Belief in an afterlife
I am inclined to think that imagining an afterlife in one sort or another can be a great source of hope. On the other hand I think people who really do think that they are in essence immortal can't be trusted to hold life as sacred.
hurts more
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helps more
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Timing is everything. Just a few days ago one of the brightest lights in my life was snuffed out far too early. Very few people will ever mean as much to me as she did. I would love to believe that she isn't really gone. That somewhere in some unimaginable place she is beaming that smile down on me. It would give me comfort. But the truth is, I don't think that's how it goes. I don't want to try fool myself into to thinking that she isn't "really" gone/ I want to accept that she is. At least I have the memories, some of the best I've ever had. She pushed me, quite hard actually, in the direction I am going with my life. Much of what I am doing was because of her. I will honor her memory and her efforts at helping me. But I won't try to delude myself into thinking that she is waiting for me on the other side of the pale. Its better to just continue life without her. At least more me. I do realize that everyone processes grief differently. But she would want me to be rational and realistic about it. Side: hurts more
As you describe her as "one of the brightest lights in my life", I am compelled to think of personalities and how they continue to "radiate" even after death. A person's life and identity does have at least quite a bit to do with how they effect their surroundings. That's what living things do isn't it? I don't want to try fool myself into to thinking that she isn't "really" gone Well in some senses she's not really gone. You don't have to fool yourself to realize that. But is it comforting? Probably not. Comfort is overrated as a virtue anyway. Side: hurts more
You make a good point. ----------------------------- The official memorial isn't happening until Friday, but a dozen or so of us had an informal toast to her last Saturday night, the day that many of us got the news. She and I were very close, and she meant more to me than most people can. But it would be selfish and highly inaccurate to think that I was the only one. She touched a lot of people's lives, and having us all gathered there, each saying what we admired most about her, each bringing up our favored memories...it was simultaneously heartwarming and heart-wrenching. It was really to good to see how much of an impact she had on each of us, but also in how many different ways. There are thousand ways to have love for a person, and in that room, that night, I saw each of them. I apologize for rambling and going off subject. The timing of this debate was pretty much perfect, for me at least. Side: hurts more
I have always found hope of going to an afterlife much like feelings towards drugs. They are often used towards an escape of everyday life. I think that most people that believe in an afterlife simply aren't satisfied with their current existence. Being a very strong Carl Sagan supporter, I think that our only existence as individuals is in nature, and when we die we become part of nature once again. I find that to be the most poetic and intellectually stimulating viewpoint out there. Side: hurts more
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ehhh most spiritual people and even commonly religious people do take life seriously to some great extent. I mean when someone dies all his family and friends are crying and they are all spiritual... if they truely believed deep down at the core that there is a second life then they wouldn't be scared of death. however I do think that its kinda pethetic to believe something like that just cause they want it to be true. we don't get to change whats fact, reality is reality. Side: either way you have to face reality
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I disagree. We are born with human emotion. Some people cry, laugh and don't do anything in times of happiness and sadness. I happen to be one who cried to show emotion. I was watching the Casey Anthony trial the other day and when I saw the grandmother testifying about her little murdered grandbabys skull they found...I broke down. I watched a birth of a baby yesterday and cried over that. Birth is such a miracle. Crying can be a form of prayer...of letting out all sorts of emotions. To cry at a funeral for a believer does not mean you are afraid of dying, or that we know we won't see them again. It means this phase of life on earth is over...that they have passed, that we temporarily will be without them. I miss my mom and dad.....I cry when I think of the funny things we used to do....memories bring up such happy feelings that I show it by smiling and crying sometimes. I am bless to be able to cry. I feel sorry for the people who feel it is a weakness...and they hold things in to make a point to others and themselves. I know my life starts when I die...that does not mean I want my loved ones to leave right now. My dad died two years ago. He was a believer. A week before he died he called me in and said that he could not understand why he was not getting better. (He had prostrate cancer) He was always an optimist...always saw the glass full...always. With my sisters there...we told him that it was the cancer...he then realized that he was close to death. He cried. He said and I will never forget....that he couldnt wait to be with our mother and little brother, but that he loved each one of us and didn't want to leave us either. I thank God that I have tears to show emotion. Can you imagine a world so cold without them? I beleive that there is an afterlife for beleivers...so in that case it saddens me when I know that those I love who reject Christ...I will never see again. I will never know however...because in Heaven we are told there are no tears...so saddness does not exist. You can laugh make pot shots at beleivers all you want...does not faze me a bit. I feel sorry for people who can't understand that the possiblity just might exist...that if they are wrong...they will pay. I can't wait to be with Christ....that does not mean I want to die now...and not experience what life has for me.... Side: helps more
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ehh you do make a point, at the same time I wasn't saying humans are cold, what do you think emotions are, it how we react to things. when something bad happens we either get sad, or mad, or another appropriate emotion to the negative activity, so if one was scared of dying but it wasn't because they didn't want to leave just yet, then deep down there has to be some doubt or to not be 100% convinced they will get into an afterlife. as you said tho, someone could simply be sad not to see thier loved ones for an amount of time. another thing is if god did exist do you really think an all loving god would send people to hell or not give them an afterlife just because they don't believe in him? I mean he provides us no proof if he really does exist, we are perfectly justified to not believe in him. if he did happen to exist how did we find out about him? was it just a lucky guess if so then would he really punish everyone if someone in the world never guessed his existence and he was never claimed? and if someone saw god, or someone knew about him from an event in the past, and claimed it. Well we are all supposed to believe that claim off of nothing? we are punished for not believing in him but he provides us no evidence of him then how is that our fault? I think its just in all likelyhood probably a myth that grew over generations. Side: either way you have to face reality
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I think it can help and hinder. Despite the fact I personally don't think an afterlife does exist it can help people cope with death. It could be argued that it is just a delusion to halt the healing process but that is assuming an afterlife does not exist. I think particularly in the case of untimely deaths such as children, especially your own, belief in an afterlife could be the last shred of hope in an awful circumstance. However belief in after life can also be a negative mind process. Now let's assume the loved one who had died had committed suicide and you had a belief in the after life due to being a Christian. How would it help to honestly believe your loved one is burning in hell? Now in general day to day life as opposed to death, faith in the after life also has pros and cons. A majority of religious people live their lives happy knowing that they are following the word of God and believe they will gain acceptance to a happier place after death and will still have the capacity to be with their loved ones beyond the grave. Again, since there is no proof of afterlife you could be following a set of rules and avoiding things that you really want and would make you happy (sex, alcohol, suppressed homosexuality, having a divorce) for no reason whatsoever. You could be leading a miserable life in hope of an after life that will never come. Side: helps more
A belief in an afterlife is something several cultures throughout history have developed and has spread thanks to many a conquest and impositions into what we know as religion; and to many merits it's still a cultural phenomenon in select pockets. Nevertheless, attributing it to the value an individual of such a belief places on a given life itself is completely disregarding the nature of the moral codes of only the respective religion, but the culture and society and so on. Even if one could cite an example where all conditions align and there are malicious or careless persons, due to a belief in the frivalance of life, it is not soley a faculty of the religion at hand, but a culmination. However this does not disregard the reality that religion in and of itself has been a rather dogmatic and a fervently reluctant device to conquest, and in it's own respect it is an opium to man and kind. Side: Not a sole component
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