any kind of afterlife.

 

You are on your way to finding FREEDOM! Keep thinking, and keep questioning! Glory! :)

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  • 3 weeks later...
What about people who are in a coma? Where is their spirit at that time?

 

I've been in a coma. It was black and peaceful, no sound, no images, and nothing to remember.

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When I arrived at the conclusion that there is no reason to believe in god I realized that the afterlife would have to go, too. A huge burden just rolled off my shoulders, so to speak, when I accepted that death is the end. And a few months later when my mother died I stood at the graveside fully believing this is the end. It felt so right.

 

People have come and gone in my life all my life; death is just one more parting. And if there is no consciousness then there is no concern about it. On the off-chance that there is a god and afterlife, I feel convinced that god is just and moral and won't cast anyone into a firepit.

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