What do people believe about life after death?

Question

I'm doing a project at school and I need to know some theories and answers to what people think about life after death. I don't mind what religion you follow but I need to know the strengths and weaknesses of the belief and what atheists think will happen after death.

I am an atheist and I think that after you die you become reincarnated but recently I found a theory which is quite interesting: whatever you believe will happen will happen and it will be like a dream or an existance. I would like to know if anyone agrees with this and if not why?

Thanks
Please reply ASAP because my project has to be in soon

If anyone is not clear an atheist is really a person that does not believe in God, I do not believe in God so therefore I am an atheist

Answer 1

I live each day not knowing what is to come. I just take it as it comes and deal with life as best I can, I see the afterlife a the same. If there is something, I will deal with it as it comes. If not, it really won't matter as I will cease to exist.

Answer 2

Everything that makes us who we are and gives us a sense of self comes from our brains. Our senses, emotions, memories, talents, likes, dislikes, personalities, dreams, and morality have all been linked by neurobiologists to the brain. When our brain sleeps, so does our conciousness. When the brain is damaged, so is consciousness; there is no aspect of consciousness or the ego that cannot be compromised by damage to some part of the brain.

We don't yet know how the brain does it, but there's no question that the brain is what creates our sense of self.

The logical conclusion is that when the brain dies, consciousness dies with it. There's no evidence to support any other conclusion. The only life after death is that of the next of kin.

(Of course, no one alive knows the answer for sure.)

@elmjunburke - An atheist, by definition, is one who doesn't believe that gods exist--no more, no less. While most atheists reject the existence of the supernatural, there are some people who believe in the supernatural but don't believe in any gods. Some Buddhists are like this.

Answer 3

I truly believe that once I die I will find a place with God in heaven. I was raised Southern Baptist and am now a Catholic, and my christian upbringing is what has given me faith in life after death. Of course, I have no clear picture of what heaven is going to be like, but I'm looking forward to when I am given all the answers!

Answer 4

I'm Mormon and we believe in the same kind of thing as Christians do. We believe that after you die you will have the chance to live with your family forever, as long as you have lived worthily throughout your life. You will also be able to live with Heavenly Father (God) and Jesus Christ for eternity. However, we do not believe that only mormons can get into heaven. We believe that those who haven't heard the message of Jesus Christ and who would have received it will be able to live in heaven, along with anyone who has lived a life in accordance with what Christ would want us to do.

Answer 5

i'm agnostic, i believe there is something out there but i'm not sure what it is yet. i believe the purpose of our existence is to find the 'creator', to bridge science and religion into one unified theory.
i think our brains, with all of their neuro-chemical interactions, have signatures that interact with the quantum world, like fingerprints or retinal patterns, only vastly more complicated. i believe that these signatures are what constitutes our 'souls', and they exist as either non-baryonic matter, or into extra dimensions. i believe that it is your decisions, your actions, and your interactions with others that develops this signature over time. for instance, if you disrespect life, and murder someone or an animal, this instance is encoded into your quantum signature. if you do a great deed, or help someone and this action respects life, this too is encoded in your signature, much as it becomes a memory.
i believe that existence in these 4 dimensions is a preparation for greater mysteries and experiences that await us in the next stage. somewhat akin to a caterpillar changing into a butterfly, i believe our consciousness undergoes the same thing at death. i do not think the struggle between good and evil (respect for life and information vs. disrespect or destruction) is limited to our percieved universe.
to sum up, i think that religion is on the right track, but severly misguided by humanity's primitive desires. one day there may be 1 unified religion that incorporates science into its theism, but until then, i'll follow what i deem to be logical.

Answer 6

If you believe in reincarnation, I doubt that many would call you an Atheist. A real Athiest believes in no religious superstition of any kind.
Okay, my belief. I believe only in the natural. We're born, grow up, reproduce, and die. The end of the story.
We are all part of the living things on this earth. What happens to all of the other plants and animals, happens to us. We return to nature and make room for those who follow. Life goes on.

Answer 7

"Man is appointed once to die, After death comes judgment"
This is from bible. So no reincarnation.
If one is a child of God and has followed Jesus as savior they go to heaven. "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me." Jesus said this.
It saddens me that atheist have no hope...so so sad.

Strength-we have salvation from our sins/hell into heaven
Weakness-we will be persecuted and will know many loved one will not go because of their rejection.
†

Answer 8

whatever you believe will happen will happen and it will be like a dream or an existence.

... but when you're dead you're "conked out" - not conscious. You're just a body. So this hypothesis is utterly ridiculous.


I''m an atheist and I think that when you die... you're just that - dead. No afterlife, no reincarnation... and life continues on around you. You're life and personality, etc. are now just memories in the people who knew and loved you.

Answer 9

I believe there is no life after death.

Our experiences are based on the state of our brain. When you're in a non-REM sleep, you experience nothing.

If I hit you in the head with a hammer and destroyed much of your brain, you might still live, but you would experience nothing.

When the brain is dead, I believe that's it. Game over for our personalities and our experiences.

IMHO, "life after death" is just something people believe in because they lack the courage to face up to reality.

Answer 10

I know that when I die I will be in heaven , which means here on earth I will be dead but in heaven I will be alive