Non believers/athiests/and similar: what is your view after death and the end of life?

[Sha'irullah]

There is a next world whether one is a believer or not.

Heaven and hell are states of the soul not places.

‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ being regarded as symbolic terms for nearness to or distance from God,

When we pass to the next world we shall remember the life we had here and we will either rejoice or live in regret and despair depending upon our life here.

If this is how you view it then my argument can't continue since it is only applicable to traditional Dantean concepts of hell. Oh well

 

[Kuzcotopia]

I'm not arguing against you guys, but if this is true then what's the point of even living? Why take a chance of contacting a disease or having an injury that may put you in pain for years? Why slave at a dead end job just to barely exist in your late years? Why even bother to learn anything more than basic survival information? Again, what's the point if this is all there is?

I used to feel that way when I was religious. It took me along time to realize that the angst your talking about was actually encouraged by my religion.

It got me sick, then offered me a cure, so to speak.

 

[loverofhumanity]

If this is how you view it then my argument can't continue since it is only applicable to traditional Dantean concepts of hell. Oh well

But his view is all symbolical. Dante describes hell as a realm of people who have rejected spiritual values and become only slaves to their base instincts which describes the state of the soul of man today.

We live in a hell on earth now as it were because there is no importance placed upon spiritual values. Dante's view is very similar to ours. Suffering is still a condition not a place.

 

[Kuzcotopia]

And we also forget the stories. That's weird to me too. It doesn't seem to me that my culture believes that our identity is just the physical body. The legacy endures. The impact a creature had upon the Weave persists long after its physical components have returned to something else in the land, sea, and sky.

Some days, I wish I could not be so weird about these things compared to what the usual narratives are in my culture.

Not weird at all. I agree with you. But yeah, I am being egocentric about the question, only because that's how I interpret the gist of the OP.

But the stories do live on. Hav you heard of Kenneth Burke? He said:

"Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress." --Kenneth Burke, Philosophy of Literary Form, 110-111

 

[Sha'irullah]

But his view is all symbolical. Dante describes hell as a realm of people who have rejected spiritual values and become only slaves to their base instincts which describes the state of the soul of man today.

That may be but the churches have not been using Dante's literature as symbolism. They made hell quite literal and real for many believers. Chrysostom who came before did not help either. Churches have always politicized the religion to motivate Christendom.

We live in a hell on earth now as it were because there is no importance placed upon spiritual values. Dante's view is very similar to ours. Suffering is still a condition not a place.

Scriptually I agree, historically literalism has always been used though.

Also I would not call earth a hellish place

 

[loverofhumanity]

That may be but the churches have not been using Dante's literature as symbolism. They made hell quite literal and real for many believers. Chrysostom who came before did not help either. Churches have always politicized the religion to motivate Christendom.



Scriptually I agree, historically literalism has always been used though.

Also I would not call earth a hellish place

Isn't suffering and hellish synonymous?

 

[Sha'irullah]

Isn't suffering and hellish synonymous?

I wouldn't say so. Such different degrees of pain. Anybody into BDSM loves to suffer, they don't like being in Hell though

 

[loverofhumanity]

I wouldn't say so. Such different degrees of pain. Anybody into BDSM loves to suffer, they don't like being in Hell though

But the suffering on earth nobody wants. The Syrian people will tell you they've been through hell and that's not an exaggeration or an untruth.

 

[Sha'irullah]

But the suffering on earth nobody wants. The Syrian people will tell you they've been through hell and that's not an exaggeration or an untruth.

Well that sort of pain is not universal on earth. I also would call that human nature, we are by no means a peaceful people when given technology. Also this is the end result of primitive people who have overstepped their cognitive limit

 

[YmirGF]

I'm one of those oddball atheist that does believe in a so-called "afterlife" and in a non-standard version of reincarnation. I don't believe in gods, as they are understood and see the whole ball of wax as being a bit bigger than most have dared to imagine. In my goofy universe the self, the larger identity, is the boss, and that is true for every individual reading this. Decisions are made and areas of interest sorted out and in concert with the larger identity, the current identity works out how to move forward or if it even wishes to go further.

One comment I've made over the years and have never felt a need to abandon is, "I'm as dead, right now, as I am ever going to be." It's a neat idea and the important part is that once one moves into the realm of knowing it is right, it's no longer just a fun idea.

Oh, and btw, theists are in for a real disappointment. The next phase is nothing like they have ever imagined.

 

[Cephus]

You die and you're dead. That's it. You cease to exist, except in the memories of people who knew you. Welcome to reality.

 

[Cephus]

I'm not arguing against you guys, but if this is true then what's the point of even living? Why take a chance of contacting a disease or having an injury that may put you in pain for years? Why slave at a dead end job just to barely exist in your late years? Why even bother to learn anything more than basic survival information? Again, what's the point if this is all there is?

There is no "point". It just is. You don't exist for billions of years, you pop up for a while, then you go back to not existing for billions of years. Take it or leave it. Why do you think it has to have a "point"? Why do you insist that it has a purpose? It just is. Enjoy it while you're here.

 

[Revoltingest]

Hello!

I'm posting this here because... I don't know where else to post it basically, and to have it as a non debative (if that's a word) section to not debate it. Please don't debate stuff here.

I'm saying "and similar" on the titles to include all those who don't have a religious belief after death and the end of life. This also includes agnostics and similar.

So if you are among them, what do you think happens after you die? Is it a complete nothingness? You become a ghost? You can come back to life again? Any thing else?

Thank you for sharing. I'll take serious answers with respect.

Important note:
Believers, please don't make fun of it. Don't questions them badly or give passive-aggressive remarks. That won't be tolerated. Do that and you ain't gettin' 'ny shawurma, ya dig?

Dying....
Brain activity ceases.
Body rots.
Oblivion.
That's it.

 

[arthra]

what do you think happens after you die? Is it a complete nothingness? You become a ghost? You can come back to life again? Any thing else?

I accept the reality of the soul or spirit as an entity that is beyond our physical material body. So when the our soul separates or no longer associates itself with the body there is what I believe to be an "ascension".. an experience we can only dimly describe in words that we have learned in our material world but it would be truly impossible to adequately describe in words.

If our life on this plane has been turned toward God and received some of the Divine attributes and reflected them the ascent will be more glorious.

The soul ascending to a spiritual world... a birth experience into another dimension where space and time as we known it would be transformed and unlike anything we experience in this life.

Beyond this what I've described above there can be an association with other ascended beings and a closeness or unity of thought/feeling that cannot be described again with words.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Death teaches us just how truly precious life is, and is a very strong motivator to enjoy and savior life. Not in a Hedonist fashion, but if you only get one shot there does tend to be more urgency when there is no more.

 

[BSM1]

I used to feel that way when I was religious. It took me along time to realize that the angst your talking about was actually encouraged by my religion.

It got me sick, then offered me a cure, so to speak.

I agree. I had to get away from religion to find my truth. My beliefs now have little, if any, resemblance of what I force fed in church as a kid.

You die and you're dead. That's it. You cease to exist, except in the memories of people who knew you. Welcome to reality.

How do you know?

There is no "point". It just is. You don't exist for billions of years, you pop up for a while, then you go back to not existing for billions of years. Take it or leave it. Why do you think it has to have a "point"? Why do you insist that it has a purpose? It just is. Enjoy it while you're here.

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe in a plan, rhyme, nor reason to life. Nor do I believe in a "purpose" appointed by a God for your existence. I'm saying that if living is all there is, then why bother?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Hello!

I'm posting this here because... I don't know where else to post it basically, and to have it as a non debative (if that's a word) section to not debate it. Please don't debate stuff here.

I'm saying "and similar" on the titles to include all those who don't have a religious belief after death and the end of life. This also includes agnostics and similar.

So if you are among them, what do you think happens after you die? Is it a complete nothingness? You become a ghost? You can come back to life again? Any thing else?

Thank you for sharing. I'll take serious answers with respect.

Important note:
Believers, please don't make fun of it. Don't questions them badly or give passive-aggressive remarks. That won't be tolerated. Do that and you ain't gettin' 'ny shawurma, ya dig?

Hey SG...

I just think of it as returning to the state of being I had pre-conception.
I find many find permanent death hard to conceptualise, so thinking in those terms can sometimes be a little more accessible.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe in a plan, rhyme, nor reason to life. Nor do I believe in a "purpose" appointed by a God for your existence. I'm saying that if living is all there is, then why bother?

Well, is it too glib to say my wife's a hottie and my kids make me smile?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

This is an honest question. There have been times in my life where I have been convinced that living was pointless. I turned to substances to keep myself from driving off a cliff (ironic, huh?) . But eventually I came to realize that the experiences and circumstances of my life was molding me into the person I choose to be (not trying to be preachy, so bear with me). I have determined that my life can't, IMHO, simple be a random and totally useless series of breathes and bowel movements; there has to be something else. I know I could be wrong, but I have chosen to believe in a continuation of my existence. My concept of the afterlife is facing a committee that asks one question: "Did you learn anything?". My answer, I feel, will determine what direction my existence will take.

Whilst I would disagree in a literal sense, I think this has validity in a more philosophical way.

 

[Willamena]

So if you are among them, what do you think happens after you die? Is it a complete nothingness? You become a ghost? You can come back to life again? Any thing else?

There is only a "nothingness" if you (thought) are a "somethingness."

The East has an interesting idea: that thought does not differ from the things that are thought. There is only things that are thought, and they are transitory. The idea of "death" is the extinguishing of a shiny thought. But the shine is thought.