Is there an afterlife? / The ultimate goal for man

[Hitchey]

Not all religions believe in an afterlife (e.g., Cheondoism).
Not all religions have a paradisal afterlife (e.g., Shinto).
Most religions prohibit suicide.

Yes, that suicide prohibition was parlty the reason for my jest, however, devout Christian evangelical types often ask this question, and it was more them that I had in mind.

 

[Hitchey]

I'm just stating that going throughout life, building a family, and building great relationships with a spouse and friends just to suddenly lose it forever sounds horrible. For me it would be better to never even start. Why torture your self?

Generally it is not all lost suddenly, but one piece at a time, and if all goes well for me – being the oldest in my immediate family (after my mother) – I will be the first to die. I have lost friends, I have lost all my grandparents and all my aunts and uncles, I have lost my father, but not all at once, and so it is bearable. I do not feel that it would not have been better had I not known them at all.

I take a lot of comfort knowing that it will not all amount to nothing in the end, but that my actions in this life actually mean something and will not amount to naught in the end.

I do not think it amounts to nothing. Everyone of us is descended from one very long line of survivors going back millions of years. Life will continue and is in itself worth living. I do not think that I have to live forever for my life to have been worthwhile. Surely your family thinks your life has meaning. The value they see in you does not depend on your being an immortal. From the sounds of it you have children. If you were to discover tomorrow that there is no God, surely you wouldn’t then think that your children might as well be dead? Their value to you is not based on your belief that they are immortals; rather you wish for immortality to preserve the inherent value you place in them. If is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, then surely it is better to have lived life than never to have lived at all.

 

[Hitchey]

I was studying the Egyptian Book of the Dead the other day and found it interesting how they believed when a man died the God Anubis would weigh their heart and judge them, if they lived a good life they would be taken to the God Osiris and granted eternal life, while if they didn't live a good life, their souls would be eaten by the great destroyer Anak (the monster who was part lion, hippo, and crocodile) and they would cease to exist.

I think there are many similarities between the Egyptian religion and that of Christianity.

Tom Harpur thinks so as well. A former Anglican minister he has written the Pagan Christ, an interesting book.

 

[Hitchey]

an interesting thing is I believe that flowers will be resurrected and that they will continue to grow in the after life.

The flowers will be resurrected? Do you mean to say they will be transplanted?

 

[Flat Earth Kyle]

The flowers will be resurrected? Do you mean to say they will be transplanted?

As in every plant that has ever lived and died will one day come back to life, become immortal and never die again.