Athiests, what happens when you die?

Question

Do you feel we are absolutely meaningless after death? Do you feel that if we were not a celebrity, or that if we didn't do something important to the world we were a failure? Or that if you took a life that there would be no punishment for your actions? Or that when we die we eventually are forgotten and never made a difference? We all have a use, and this is our training. Think about that.

No, I don't feel meaningless. I've got a good life.

I actually did NOT mean to question anyone's beleifs. I simply wanted to know what you thought. Sorry if any of this came off too strong, which I think it did as I'm rereading this again. And Gigantor, that was not cool. My beleifs are that there is heaven, but God is all forgiving.

Answer 1

I am one of trillions of people who have lived and will not be remembered a generation or two after my death.

It's ok to be just a regular guy...

Answer 2

Athiests, what happens when you die? Death is the end no more consciousness , no light at the end of a tunnel, no darkness, just plain the end..

Do you feel we are absolutely meaningless after death?

You feel nothing you are dead see above..

Do you feel that if we were not a celebrity, or that if we didn't do something important to the world we were a failure?

Even small thngs are important not everyones mark is going to be grandeous... Even a small pebble dropped into a pond makes a ripple that effects othe parts of the pond..


Or that if you took a life that there would be no punishment for your actions?

If someone takes a life there is punishment through laws of the land..


Or that when we die we eventually are forgotten and never made a difference?

Eventually I will be forgotten and that's ok. I know i have made a difference in someones life no matter how small that difference is.. I am ok with that.

We all have a use, and this is our training. Think about that.

I have died before I spent several minutes clinically dead on a delivery room table I saw no light, no darkness nothing just missing time until the deflbulator was used and it felt like someone set my hands, feet and head on fire and smashed my chest with an elephant..

Think about that.. I have seen death up close and personal maybe I know more about what happens at death than you do...

Until you die and kow for sure lve life to the fullest and stop acting the fool.

Answer 3

I feel that life is never meaningless--and that an afterlife would make life meaningless. What's the point of living if you have paradise at the end of the road? Who gives a crap about the struggles of life if you get another life of cushy happiness in death?

On the punishment POV, if someone is already dead, I don't really think they need a punishment. Being dead is punishment enough. I can only hope that the person regretted their actions or was sent to jail before the end. But life isn't fair, and justice isn't always served.

And how does being religious make you any more remembered on this planet than not being religious? Everyone has a point if they make one for themselves--and if you snooze, you lose. Work hard, like the rest of the world, instead of relying on your God for everything like a lazy bum. Furthermore, if you feel you were a failure in life, and that you did absolutely NOTHING good in your entire existence, then that would be your own fault.

Answer 4

No, I don't think that either life or death are meaningless... though I believe that "nothing" happens when we die... except that we are mulched back into the world, our water and nutrients being "reincarnated" into fungi, bacteria or other micro-organisms.. which get eaten by bigger things... and so on.

The celebrity's life is definitely meaningless... but I live every day making the most of my time here, trying to protect the biosphere from the vain selfishness of my kind.

If I killed someone, there would be legal punishment for my actions because I live in a society that believes that it is not okay to inflict harm on others (in most cases...) I think that all ethical structures are basically human in origin, but I don't think that diminishes them. It's admirable that we have built social, legal and ethical cultural structures.

I also don't think that atheism makes life meaningless.... A life that is predertmined, made by an all-powerful being with eternal rules -- that's meaningless. A life of free-will in a beautiful, complex and unique biological entity, the earth, is filled with meaning.

I won't mind being forgotten, but everything we do, every day, mkes a difference.

Answer 5

1/ We die. Eaten by worms. Back to earth under another form.
2/ Yes, I do. Just like before.
3/ I don't think being a celebrity is a such a freat success, that's pretty shallow, actually. I don't care if no one remembers me, except my firends and family, And, soon, no one will remember me. That's fine. My ego is not so big that I can't handle it! And I don't think that doing nothing important (ie: saving the world, finding a cure for cancer, etc.) makes me a failure.
4/ I'd expect to be punished on earth.
5/ See "3" for forst question. And I made a difference for my family. I'm sure my parents were happy when I was born. Or for other people. Maybe I'll have kids, which for me is usually the whole point of any species on earth (although I'm not sure I want kids).
6/ Training for what? I'm not sure I quite follow you, here.

Answer 6

I make my life the best that I can. I may not make an impact on the world but how many do? If I do wrong I expect to be punished here on earth. I will be remember by my friends and family. Even other religions are faced with this not just atheist. Do you expect that if you killed a person you would be forgiven by god just by asking and then no punishment? I'm not interested in the after life and there isn't one. I am interested in how I live my life now.

Answer 7

Think of life and death like a board game. If I win a game of chess, nothing that happens afterward will change the fact that I won that chess game. Even if I forget years later that I won that game, the fact is, I did win it. My forgeting that fact does nothing to diminish it.

If I do something well in life, I'd rather it be for a selfless reason that no-one may ever know about or remember, than for the selfish reason of impressing someone, even God. And if there is a God, and he is not impressed by my willingness to perform an act without expectation of reward from him, then so be it. But I'd think that would impress him more than the minions who do his bidding out of fear of retribution or from the lure of a heavenly reward.

Answer 8

Why is this so hard for religious people to understand? Nothing happens after you die. You die, your body ceases to function and so you cease to be. Its the end. Our lives only mean something to those that loved us, nothing more.

There is no "failure" of a life. Its just life. You live and you die, thats it.

Why is it so hard to understand that sometimes there really is no punishment for actions? Some people are just nasty people and thats the way it is. You'll either pay for your actions while you are alive, in the form of getting caught and making alot of other people angry, or you won't.

There are plenty of people that have made a difference. Einstein invented the Atomic bomb, Edison invented the lightbulb, etc. They have made a difference to the people living. But most people will not matter in life. Thats the way life works.

I'm not "used", honey. By anyone. You may like to be a slave to your fantasy but I'm NOT going to be a slave to YOUR fantasy. Like it or not.

Its not that hard to understand. You are not the priveleged of the living. You do not get special treatment. You live and you die, thats it.

Answer 9

I further believe it don't matter a whit what you were before you died. It want make one ounce of difference to you any more. Everything will not only be meaningless it will be nonexistent to you after you die. I have thought about it and your idea of death is nonsense sorry. We will all be forgotten eventually some sooner than others. Even the great ones like Jesus Christ.
Kisses Betty B

Answer 10

nicely, you think of it sucks, yet once you think of approximately it you have been no longer latest for Billions of years beforehand you have lived, so dying would not extremely be any different. besides, i could particularly face that fact than to trick myself into believing that a God of misunderstanding helps fallible human beings to edit his observe and reason lots confusion approximately some thing he's meant to have wanted us to earnings interior the 1st place. I could do all the artwork, positioned forth all the attempt, yet by some ability he gets all the huge distinction. that would not sound like a God in any respect, in simple terms sounds like a mixture of denial and wishful thinking, convolved to type some form of unsuitable perception of a being called "Yahweh".