Atheists...?

Question

hypothetically, say you died (Heaven forbid), and found yourself as a disembodied spirit, floating near your old body? What WOULD be going through your mind (assuming you could still think) at realizing you were wrong all this time, and that there actually is an afterlife?? How surprised would you be???

Answer 1

As a believer in the scientific method, my curiosity would be at an all-time high, waiting to see what happens next!

No wait! Can I change my answer? I like the one about Brad Pitt!

Answer 2

That's exactly why I can't be religious. It's only about assuming. I think nothing will happen anymore when I die because I think the mind (the spirit or soul as religious people tend to call it) is gone too, because it's made out of the hard- and soft-wiring of your brain. When the brain dies, the "soul" dies. But hypothetically, in case it's not over after death, I'll see what's going to happen.
I can't believe in midgets, I can't believe in the afterlife, I can't believe in a god. I can't start believing in any of them just for the sake of it, or as some kind of insurance policy for the afterlife.

Answer 3

I dont know.. but I think Paul Kurtz has an answer.

The first objection of the skeptic to this claim is that the forms of salvation being offered are highly sectarian. The Hebrew Bible promises salvation for the chosen people; the New Testament, the Rapture to those who have faith in Jesus Christ; the Qur'an, heaven to those who accept the will of Allah as transmitted by Muhammad.
In general, these promises are not universal but apply only to those who comply to a specific creed, as interpreted by priests, ministers, rabbis, or mullahs. Bloody wars have been waged to establish the legitimacy of the papacy (between Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy), the priority of Muhammad and the Qur'an, or the authenticity of the Old Testament.
A second objection is that there is insufficient scientific evidence for the claim that the "soul" can exist separate from the body and that it can survive death as a "discarnate" being, and much less for the claim that it can persist throughout eternity. Science points to the fact that the "mind" or "consciousness" is a function of the brain and nervous system and that with the physical death of the body, the "self" or "person" disappears. Thus, the claim that a person's soul can endure forever is supported by no evidence whatever, only by pious hope.
Along the same line, believers have never succeeded in demonstrating the existence of the disembodied souls of any of the billions who went before us. All efforts to communicate with such discarnate entities have been fruitless. Sightings of alleged ghosts have not been corroborated by reliable eyewitness testimony.

Answer 4

I would be very surprised. I'd savor my memories while I still had them and assume that I was having a short-term experience known as near-death experience. It would be likely that my brain was shutting down due to lack of oxygen and that I was hallucinating. I'd make the most of my last moments, even if it was just savoring the feeling of being alive.

We all die. Everyone knows that. It's what you do while still alive that matters.

Death itself isn't scary, if you get past the self-preservation aspect. It is much like the time before you were born, before existence. It is also a lot like a deep sleep that you never wake up from.

Answer 5

Atheists don't believe in God, but plenty believe in an afterlife. It wouldn't surprise me-- and there would be proof that neither Heaven or Hell existed just by the fact I was still with my body.

I'd be thinking how fun it was going to be to freak people out.

Answer 6

Well, despite being an atheist I still believe in an afterlife so that wouldn't be too suprising in the least. How suprised would you be in that situation, because it sounds like you wouldn't be going to Heaven by the looks of things.

Answer 7

Could ask any christian or you, the same question. How would you feel if you died and found your soul floating. That would also mean that you mis-interpreted your purpose in life. That you aren't here to badger those that don't believe the same as you.

Answer 8

I'd be p!ssed off at first..... but assuming there was no special "ghost law" holding me down and "ghost prison" if I didn't behave myself.... I'd promptly do my utmost to wreak havoc on the world of the living.

And if I couldn't?
Well that would just suck epic ar5e and I cannot honestly say that I can imagine a worse fate.

At least I could get into cinemas for free though.

Answer 9

I'd be pleasantly surprised - it's something I've always had a desire for but there's only very limited questionable evidence supporting the possibility.

Answer 10

I'll be dead. I won't have a mind for anything to go through. It will have shut off with death.

What about all the silly believers in the afterlife who never get there. Fortunately, they are dead too and won't be able to contemplate their wasted lives.