I'm an atheist. I have lived a satisfying life. I'm going to die soon. I have no fear of that. A couple of religious friends have tried to convert me by focusing on the benefit of an "afterlife." I don't believe cognition can survive the death of the brain, so please don't address that issue. What confuses me, what my religious friends themselves have not been able to answer is what is attractive about an afterlife. If fantasies came true I think that having an afterlife of a couple months to reflect on one's life would be great. But for all eternity? That's a real long time. More than a hundred trillion years. More than a google years. To me, having an eternity of consciousness is just not at all an attractive alternative. So help me out here folks, help me understand why so many people find an eternity of consciousness attractive. Thanks in advance for all thoughtful and considerate answers.
2007-02-16 00:11:16 · 8 answers · asked by Dendronbat Crocoduck 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It sounds like you're defining time based on an Earth clock. The more we learn, the more we know that out conception of time is Earth confined and eternity cannot be defined. The Lord lives out of time, which no human can explain. Nor can we apply adjectives to something we don't understand, like attractive or unattractive. If you have faith, you trust.
P.S. To answer below. Anne Rice has become a believer and now writes about God.
P.S.#2 and the last one. I'm moving on.
:-) If your parents told you heaven is a big house with a chest of gold, you were not living in a Christian house. Sorry.
2007-02-16 00:16:56 · answer #1 · answered by cmw 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well the afterlife is attractive to different people for different reasons. Some like the idea of living forever. Most of the people who believe in the afterlife would have some sort of religious inclination and an idea bout a Divine Being. Some, such as those who think like Immanuel Kant and his Moral philosophy, believe that there should be ultimate justice and this cannot be achieved in this short life and that this life serves no purpose. Others believe in that there has to be some higher power that has created what is all around and that the design of the universe and its elements cannot be mere chance occurrences. In addition, eternity may not seem long if there is no concept of time or space. Everything is relative according to Einstinean principles, even time and space. What may be an eternity for some may be a blink of any eye for another. And who said that the afterlife has to be a material world, it could be a spritual world to which material principles do not apply. If your spirit is happy and in bliss, would you complain?
Also, this life and its short nature does not seem attractive because it raises so many questions which do not satisfy the soul and it is inherently depressing: If I die, is that my end? Do I have a purpose in life? Will all the good that i've done go unrewarded? Am I just a piece of machinery made of flesh and bones, which dies when the fuel runs out? Why then do I have these uplifting ideas? Why do I have dreams? What about my friends, relatives, loved ones, will I never get to see them again? Why do I have a sense of right and wrong, why am I different from the animals? Why can I think? Why do I have self-awareness?
An afterlife and an ultimate purpose is a lot more attractive than a short, temporary life on earth.
2007-02-16 00:43:15 · answer #2 · answered by wafer 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You for sure do no longer comprehend God and you lack awareness there'll be kings in eternity and a alluring city and living interior the presence of God who's our existence we at the instant are not triumph over with a love for issues because of the fact God is our service and he meets all our desires greater desirable than sufficient To be packed with easy and existence eternal is plenty greater friendly than any temporal concern which will rust out, properly, you get the image Now in case you will pay attention and open you recommendations to the certainty and end your argumentive "reasoning" by utilizing what you have found out from the different area, i might invite you to come again on interior the waters nice =)
2016-12-17 17:29:21 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Man's quest for eternal life stems from a fear of death. Clinging to form is easier than accepting we're not permenant. AKA denial.
I'm with you on the afterlife thing, I just want to rejoin the universe after I die. Growing up christian they always spoke of heaven where you'll get a big house with storerooms of gold and jewels. Seeing as worth is based on rarity, how big of a deal would that be if everyone has a huge chest of gold? Kind of negates it's own purpose.
2007-02-16 00:20:05 · answer #4 · answered by guy o 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The word afterlife is not the attraction their, but it is an eternal life after death when you have obtain the following:l. You have return back your faith to God 2.Your sins have been forgiven. 3. obeyed the commandments of God and many others.After your death when judgment comes that you will be judged to go to heaven with God, you will have eternal life and enjoy life eternally.
2007-02-16 00:26:48 · answer #5 · answered by Jesus M 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
People are afraid to die. So it seems better with no real examination.
I agree with you. I can't imagine what it would be like to live forever. One of the things I like about Anne Rice's vampires in her stories is their struggle with that exact issue. It makes what would be a silly story really interesting.
2007-02-16 00:17:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
the reason no1 can answer this is because they dont want to think about it that way - everyone religious only think in little teeny weeny bits - they cant see the long term truths - otherwise they wouldnt be religious
Peace out :)
2007-02-16 00:16:12 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
because it's the real thing
2007-02-16 02:51:33 · answer #8 · answered by nobody 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋