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Thoughts on the Afterlife?

I think reincarnation is plausible, and I have a very strong belief in spirits, so some combo of those things. Like maybe they stick around if they have unfinished business or died tragically and if they pass on they come back as someone or something else.
 
I would identify my beliefs as Agnostic, leaning towards the Atheist side of the Agnostic spectrum, although I'd rather label myself as Agnostic over Agnostic Atheist. I'd say that in my mind, there is definitely a chance of the afterlife, but it recently occurred to me that my major reason for believing in the possibility of the afterlife is because I want it to be real rather than having logical reasons for it to be real, and that's sort of messed me up. It's kinda been changing my outlook on life, I sorta used to live in autopilot a lot because I'd just be like "well, if I don't get everything done before I die, I'll just get to continue doing stuff in the afterlife, right?" but now I've sort of realized that, while I don't deny the possibility of an afterlife, I don't actively believe in one, either, and that I believe that there is a strong chance that once I die, that's it. It's sort of scary and it's really made me re-evaluate my whole life philosophy in a lot of ways...
 
I don't know what I think anymore. I hope my remaining energy finds a star to become a part of.
 
I don't believe in one. I used to be a devout Christian until I actually bothered to open my Bible and read it from beginning to end. It wasn't an instantaneous process, as the fear of hell was still seeded in me from my childhood indoctrination, but it was a giant push forward.

I used to think all atheist like Richard Dawkins or Aronra were just ego maniac, know nothing know it alls, so whenever they made an argument or even provided valid evidence that contradicted my beliefs, I created a mental block.

After reading the bible, especially the king David part, I could no longer support it. The further I read the more disgusted I became.

In the beginning I spent nights crying out of fear of questioning a tyranical god and my broken perception of the lies that were fed to me all my life. I prayed so hard for it not to be true. I wanted it not to be. I wanted there to be an afterlife where I could meet all my loved ones again and live forever after in happiness with them. I didn't want to just cease to exist, as if the life I lived had no meaning or purpose, so I refused to support the bible and refused to worship such an evil being, but continued to delude myself into believing in some kind of afterlife where good people are rewarded with eternal happiness.

As time went on I started watching those people I once hated, only this time, I was more open to what they presented and what they were saying. I started to understand them more and more and now I could see my former self reflected in the people they were debating.


I slowly started to accept reality for what it was. It wasn't easy. It was really painful, but now I feel a giant weight has been lifted from me.


Over time I started to believe there just is no afterlife. To me, it wouldn't make any logical sense for there to be one. Sure it's a lovely thought (for some), but so is being born a billionaire. I'd like to be a billionaire, but it ain't so just because I really desire it to be. I would love for people not to suffer wrongly or know what pain or hunger is, but reality won't change for something I strongly wish to be true. Life's what you make it. You have to appreciate it while you have it. I now I know thaf hurting others isn't wrong because some book told me it was, but because other people also feel pain and others too love or are loved. We're all here just trying to get by while we can with what little we understand about reality. Regardless of skin color, gender or sexual orientation, we all go through life's struggles and try to deal with them as best we can.
 
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I’m a Christian and therefore believe in the afterlife. However, I don’t go pushing my beliefs onto other people or shoving it down their throats. If someone asks though I’ll be more than happy to talk about it. :)
 
I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in any afterlife. I’m a pretty logical person and I think we just die and that’s it.
It’s a bit hard for me to discuss with others because a lot of my family is Christian, and I am part of a Native American culture that can get pretty spiritual at times.. but I see our culture as more of a way to treat everything around us with respect, not really about a higher power. So that’s how I choose to live it.
I had an experience once about ten years ago where I had a sudden, unexpected seizure and basically died for about 5 minutes. I came out of it, but I felt what it was like to be gone. It was really freeing actually. You think you get close to it when you sleep, but really you have dreams and can still sense being human. This was really like.. nothing. I felt freed of the human body and senses. It wasn’t even like a “soul” thing, it was just black and nothingness. Time was meaningless. I don’t fear death anymore because of how freeing that felt, to become part of the universe again.
I actually appreciate my life a lot more because of being an atheist. I’m a firm believer in science, and religion and it’s grip on people and what it makes them do actually kind of disgusts me sometimes (not all the time, but it does have a really powerful affect on the world and how people live their lives). And I don’t want to live my life in constant fear or worrying about what might happen when there really isn’t any evidence. I live my life as a good person with morals because I know it’s the only one I’ve got.
I’ve actually believed this since I was a child. I remember my parents taking me to church and other religious places and my logical little mind going “wow, I really don’t believe in this. I don’t believe in it at all” all matter-of-fact, not making a big deal out of it but just thinking it to myself.
I have a few family members that died painful deaths, and I want so badly to think that I’ll see them again, or that they still exist in some form experiencing happiness, but deep down I know that’s not it. I just know that the best part is they’re not in pain anymore, and are free from any of those tough human emotions, like I felt for a short time.

- - - Post Merge - - -

@Kuriboh
I really respect your ability to look without yourself and ask those very really but scary questions! Sometimes ignorance is bliss, but being able to question ourselves and our own beliefs is a very powerful thing that can change our whole lives and feel very freeing. What furthered my own atheistic beliefs was actually reading the Bible in depth as well. Also, as much of an a-hole as Richard Dawkins can seem, I realize how very true his points are and other logical beings, like Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and bill maher.
 
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Thank you.

I still fear death.
And the thought of everyone I love leaving me and never seeing them again still hurts, but that's not reason enough for me to delude myself or worship a tyrant anymore. I'll take whatever comes my way though I may still fear it.
 
i kind of look the other way about death because it makes life even more of a struggle over analyzing the possibilities. its comforting to think that when we die we?re at peace somehow but theres no solid proof of anything without religion. i was raised catholic but it faded in our family really quick as we grew up so being raised with certain morals and beliefs screwed me over when nothing meant anything to us later on. i?m not an atheist but i?m not religious. and i don?t believe in ghosts or anything spiritual so i believe the afterlife is just black seems the most logical but what do i know
 
I consider myself agnostic, so I believe there are a lot of possibilities, but I don't believe in the traditional Christian Heaven and Hell at all. I was raised a Christian, but even as a young child, I always questioned the things we were taught in church. I asked my family, my sunday school teachers, my pastors for answers that they were never able to give me. Or if they did give me an answer, it didn't satisfy me. Many of their answers led me to think that God was cruel and wonder why people even worshipped him. Then, I read the Bible in depth and I felt like everything I read only confirmed that opinion. By the time I was an adult I had decided that if God existed as he is written in the Bible, then I wanted nothing to do with him.

I briefly looked into other religions. I saw many similarities to Christianity, although they all have some differences. I felt the strongest connection to the religions that looked after the Earth and treated it with respect, but even then I didn't feel like I could worship anything. I just respected and agreed with their values and morals.

In the end, I don't feel like we can know what's true until we die, but I don't fear death. Maybe we'll become nothing, and that's okay with me. Maybe we'll become part of the bigger universe, and that would be cool. Maybe our souls do live on in some form or another. I'm willing to just wait and see.
 
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