Atheism and Afterlife

[LuisDantas]

Happy Saturday, guys.
I would like atheists to answer a couple of questions about their vision of life and the afterlife.
Etymologically a-theism means to believe in the absence of a deity (or more deities).
It doesn't imply, philologically and theologically, that because a deity doesn't exist, neither does the afterlife.

I agree.

That is:
a) Do you believe, as atheists, that the afterlife is a consequence of the existence of a God?

No. I don't believe that either afterlives nor gods exist in any meaningful sense.

There are, of course, claims of divinely promised (or warranted) afterlives. Even in the abstract they are hard to take at all seriously.

b) Do you believe in an afterlife? And why not? And do you believe in a remote possibility that it might exist?

Thank you in advance.

No, not even as a remote possibility. Nor do I have any sympathy for the idea except perhaps as a fictional tool.

From a logical perspective, it is entirely speculative at the very best. It is quite literally the claim that something entirely undetectable exists anyway. In most or perhaps even all versions of the claim, afterlives are also rather implausible even by their own criteria, depicting curiously human-like attitudes and personalities in environments that logically can't sustain those.

I think that proponents of afterlives tend to neglect consideration of what makes people what they are. To a very large extent indeed we are, as Buddhism describes it, interdependently originated. In a very real sense we simply can't exist outside of our social environments, and it is not very far fetched to say that we die and are reborn in a slightly different way often, even in the scope of a single day.

Even if we take for granted that there is some sort of psychic residue that survives our deaths, it is just too much to expect that said residue could somehow reconstitute a reasonable facsimile of our whole personalities and go on living a semblance of our lives without the necessary support of a social environment very similar to those we are familiar with. It would make more sense to call that entirely hypothetical situation one of... immaterial offspring, I suppose?

From an aesthetical perspective, I just don't like the idea of afterlives. It cheapens and disrespects the sacrality of human existence by implying that it is some sort of rough draft that does not truly count as the real thing. I have seen up close how harmful that belief is for people's behavior and morality, and I am not encouraging it in any way.

 

[F1fan]

Happy Saturday, guys.
I would like atheists to answer a couple of questions about their vision of life and the afterlife.
Etymologically a-theism means to believe in the absence of a deity (or more deities).

A-theism mean non-theism.

Atheism means to "not believe in theism". It is NOT "a belief in some idea".

It doesn't imply, philologically and theologically, that because a deity doesn't exist, neither does the afterlife.
That is:
a) Do you believe, as atheists, that the afterlife is a consequence of the existence of a God?

Atheists aren't going to believe in supernatural concepts, nor believe that one religious belief is a consequence of other religious beliefs. The underlying problem withj any religious concept is that there is no known justification for any supernatural idea.

b) Do you believe in an afterlife? And why not? And do you believe in a remote possibility that it might exist?

Thank you in advance.

The basic afterlife notion is that consciousness lives on after death. In Eastern thought there is reincarnation, and the assumption is that a life essence, not consciousness, carries on. I suspect this belief is more about fear and axienty of death and the cesseation of consciousness.

I think we humans are better off addressing the underlying fear of death instead of adopting beliefs that only offset anxiety. The anxiety doesn't go awasy, it remains and as we age we have to find ways to cope more and more, and rely more on illusions to cope. The inner conflict doesn't go away. We are better off facing reality.

 

[Estro Felino]

A-theism mean non-theism.

Atheism means to "not believe in theism". .

That's non-theism which can include agnosticism.
The privative alpha in a-theos (meaning without god, hence atheist) indicates you believe there's no God.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Happy Saturday, guys.
I would like atheists to answer a couple of questions about their vision of life and the afterlife.
Etymologically a-theism means to believe in the absence of a deity (or more deities).
It doesn't imply, philologically and theologically, that because a deity doesn't exist, neither does the afterlife.
That is:
a) Do you believe, as atheists, that the afterlife is a consequence of the existence of a God?
b) Do you believe in an afterlife? And why not? And do you believe in a remote possibility that it might exist?

Thank you in advance.

This is the afterlife. You were dead before birth.

Same as the one before and the one in the future.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

A-theism mean non-theism.

Atheism means to "not believe in theism". It is NOT "a belief in some idea".



Atheists aren't going to believe in supernatural concepts, nor believe that one religious belief is a consequence of other religious beliefs. The underlying problem withj any religious concept is that there is no known justification for any supernatural idea.



The basic afterlife notion is that consciousness lives on after death. In Eastern thought there is reincarnation, and the assumption is that a life essence, not consciousness, carries on. I suspect this belief is more about fear and axienty of death and the cesseation of consciousness.

I think we humans are better off addressing the underlying fear of death instead of adopting beliefs that only offset anxiety. The anxiety doesn't go awasy, it remains and as we age we have to find ways to cope more and more, and rely more on illusions to cope. The inner conflict doesn't go away. We are better off facing reality.

Atheism isn't the same as physicalism or materialism. Not all atheists are also physicalists. There exists religions without gods that still have supernaturalism.

Atheism doesn't make me irreligious or physicalist. But being physicalist does rule out any supernatural afterlife.
I suppose I could imagine a non-supernatural afterlife, in the form of digital replacement of my brain and body. But I see no point in entertaining it because, like you implied, the concept of mortality doesn't bother me. I don't need to persist after death to give this life meaning.

 

[Mock Turtle]

In my religion, murderers don't go to Heaven...so....

Well, in some people's beliefs, doing such is not murder but some other thing. So are there varieties of Heaven?

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

Happy Saturday, guys.
I would like atheists to answer a couple of questions about their vision of life and the afterlife.
Etymologically a-theism means to believe in the absence of a deity (or more deities).
It doesn't imply, philologically and theologically, that because a deity doesn't exist, neither does the afterlife.
That is:
a) Do you believe, as atheists, that the afterlife is a consequence of the existence of a God?
b) Do you believe in an afterlife? And why not? And do you believe in a remote possibility that it might exist?

Thank you in advance.

I'm not an atheist, but I decided to follow your thread because I think any thread on the afterlife is an interesting topic. I find it helpful to know what skeptics think about the afterlife because it helps me understand them better and is useful whenever I happen to meet skeptics while doing paranormal investigations or in other situations relating to the afterlife. It helps prepare me to speak with them.

 

[Estro Felino]

I

There are no Gods because that invokes far too much fantasy powers. However something of a soul vessel must exist because the self exists with abilities of character.

I think this is a very sensible approach. I agree.

 

[F1fan]

Atheism isn't the same as physicalism or materialism. Not all atheists are also physicalists. There exists religions without gods that still have supernaturalism.

Atheism doesn't make me irreligious or physicalist. But being physicalist does rule out any supernatural afterlife.
I suppose I could imagine a non-supernatural afterlife, in the form of digital replacement of my brain and body. But I see no point in entertaining it because, like you implied, the concept of mortality doesn't bother me. I don't need to persist after death to give this life meaning.

There are so many options these days. There are loads of ideas that appeal to us, even if we aren't believers. I personally love the idea of asn afterlife. I feel the appeal of being reunited with those I have lost. But liking the idea doesn't translate to me thinking it is plausible or true. Nothing suggests it is true, and I can't force myself to believe. The advantage I have is that I can stand my my intellectual integrity, but also benefit if there is some sort of afterlife. This is opposite of pascal's wager, don't believe and you still get the benefit.

That so many believe in an afterlife suggests they might not believe it and are using their judgment as a way to offset the fear of death and oblivion.

 

[Ponder This]

Happy Saturday, guys.
I would like atheists to answer a couple of questions about their vision of life and the afterlife.
Etymologically a-theism means to believe in the absence of a deity (or more deities).
It doesn't imply, philologically and theologically, that because a deity doesn't exist, neither does the afterlife.
That is:
a) Do you believe, as atheists, that the afterlife is a consequence of the existence of a God?
b) Do you believe in an afterlife? And why not? And do you believe in a remote possibility that it might exist?

Thank you in advance.

You might also want to ask about the existence of souls, which speaks directly to to the existential question of being.

 

[Alien826]

Afterlife:

Very low probability, based on lack of evidence, but not totally ruled out. If there was evidence for an afterlife, but no details available, I wouldn't bet on any of the versions put forward by religions.

Additional question from me:

Do you want there to be an afterlife? My answer is, not automatically, it depends on the nature of the afterlife. There are worse things than non-existence. Certainly not if it was just like a continuation of this life, which I'm tired of. And definitely not if it didn't have an option to die finally at a later time. (If you watched the last season of The Good Place, you'll know what I'm getting at).

Pascal's wager:

Definitely flawed as some have already described, though he did answer the objection that you would be lying to God, by suggesting we could "fake it until we make it", that is go through the motions and let belief emerge. We should also realize that he was working with a dichotomy of "Christian God" or "no god".

Another question related to the wager:

As an atheist, if you die and wake up in some kind of afterlife, and a god (that you don't know anything about yet) asks you what you have to say for yourself, what do you say? That's after the screaming fit has subsided.

 

[idea]

Yes.

Conservation of mass, energy, nothing magically disappears.

Before this life we were part of other lives
After this life we will be mixed in other lives again.

For me, Conservation laws = connection, eternal existence, eternally mixing and changing forms.

 

[stvdv]

I think that no human being has been immortal, so far.

You believe you are body, mind, hence mortal
I believe thay I am Atma, hence immortal
@stvdvRF

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Happy Saturday, guys.
I would like atheists to answer a couple of questions about their vision of life and the afterlife.
Etymologically a-theism means to believe in the absence of a deity (or more deities).
It doesn't imply, philologically and theologically, that because a deity doesn't exist, neither does the afterlife.
That is:
a) Do you believe, as atheists, that the afterlife is a consequence of the existence of a God?
b) Do you believe in an afterlife? And why not? And do you believe in a remote possibility that it might exist?

Thank you in advance.

Heya...answering just for myself here, as there is no correct atheist answer (as I know you understand).

1) I don't think an afterlife is necessarily or logically a consequence of God's existence. But for me personally tossing out God has practically meant also moving away from religion, a belief in the afterlife, and any beliefs around the 'supernatural'.

2) I don't. I have no real reason to, and people commonly talk about it in ways that seem inconsistent and speak more to wishful thinking than actual belief (or perhaps reason for belief). Taking away a belief in scripture or religious teachings also removes much (but not all) of the reasons to actually believe in an afterlife.
But there is of course the possibility I'm wrong.

 

[Estro Felino]

Heya...answering just for myself here, as there is no correct atheist answer (as I know you understand).

1) I don't think an afterlife is necessarily or logically a consequence of God's existence. But for me personally tossing out God has practically meant also moving away from religion, a belief in the afterlife, and any beliefs around the 'supernatural'.

2) I don't. I have no real reason to, and people commonly talk about it in ways that seem inconsistent and speak more to wishful thinking than actual belief (or perhaps reason for belief). Taking away a belief in scripture or religious teachings also removes much (but not all) of the reasons to actually believe in an afterlife.
But there is of course the possibility I'm wrong.

Thank you. That's a sensible and honest approach.

 

[Estro Felino]

I think this scene has to do with my point. What I meant to convey with this thread. And that is, that God exists independently from matter. And we are the result from natural selection God has nothing to do with.
There is no such a thing as intelligent design. No, we are a product of evolution. Of a millenary process of natural selection. And so we should not play God with science, because not even God does that.
God is separated from this worldly dimension filled with living beings that were created through the magical process called carbon chemistry. Without carbon chemistry there wouldn't be cells as units of life.
We have an eternal soul that doesn't die with the death of the cells of our bodies. It doesn't.
So we have a soul independently from God

 

[Mock Turtle]

As an atheist, if you die and wake up in some kind of afterlife, and a god (that you don't know anything about yet) asks you what you have to say for yourself, what do you say? That's after the screaming fit has subsided.

No screaming - but since God has apparently given me some humility - an honest apology, and some questions as to why He ****** up so badly as to making the choice rather difficult to make - given that none of any relevant beliefs would score a ten out of ten for believability and/or result as to making life better for all. Unless that of course was God's intention - to make our lives on Earth a test of us being well off over others being so too. Given that a belief in God doesn't mostly exist on its own.

 

[Kfox]

a) Do you believe, as atheists, that the afterlife is a consequence of the existence of a God?

God would have to be real in order for anything to be a consequence of God. I think the idea of an afterlife is the consequence of some very wild imaginations; including the belief in God

b) Do you believe in an afterlife?

No; otherwise there would be no such a thing as death, just going from one life to another

And why not?

I see no reason to believe such a thing

And do you believe in a remote possibility that it might exist?

Remote possibility? Sure.

 

[Estro Felino]

No screaming - but since God has apparently given me some humility - an honest apology, and some questions as to why He ****** up so badly as to making the choice rather difficult to make - given that none of any relevant beliefs would score a ten out of ten for believability and/or result as to making life better for all. Unless that of course was God's intention - to make our lives on Earth a test of us being well off over others being so too. Given that a belief in God doesn't mostly exist on its own.

One question:
what if the Afterlife looked like this? (the ending of the movie Titanic)

As you can see, there is no God. There is no Paradise. Wouldn't it be wonderful?

 

[Mock Turtle]

One question:
what if the Afterlife looked like this? (the ending of the movie Titanic)

As you can see, there is no God. There is no Paradise. Wouldn't it be wonderful?

I've no preferences as to any afterlife - if such exists - and I've not that much to look forward to if this is so. Mind you, what I might want or not has nothing to do with how I come to conclude there is nothing after death.