Do the Atheist believe in life after death?

1. 60

   Raitu Disongposted 10 years ago

   If not, is death the end of everything for them?

   replyreport
   1. 59

      Josakposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Nope, I believe we just die. This absolutely does scare me by the way.

      replyreport
   2. 68

      A Thousand Wordsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You can't box all atheists together, because the only thing they have in common is that they don't believe in God. Whatever else comes after that is nearly immeasurable. Some probably do, although obviously it wouldn't be like a suburbia in Heaven with mansions, but something more like a never-ending stream of consciousness. But I'm assuming many don't. I honestly couldn't tell you, though, since I don't know all the atheists out there.

      replyreport
   3. 91

      Astralroseposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I don't believe in life after death. It just doesn't make sense at all. And when death comes, that's it and I am not afraid of it. Everybody dies, it's just a matter of how and when.

      replyreport
   4. 58

      A Troubled Manposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Not really, it is the end of everything for everyone, despite their beliefs to the contrary. Wishing for an eternal life doesn't make it true.

      replyreport
   5. 72

      Titen-Sxullposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      There are a handful of ways in which an atheist can still believe in an afterlife, the most obvious being reincarnation. Reincarnation is an afterlife which is not contingent upon a deity. Personally I don't believe in an afterlife and yes I believe when we die, just like when other animals die, its just the end of us. I used to be afraid of that idea. When I was a believer years and years ago I dreaded both the idea of Heaven/Hell and the idea of non-existence equally.
      
      As an atheist I've realized that in this vast cosmos human beings are not important. Sure we are important to ourselves and to one another and that's wonderful but on the cosmic level we are pretty insignificant. It seems to me to be the height of anthropocentrism to posit that we human beings must live on after we die especially since most afterlife scenarios don't involve other animals. Why are we so special? It is because we are self-aware, sentient beings and know of our own mortality, and thus we do whatever we can, even believe wild irrational superstitious things, to avoid the fear of our own death.
      
      Think of the movie Blade Runner, where the Replicants visit their creator to demand he give them more life. Only to an atheist there is no creator and thus the demand is an empty one. There is the natural order of things and we are animals the same as any other animal. But rather than be sad about this we can enjoy the short time we have and recognize that human beings are not the center of the Universe. We are part of a vast interconnected and beautiful cosmos that, as far as we know, got this way without magical or supernatural influence.
      
      Eternal life would be a prison, inescapable and eventually boring. How long could you hold out before you'd long for true death, for oblivion? A thousand years? Ten thousand? A million? People can hardly fill their time here and now on Earth and you want to live forever? No thanks, death being the end isn't exactly ideal but its infinitely better than the infinite alternative.

      replyreport
2. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   Some do, most probably don't. In which case, yes, death is the end of existence

   replyreport
   1. 79

      Uninvited Writerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      And most are not afraid of that.

      replyreport
      1. 60

         soldout777posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         No, most people are afraid of  death ...
         fact!!

         replyreport
         1. 79

            Uninvited Writerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I am not. After you go through a life-threatening illness it doesn't seem so scary. It's just a fact of life. I don't need to know there is a heaven after death.
            
            I actually meant that most atheists are not afraid that death means death.

            replyreport
            1. 60

               soldout777posted 10 years agoin reply to this

               ok  great!... Anyway, Thanks for clarifying!

               replyreport
3. 71

   getitriteposted 10 years ago

   That would be equivalent to believing in Peter Pan.  Which most sane people don't believe in....however if you are asking about the possibility/probability of life after death. then no one knows that answer.  But, staunchly believing that there is life after death is nothing more than wishful thinking.

   replyreport
   1. 74

      jacharlessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The irony in your statement...
      Staunchly disbelieving in life after death is equal to staunchly believing in it. As you mentioned no one knows for certain.  Even more ironic, from the accurate/unfiltered Christain perspective, there is no afterlife or life after death. Hence the purpose of the Resurrection, which is the cornerstone of Christianity itself, why it even exists to begin with. The meaning of salvation or saved in three base languages the text came from define it as literal plucking from the hands of mortal death; escaping the grave. The "spiritual death" was and will always be a "hedonistic concept".  Further, if the rules of reason apply, meaning the Moral Dilemma, then here also, there is no afterlife. All morals cannot be kept and therefore demands death as punishment -as in natural selection, survival of the fittest, altering the natural order of things.
      
      And again, logically, we must remember atheists are still theists, so the probability of having a lack of belief in the afterlife is equal to the probability of an excess of belief in the afterlife. The equation must be balanced to remain and to be debated, tested, proven.
      
      James.

      replyreport
      1. 61

         Disappearingheadposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Hi James. Nice to see you back in Forumland.

         replyreport
         1. 74

            jacharlessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Hey there. Good to be back, sort of.

            replyreport
4. 0

   Deepes Mindposted 10 years ago

   Nah.. Atheists believe in death after life.

   replyreport
   1. 94

      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      LOL  True, but done in a good quip!

      replyreport
      1. 0

         Deepes Mindposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Glad the humor wasn't lost

         replyreport
   2. 91

      Astralroseposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Haha...Nice one!

      replyreport
5. 60

   soldout777posted 10 years ago

   Just another dead dog!!!

   replyreport
6. 60

   RonDavyposted 10 years ago

   Atheist are afraid of course because for them it is the end of their existence.

   replyreport
   1. 0

      Rad Manposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Afraid of being dead? No. Afraid of the pain of death? Perhaps.
      
      It's not just the end of existence for us, everyone suffers the same fait.

      replyreport
7. 60

   Raitu Disongposted 10 years ago

   Thank you guys for sharing your views!

   replyreport