Afterlife for Non-Members of your Faith?

[Trailblazer]

If you believe in an afterlife, what will it be like for people who are not part of your religion? Or for people who don't share your religious/spiritual views? Or is what happens to us after death independent of our beliefs or affiliations?

Baha'u'llah did not specify what it will be like for people who are not Baha'is, people who don't share my religious/spiritual views. Baha'u'llah only wrote about what it will be like for every confident believer, but it does not say exactly what a confident believer is.

“Death proffereth unto every confident believer the cup that is life indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of gladness. It conferreth the gift of everlasting life.” Gleanings, p. 345

Moreover, Baha'u'llah wrote that the afterlife is indescribable, so even though He knew what it will be like He did not reveal that knowledge.

“As to those that have tasted of the fruit of man’s earthly existence, which is the recognition of the one true God, exalted be His glory, their life hereafter is such as We are unable to describe. The knowledge thereof is with God, alone, the Lord of all worlds.” Gleanings, pp. 345-346

The following passage is open to interpretation, but in my opinion "the followers of the one true God" are the followers of all religions that were revealed by the one true God through God's Messengers. God is "Him Who is the Lord of all Faiths" and the passage says that people of all Faiths will receive God's gracious favor and manifold bounties.

In my opinion, they that live in error refers to people who committed evil acts such as rape and murder.

“It is clear and evident that all men shall, after their physical death, estimate the worth of their deeds, and realize all that their hands have wrought. I swear by the Day Star that shineth above the horizon of Divine power! They that are the followers of the one true God shall, the moment they depart out of this life, experience such joy and gladness as would be impossible to describe, while they that live in error shall be seized with such fear and trembling, and shall be filled with such consternation, as nothing can exceed. Well is it with him that hath quaffed the choice and incorruptible wine of faith through the gracious favor and the manifold bounties of Him Who is the Lord of all Faiths…”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 171

 

[stevecanuck]

I think it sounds a pretty perfect way to continue the universe

And consider the fact that no current cell in your body was there seven years ago. We may have already breathed and/or eaten atoms from our previous selves countless times.

 

[Trailblazer]

Who calls anymore? God probably thinks its a scam call... I'm sure you have to text her to get ahold of her these days.

I have discovered I have to talk to God and get really desperate and even angry before I ever get God's attention.... Sometimes that works.

 

[muhammad_isa]

Is any kind of sincerity acceptable? If I'm sincerely an atheist, does that change my afterlife?

There is only one kind of sincerity.

..and Almighty God knows everything about us.
Believers can sin as well as disbelievers, and nobody is immune to possible consequences. For major sins like murder, we have to be truly sorry. i.e. make sincere repentance and vow not to repeat it

If anybody thinks there is no such thing as sin, that is not a very good start..

 

[muhammad_isa]

Will everyone be saved?

No.

 

[Goldemar]

If you believe in an afterlife, what will it be like for people who are not part of your religion? Or for people who don't share your religious/spiritual views? Or is what happens to us after death independent of our beliefs or affiliations?

I believe that all people will eventually attain to an Otherworldly, spiritual heaven that is distinct from the material world, once they have freed themselves from attachment to the material world. Those who don't do so by the end of this life will be trapped again in a physical body in the material world by the creator of the material world. All this happens irrespective of individual beliefs.

 

[muhammad_isa]

You just contradicted most of the Qur'an. Good Muslims are the ONLY ones who will go to heaven. Verse 29:68 - "Is not there a home in hell for disbelievers?"

No, I have not contradicted Qur'an.

What is a "disbeliever" ?
You merely take verses out of context to further your agenda of hate.

 

[JustGeorge]

I have discovered I have to talk to God and get really desperate and even angry before I ever get God's attention.... Sometimes that works.

Yup, that's worked for me before, too.

 

[Trailblazer]

I believe that all people will eventually attain to an Otherworldly, spiritual heaven that is distinct from the material world, once they have freed themselves from attachment to the material world. Those who don't do so by the end of this life will be trapped again in a physical body in the material world by the creator of the material world. All this happens irrespective of individual beliefs.

How do you think they will be 'trapped again' in a physical body in the material world?
Do you believe in reincarnation?

 

[stvdv]

If you believe in an afterlife, what will it be like for people who are not part of your religion? Or for people who don't share your religious/spiritual views? Or is what happens to us after death independent of our beliefs or affiliations?

I never think along those lines

I just try to be the best I can

 

[Goldemar]

How do you think they will be 'trapped again' in a physical body in the material world?
Do you believe in reincarnation?

Of sorts. But it is the creator of the material world who trapped us in physical bodies in the material world in the first place who will do so again if he gets half a chance.

 

[Orbit]

I believe that is a false assumption.

It's the lynchpin of the religion, which exists to save you from hell. Literally millions of Christians accept this as dogma.

 

[Estro Felino]

Will everyone be saved?

Well...also non-Christians.

 

[muhammad_isa]

It's the lynchpin of the religion, which exists to save you from hell. Literally millions of Christians accept this as dogma.

It doesn't make it true.

For example, it implies that Jews will all go to hell.
I don't believe that. Why include the OT in the Bible, in that case?

 

[Trailblazer]

Of sorts. But it is the creator of the material world who trapped us in physical bodies in the material world in the first place who will do so again if he gets half a chance.

Yes, I agree that God created the material world so if we are born into it we are forced to live in physical bodies in the material world until we die and pass on to the spiritual world, but why would God force us to endure this hellish existence again? Do you believe God is evil?

 

[Trailblazer]

It's the lynchpin of the religion, which exists to save you from hell. Literally millions of Christians accept this as dogma.

True.

 

[Trailblazer]

Will everyone be saved?

Saved from what?

 

[JDMS]

If you believe in an afterlife, what will it be like for people who are not part of your religion? Or for people who don't share your religious/spiritual views? Or is what happens to us after death independent of our beliefs or affiliations?

In Shinto (which I should say I'm not technically a believer in, but rather a member of a shrine), the idea accepted by the Jinja Honcho (Shrine Association) is that when people die, their spirits move onto an 'otherworld' which is a neutral place exactly like the living world, except that it's populated by spirits and kami as well. There are possibly several but none are heaven or hell and its disputed whether you can influence where you go. This will happen to everyone regardless of how much you worshiped the kami or ancestors in your life. You don't have to believe in kami or spirits or any god at all. You just go there, new life, boom.

However I guess you could argue that being a part of Shinto (or rather a family that practices ancestor worship) does matter because it's worship and veneration that allows and ancestor to watch over the family in the living world. So anyone who has family who worship their ancestors may be able to gain power over the living realm in order to protect your family. So, I guess that non-believers will likely never get that chance, so believers and nom-believers don't have an equal experience in the afterlife.

I should say that this really doesn't matter though. In the end, the only difference is whether or not you will get whisked away to the living world to serve the living or not. It's not necessarily a pro or a con unless you have strong feelings about how you'd like to spend your time in the otherworld. Do you want to be useful to your descendants or do you want to retire?

Anyway, this was a fun question to think about!

 

[Left Coast]

If anybody thinks there is no such thing as sin, that is not a very good start..

Even if the person believes that sincerely?

This is what I meant by kinds of sincerity. People can be sincerely awful.

 

[Left Coast]

Yes, I agree that God created the material world so if we are born into it we are forced to live in physical bodies in the material world until we die and pass on to the spiritual world, but why would God force us to endure this hellish existence again? Do you believe God is evil?

If he's a classic sort of Gnostic, they believe the physical world was created by a lesser, evil god as opposed to the greater capital g God.