yahwehyadayada

This is a follow-up to Jennad's thread about Erin Runnion & how do we cope with despair in the Secular Lifestyle forum. I did do a search in case this topic has been done before, but I ran out of patience after several minutes.
Does lack of belief in a god always translate into lack of belief in an afterlife? Speaking for myself, I do not believe in "heaven" or "hell", but I sometimes wonder if there isn't possibly just an "energy" that can survive beyond our bodies. I must say that I suppose this is because for me, the lure of wanting it to be so is so strong at times. I had a cat that died almost 4 years ago, & I still miss him very much. I wish I could be with him again. I realize I am opening myself up to ridicule for being so attached to a cat, but I loved him very much & I am not ashamed to say so.

Monkeybot

There's no shame in being so attached to a pet. I had to give away two cats when I was younger, and that was quite painful. Still miss 'em, too.

That said, I think this topic would fit a litle better in Miscellaneous Religion Discussions.

Koyaanisqatsi

Well, if you accept that your consciousness is a result of and generated by energy, then there certainly is an "after life" to some degree, since energy cannot be destroyed.

Hobbs

I wouldn't say that atheism and an afterlife are mutually exclusive. In fact, the possibility of some sort of energetic "spirit" entities that are products of the natural universe and which can be "prayed" to and which can affect other parts of the universe would not be ruled out by there not being a supernatural "god" above it all.

But I do think that what is known of neurology and how brains work to produce our individual minds makes it extremely unlikely that some other form of matter/energy can take over when our brains stop working. It's not how I would prefer things to be, but, hey, I'm not God, so unless I (or some neurologist or computer scientist or someone else far better at figuring out how brains work than I) can construct an alternate means to keep our minds going, I'm not expecting to be around after my brain stops making me. And I see no more evidence of "spirit" entities than I do for a supernatural god. Oh well, life goes on (for a while, anyway). Sorry I don't have anything more comforting to say except for "but maybe I'm wrong about that."

Tom Sawyer

Atheism simply means a lack of belief in gods. It does not preclude belief in anything else. Personally, I view the theories of people's "energy" that survives their death to be about as credible as the theories of gods. That doesn't mean they aren't true, though, nor does believing in them or any other concept of an afterlife that doens't include gods stop you from being able to call yourself an atheist.

Godless Dave

Not always, but in my case the same thought process that led me to disbelief in gods also strongly suggests that there is no afterlife, our physical existence is our whole existence.

Radcliffe Emerson

I feel for you. I lost one of my most dear cats to kidney disease 6 years ago, and I still miss her too. We still have 3, but two of them are 12 now, and the other 11. We know that they are not going to be around too many years, and I get very sad sometimes when I anticpate that, so don't feel ashamed at all.

JL

I don't believe in an afterlife in the conventional sense, but I do believe that my actions and accomplishments during my life can continue to impact others even after my death.

I also think that what we consider 'self' is (consciously or not) collective. So what 'I' may do during my life, specifically my contribution to the course of human development however small, is taken up and recycled. An overly simple example could be being a rude driver; I will probably never meet the person I cut off in traffic again but that negative experience contributes to that person's opinion (and future actions) towards others.

philechat

Buddhists do not believe in any gods but they do believe in some forms of afterlife.

Taoists think if one can attain the Tao then there would be no such thing as death.

Many Chinese do not believe in gods, but believe in ghosts and ancestor spirits.

Or, in the strange sense that since we are without experience of time when we are dead, and we are product of a specific "structure" of the brain, we could be reborn if there were new universes formed which again creates a structure that would generate consciousness that could be called "me". (an esoteric speculative theory without reality testings here )

[ July 29, 2002: Message edited by: philechat ]</p>