To die as an atheist
- Thread starter Abdiel
- Start date
Well, I don't really believe I will ever be on my death bed to contemplate death. I will probably be shot because I got on someone's nerves 
Seriously? When I am on my death bed, I will remember that death is a part of life. Every living thing dies. It's inevitable. I will have a healthy concept of mortality.
I will look back on my life, and remember everything I have achieved. I will wonder if I had made the most of my life. I will think of those who I have loved, and been loved by. I will think of all the great things I have done.
I will hopefully have had children, and will be able to leave my possessions to them.
If I didn't want to die, I should never have been born. That is my belief. I am content with non-existence. Nothing about non-existence fazes or scares me. After all, I won't know I'm non-existent, will I?
An afterlife is the coward's way out. It also gives people an unhealthy concept of mortality.
Who goes to heaven? Humans? What about animals? Plants? Bacteria? Will I be infected with pseudo bacteria in heaven?
And one final question. Will the afterlife be better than this life? I doubt it. I enjoy life. The sun shines. Food tastes delicious. I can learn. What more do you need? Are you really that hard to satisfy? Do you really need an afterlife where we can dance naked amongst the flowers? I don't.
Seriously? When I am on my death bed, I will remember that death is a part of life. Every living thing dies. It's inevitable. I will have a healthy concept of mortality.
I will look back on my life, and remember everything I have achieved. I will wonder if I had made the most of my life. I will think of those who I have loved, and been loved by. I will think of all the great things I have done.
I will hopefully have had children, and will be able to leave my possessions to them.
If I didn't want to die, I should never have been born. That is my belief. I am content with non-existence. Nothing about non-existence fazes or scares me. After all, I won't know I'm non-existent, will I?
An afterlife is the coward's way out. It also gives people an unhealthy concept of mortality.
Who goes to heaven? Humans? What about animals? Plants? Bacteria? Will I be infected with pseudo bacteria in heaven?
And one final question. Will the afterlife be better than this life? I doubt it. I enjoy life. The sun shines. Food tastes delicious. I can learn. What more do you need? Are you really that hard to satisfy? Do you really need an afterlife where we can dance naked amongst the flowers? I don't.
I used "did" because by then it will be too late to change your mind. But replace it with "does" if you prefer.
When the truth is plain and clear before you, do you still have a chance to choose? No. I think the "tree of knowledge" was called knowledge about good and evil because it meant "ignorance about God". Since we live in ignorance about God, we have can only know or "see" Him by faith. We cannot know anything beyond death by any other means than faith - which might be blind by the standards of science, but not to the standards of truth. Ultimately, truth is anything which you are caused to believe.
Faith is not scientific, so there is nothing to measure. That is why I ask, by what standards do you propose we "test for God" or the afterlife?
When the truth is plain and clear before you, do you still have a chance to choose? No. I think the "tree of knowledge" was called knowledge about good and evil because it meant "ignorance about God". Since we live in ignorance about God, we have can only know or "see" Him by faith. We cannot know anything beyond death by any other means than faith - which might be blind by the standards of science, but not to the standards of truth. Ultimately, truth is anything which you are caused to believe.
Faith is not scientific, so there is nothing to measure. That is why I ask, by what standards do you propose we "test for God" or the afterlife?
JamesR,
Actually virtue without a God would be quite a remarkable thing. For example, virute would be useless for any kind of afterlife correct? Thus the person would be virtuous out of some kind of love for humanity and just for the fact of being virtous.
As for evolution? This is flawed for a specific reason, basically every 10million years some natural disaster occurs, argeed? Therefore the extremely complicated systems in the human body could not have developed in such a short amount of time, take eyes for example.
Actually virtue without a God would be quite a remarkable thing. For example, virute would be useless for any kind of afterlife correct? Thus the person would be virtuous out of some kind of love for humanity and just for the fact of being virtous.
As for evolution? This is flawed for a specific reason, basically every 10million years some natural disaster occurs, argeed? Therefore the extremely complicated systems in the human body could not have developed in such a short amount of time, take eyes for example.
I don't believe anything happens after I die, for me, but for everyone else life keeps going. So what I do in life has continuing value. If we are but guests of existence, we might as well enjoy ourselves, right? I don't see why that's so hard to understand. I've accomplished much in my life, and it doesn't bother me at all that once I'm dead, I'm dead. The things I did I still did. At one point I still existed. And I made my mark. That's enough for me.
....
In the end it has come to me that if I am wrong about my personal religious beliefs and if these atheists are correct then nothin will have mattered, however if I am right in my personal beliefs and these atheists are indeed wrong then it will matter eternally, I suppose that is the point that I have wished to make and just to see how some will respond to my previous statments... [/B][/QUOTE]
Sure! If you are wrong about your religious beliefs nothing will have mattered for you after death. Because you will be Mr. Has-been by then. But the biggest blunder of your life will be:[You were being deceived. You were blind-folded all your life. You worked hard and prayed hard for years and years and nothing came out of it. What an irony! What a tragedy! Lions and foxes in the African plains have put their life to better use than you did]! That will be very sad, my goodfellah! Am I wrong?
In the end it has come to me that if I am wrong about my personal religious beliefs and if these atheists are correct then nothin will have mattered, however if I am right in my personal beliefs and these atheists are indeed wrong then it will matter eternally, I suppose that is the point that I have wished to make and just to see how some will respond to my previous statments... [/B][/QUOTE]
Sure! If you are wrong about your religious beliefs nothing will have mattered for you after death. Because you will be Mr. Has-been by then. But the biggest blunder of your life will be:[You were being deceived. You were blind-folded all your life. You worked hard and prayed hard for years and years and nothing came out of it. What an irony! What a tragedy! Lions and foxes in the African plains have put their life to better use than you did]! That will be very sad, my goodfellah! Am I wrong?
I don't think atheists have made any claims about the mind/soul being directly tied to the body. Just because they do not believe in God/a god does not mean that they don't believe in souls/minds. They may still live on without our bodies. I am an atheist and I believe that the mind lives on. How? Where? Why? I don't know. But it doesn't seem as if the mind is the body. I don't feel like I am my body. So I'm a closet dualist or something. Is that now my religion?
Re: Re: To die as an atheist
You have some very very healthy case of confusion DarkEyedBeauty. Let me ask you, do you believe that your inner soul/mind is a mountain of strength that can exist totally alone and needs nothing, or do you feel that this mind/soul is somewhat vulnerable and at the mercy of something else that you don't understand.
You have some very very healthy case of confusion DarkEyedBeauty. Let me ask you, do you believe that your inner soul/mind is a mountain of strength that can exist totally alone and needs nothing, or do you feel that this mind/soul is somewhat vulnerable and at the mercy of something else that you don't understand.