For ATHEISTS: how do you interpret the belief in an afterlife?

Question

What is the originating source of this 'need' or 'hope'?

Answer 1

I think you expressed it perfectly without further explanation. "Need" & "Hope." It's a sort of "scaffold" in an uncertain world, filled with unanswerable questions.

Answer 2

An afterlife is a myth, a delusion or an illusion depending on your perspective.
but...
there is an after-something perhaps an aftermath.

Life is not the word, we need a new one. Afterlife implies there is a consciousness or self awareness after death and that this afterlife is a reward for good behaviour.

Nothing is obliterated except consciousness and self awareness . People die but in death they simply change form. The body decays and becomes fertilizer, dirt nourishing other forms of life and future human life.The electrical energy utilized by mankind is returned to the environment where it too is recycled.Unlike us the planet is efficient.

So we call it an afterlife but the term" life" gives us pause.

The religious afterlife includes some kind of heaven or hell which is where the myth comes in.and there is no reward except in the knowledge while I am able to retain it that I as a species am not a wasted.

Answer 3

One of the most difficult things for people to comprehend is mortality, in general--the "end" of things. Afterlife as in heaven, & reincarnation are of course two quite different things. Religion is not a prerequisite for the belief, hope or wish for immortality. (Reincarnation.) Belief in heaven or hell can be both comforting & fearful. This belief also affects the way we live our lives, & how we feel about life. Reincarnation is more free flowing (except for Karma which places values on our actions). The stress on "belief" in religion is ascent to doctrines. Belief in general, is something accepted by the mind as being true without certain proof. To my knowledge, neither "beliefs" have been proved, since no on has come back to tell us.

Edit: Nodality made some good points in the first paragraph, although the pejorative "delusional" wasn't necessary & was a bit insulting to those who have beliefs, which is their right. I don't agree with the second paragraph at all, nor the word "bizarre." Everyone is entitled to their belief, or non-belief without being critical of the other. At least, that's the way I see it.

Answer 4

The belief in an afterlife first made its appearance among homo sapiens around 60,000 years ago when the first evidence of ceremonial burials first appeared. It would seem to be a natural development of primitive barbaric cave men to explain the unknown universe using CAVE MAN logic. The belief of an afterlife cushions them from the harsh reality of their eventual death and utter annihilation. Perhaps it was a survival mechanism?

Answer 5

I want my mommy! Yes, seriously, it stems from the death of loved ones and the 'need' to think that they still exist 'somehow' and we will see them again. Originally there was very little known about anything, or rather everything unexplained was supposed to be 'super-natural' in origin, the 'spirit' world which means breath translates easily into wind, the stars, the moon, the sun etc.

To believe in a tooth fairy makes it easier for children to accept tooth pain by the promise of a reward; an after life makes it easier for 'children' to accept the pain of mortality by the same method...

Answer 6

Same hope that we'll continue living in the next minute if we aren't thinking about an afterlife. People are afraid of an end to consciousness or happiness, and rightfully so.

Answer 7

It is purely delusional. people seem to think that there "has" to be something more. The fact is, there doesn't have to be any more. People want to think that they will get some sort of reward for being "good" (usually meaning that they followed doctrine well) at the end of it all. There doesn't have to be. The humanist gets their rewards in this life, and knows it is foolish to expect anything else.

Why people believe in this bizarre concept (and similar ones, like reincarnation) is beyond me. I put it down to effective indoctrination by establishments peddling lies about the future in exchange for money and power in this existence, such as religions, mysticism and the like.

Answer 8

As a student of all religions, one's experience after death will allign with one's learned beliefs about it. When you've advanced far enough to give all of them up you will experience a return to an undifferentiated plane of existence that is timeless. The choice for the next incarnation will be based on your accumulated knowledge at the time of the last death - what remains for you to accomplish or contribute or understand or overcome etc. will determine the next life.

Answer 9

afterlife has nothing to do with religon


when u fail in a class u r kept back in that class (u require time to learn more )
if ur too good u get to go to higher class by skipping one in between (u already know so much that u can skip )

that is life

our judgement of good and bad may not be what actually is

Answer 10

I interpret it as a combination of need for belief that life doesn't end (people seem to think that life just *ending* makes life seem pointless, when actually it does the exact opposite), and need for a reward for spending your life obeying

Answer 11

final time you checked? What, you have a purple telephone with an prompt connection to the previous? Or, extra probable, you basically desperate to make stuff up. seem on the words you employ: evil, burning, "permit you bypass". Do you have fun with those sadistic fantasies? This god you describe is a villain in a horror action picture. have fun with it sluggish with him. I choose sulfur.