Is there an afterlife?

[Zardoz]

Yes, there's an afterlife. After I live, I die. There's not an afterdeath, however...

Never seen it put quite that way. Cool.


*cues up The BeeGees' "Stayin' Alive"*


We really don't like the idea of passing on and no longer existing. That's just too frightening a prospect for most of us, and we're trying to do something about it:

Immortality Institute: "Conquering the blight of involuntary death"

Survival After Death

Immortalism (Click on "Speak Up or Die - Petition")

Immortality, Inc. (The site hasn't been updated since March of last year. The founder probably died...)

Young Again (Goat testicle transplants?)

Physical Immortality (Blink! Blink! Blink!)


It's nothing new, of course. The Egyptians were obsessed with it:

"The Quest For Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt"

"From the earliest times, Egyptians denied the physical impermanence of life. They formulated a remarkably complex set of religious beliefs and funneled vast material resources into the quest for immortality. This exhibition focuses on the understanding of the afterlife among Egyptians some 3,000 years ago, in the period of the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC) through the Late Period (664-332 BC). The New Kingdom marked the beginning of an era of great wealth, power, and stability for Egypt, and was accompanied by a burst of cultural activity, much of which was devoted to the quest for eternal life."



The ancient Egyptians weren't the only ones. About 2300 years ago the first Emperor of China figured that if these 8100 life-sized statues were buried with him, he would have them as an army in the afterlife:

The Emperor's Terracotta Army

There are various forms of "immortality", of course. Great writers never really cease to exist, do they? Movie actors were "immortilized in celluloid", and now will live forever in digital form. Singers will squawk on eternally on their recordings. Politicians also have designs on never being forgotten:

Big Ideas

Don't get me wrong. Great things are achieved because of people's desire to never be forgotten. Ambitions of immortality can be a great motivator, but it can all come to naught, of course. I love this poem:

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:

'My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

"Ozymandius"
by Percy Bysshe Shelley



(BTW: Some of you might find this to be an interesting forum: http://www.sciforums.com/index.php? )

 

[Shannon]

No they don't go anywhere because they don't have a soul. It's not a matter whether they belive or not which they can't as they are to stupid to do so.

Well, what the hell was the point of inventing anything other than humans?

NO you don't have to just believe in Him you have to also live, how should I put it, more righteously than before. If you were a God, would you just let everyone in including the ones who said you weren't real that you were a load of s***. I don't think so.

Edit: We are the only ones created in his image. We are the only ones he gave the breath of life in the sense we are the only ones he gave a soul.

So just for the sake of argument, Darwin's theory is correct and we actually did evolve from apes*, that debunks the whole theory of the soul? Seeing as God only gave humans a soul, and not apes, yet we evolved from apes, then the whole theory is flawed. So if Darwin's theory is correct and you need a soul to go to heaven, that effectively disproves heaven and hell.

And yes, if I were God I would let non-believers in. Simply for the fact I haven't shown my face or any proof I actually do exist, so they have all right not to believe in me. Would you believe that Superman really existed if their was no proof he actually did? I'm pretty sure you'd pass it off as a myth, just like I do with religion. Until God comes down from the skies and I see his face and hear his voice , I will not change my opinion on religion.

* Ancient aboriginal skeletons dating back some 60,000 years show evidence that the human skull has slowly transformed from an ape-like skull to the present figure. There is also only 2% difference between a gorilla and a human being. Proof enough for me we came from apes.

 

[Small_Fryz]

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:

'My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

"Ozymandius"
by Percy Bysshe Shelley


in lamens terms?

I dont understand poems

 

[Duke]

in lamens terms?

I dont understand poems

The guy found the wreck of a giant statue of Ozymandius, who had been king of a powerful land. All that remained of the empire was the destroyed statue. The base of the statue said "Look at my empire, and realize you can never match it." But the empire was already gone into sand.

 

[Plague.Ghost]

Technically I've refused and blasphemed the Holy Ghost, which is the only innexcusable sin, so from a religious aspect, I'm 100% certain to be going to Hell.

But what I can't see doesn't exist, right?

 

[Plague.Ghost]

* Ancient aboriginal skeletons dating back some 60,000 years show evidence that the human skull has slowly transformed from an ape-like skull to the present figure. There is also only 2% difference between a gorilla and a human being. Proof enough for me we came from apes.

We never evolved from gorrillas. Gorillas and chimps evolved form a common simian ancestor; we're not a descendant of the ape, more like a cousin who grew alongside and just continued to mature.

[edit]

By the way, that 1.98% difference between us, is almost 600,000,000,000 genetically different cells, if it was split up that way. It's not though; we have 3 trillion cells in the human body, with 46 chromosomes per cell, with almost 100,000 genes, made up of thousands, maybe millions or billions of DNA strands (having a complete sequence in a single chromosome). Like in a large company or monopoly, 2% can mean millions of dollars. It's like that with our DNA, only much more so.

 

[Duke]

Technically I've refused and blasphemed the Holy Ghost, which is the only innexcusable sin, so from a religious aspect, I'm 100% certain to be going to Hell.

Well, the thing is, refusing and blaspheming the Holy Ghost might put you on the A-list for some other deity, and he'll hook you up in the afterlife, and keep you out of Hell... assuming Hell is as described in the brochure, anyway. Perhaps Hell just gets bad reviews from disgruntled people who've never actually been there.

But what I can't see doesn't exist, right?

Ohhhh, something you can't see almost certainly exists, but the whole ineffability thing renders the millions of pages of speculation about what it's like pretty irrevelevant, let alone whether it actually exists or not.

 

[Zardoz]

...We are the only ones created in his image...

So the ever-existing, all-creating, all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful Supreme Being who made every single atom in the entire universe has a physical form and looks like...us?

Wow. God looks like me.

Did it ever occur to you that such a concept is just the slightest bit arrogant and unrealistic?

 

[Danoff]

The answer to the question is - yes there is an afterlife and it involves beer volcanoes and strippers.

 

[James2097]

The answer to the question is - yes there is an afterlife and it involves beer volcanoes and strippers.

Right on dude! 👍

 

[Joey D]

I don't think its possibile for a heaven and a hell, but then again I don't believe in religion. But I've always wondered what happens when you die? I mean part of me wants to think that you go somewhere, but science says you really can't. I'm kinda of confused on this whole issue. And the only way to know is to die, and if you die you can tell someone the answer.

 

[Danoff]

I don't think its possibile for a heaven and a hell, but then again I don't believe in religion. But I've always wondered what happens when you die? I mean part of me wants to think that you go somewhere, but science says you really can't. I'm kinda of confused on this whole issue. And the only way to know is to die, and if you die you can tell someone the answer.

You were dead once. You were dead for thousands of years before you were born. What was it like?

That's what death is like.

 

[Joey D]

So you are suggesting death is nothing? I have no memories before I was born. But that makes sense, I mean you aren't concious so you really wouldn't feel anything.

 

[James2097]

makes sense to me. Or makes no sense depending on how you look at it. I know when I'm dead I won't be able to sense anything.

 

[Blake]

So you are suggesting death is nothing? I have no memories before I was born. But that makes sense, I mean you aren't concious so you really wouldn't feel anything.

Exactly, once you are dead, you won’t know it. I find that comforting, in a way.

 

[crimson_menace]

Well, just to throw this in the mix:

A few months ago, my mother, a friend of the family, my brother and myself were skeptical one night, so we busted out a weejee board.

Now, I know it sounds stupid, believe me. But I'm probably one of the biggest skeptics of them all, so I gave it a shot.

It started out with Leah (friend of the family) calling the usual, " Is anyone there?"

So we waited for a response. Then she repeated, and someone answered us on the other end. Freaky, no?

They chatted, and then the other person went away. Then we contacted someone that Leah knew, and they chatted about things. She cried. Then my mother, brother, and myself contacted my dad. He passed away when I was 12ish, not real sure of the date right now.

We talked. Then I asked some questions that only He and I knew...and that's when I knew that the whole BS about the Board is completely false. My mother left the room sobbing, my brother, not a sissy, had tears welling in his eyes, as well.

At first I couldn't believe what happened, but then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

It was him. I talked w/my dad after so many years. It was mind-blowing.

Then I realised it was something not to be messed with.
I haven't touched it since. I doubt I will anytime soon, either.


Yes. I believe in an Afterlife, and back that statement up 1000%.


True story.

 

[tabs]

A few friends and I actually gave the Ouija board a try a few years ago. Nothing happened, not a damn thing.

As far as the topic goes...there is no afterlife, it is absolutely absurd to believe otherwise. I find the idea way too ridiculous.

 

[Plague.Ghost]

Well, just to throw this in the mix:

A few months ago, my mother, a friend of the family, my brother and myself were skeptical one night, so we busted out a weejee board.

Now, I know it sounds stupid, believe me. But I'm probably one of the biggest skeptics of them all, so I gave it a shot.

It started out with Leah (friend of the family) calling the usual, " Is anyone there?"

So we waited for a response. Then she repeated, and someone answered us on the other end. Freaky, no?

They chatted, and then the other person went away. Then we contacted someone that Leah knew, and they chatted about things. She cried. Then my mother, brother, and myself contacted my dad. He passed away when I was 12ish, not real sure of the date right now.

We talked. Then I asked some questions that only He and I knew...and that's when I knew that the whole BS about the Board is completely false. My mother left the room sobbing, my brother, not a sissy, had tears welling in his eyes, as well.

At first I couldn't believe what happened, but then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

It was him. I talked w/my dad after so many years. It was mind-blowing.

Then I realised it was something not to be messed with.
I haven't touched it since. I doubt I will anytime soon, either.


Yes. I believe in an Afterlife, and back that statement up 1000%.


True story.

Ouija boards have been proven to be hoaxes SOO many times, it's ridiculous.

 

[Plague.Ghost]

Then I asked some questions that only He and I knew...

And what question might that be? If you were the one on the Ouija board then it's completely ridiculous. And since your dad was kind of married to your mom, she probably knew it as well. Aaaaaand, if it was a Yes/No question, there was a 50/50 chance they'd get it right.

 

[Small_Fryz]

We dont know...

And we have to accept that.

Some questions in life we cannot answer, as much as Humans stive to know everything the reality is, some things we will just never know.....

Ive thought of many questions which gets my insides churning and for me, are scary questions that i simply cannot find the answers to, because their is none.

Ive come at ease by simply accepting we will never know the answers and there is no point worring about it, Live life while you have it and make the most of it. This doesnt mean you forget about the questions, but at least for me, you guys need to find an answer that best suits yourself, because really, its pretty hard to have a "Wrong" answer or a "Right' one, just a answer that you belive in that makes you feel better and one that you can accept.

 

[Delirious]

What if there is a hell though? Back to what I was saying...what if there is an afterlife? Considering this is a set amount of time (lucky being 80 years old) afterlife would be an eternity...compare 80 years to an eternity...no comparison.

 

[Sage]

Erm, what exactly are you asking? Haven’t people been answering the original question?

 

[Plague.Ghost]

Well, that depends entirely on your definition of dead.

No heartbeat? No brain activity? No cellular division?

 

[Zardoz]

...Back to what I was saying...what if there is an afterlife?...

Sorry for not going where you wanted us to go.

 

[Small_Fryz]

what if there is an afterlife?

What if their isnt?

We dont know. and probably wont know until we die, by then it will be too late.

 

[Blake]

What if their isnt?

Then we will feel nothing.

 

[Duke]

What if there is a hell though? Back to what I was saying...what if there is an afterlife? Considering this is a set amount of time (lucky being 80 years old) afterlife would be an eternity...compare 80 years to an eternity...no comparison.

What if there is a Flying Spaghetti Monster who will whip me with his tentacles if I don't believe in Him?

What if there is an Invisible Pink Unicorn who will trample me with her tiny hooves (bless them) if I don't believe in Her?

What if the Keebler Elves will only feed me burned fecal cookies if don't believe in Them?

All are equally valid propositions as Heaven and Hell.

 

[Shannon]

What if there is a hell though? Back to what I was saying...what if there is an afterlife? Considering this is a set amount of time (lucky being 80 years old) afterlife would be an eternity...compare 80 years to an eternity...no comparison.

What if there isn't an afterlife?

I don't want to waste my current life being the perfect religous man if such a thing doesn't exist. See, I am certain that my current life exists but as for an afterlife, I'm not sure. I don't want to die and find out there is no afterlife and thus, missed out on a lot of things.

 

[Small_Fryz]

What if there isn't an afterlife?

I don't want to waste my current life being the perfect religous man if such a thing doesn't exist. See, I am certain that my current life exists but as for an afterlife, I'm not sure. I don't want to die and find out there is no afterlife and thus, missed out on a lot of things.

if there wasnt an afterlife, technically you wouldnt know and therefore, wouldnt regret anything.

I hope we keep living in some form just to see what happens to the world.

 

[Famine]

What if there isn't an afterlife?

I don't want to waste my current life being the perfect religous man if such a thing doesn't exist. See, I am certain that my current life exists but as for an afterlife, I'm not sure. I don't want to die and find out there is no afterlife and thus, missed out on a lot of things.

Yep. Worry more about your predeath than your afterlife.