Atheists, do you wish there was an afterlife?

Question

I do ...... The idea of heaven, is a comforting thought. The concept of hell as gruesome as it is would make life more meaninful - after all we would be in realization that we are going to a greater plane of existence after death. However, my subjective desire of wanting an afterlife and the objective fact of what happens when we die are two seperate things. Dying, is like using the restroom there`s nothing faboulous about it. We will all cease to exist one day. Do you wish there was an afterlife?

Answer 1

Yes!

Believe it or not, I didn't decide to become an atheist. That's just how I wound up. I started asking myself some serious questions, and I gave myself some honest answers. The result was that I realized that there is no God.

I was a believer for 40 years until this happened, and realizing that God doesn't exist was a lot like when you were a kid and found out there isn't a Santa Claus, but quite a bit more disturbing.

I still hate the idea that serial killers will reach the exact same destination as good people. I would rather believe that there is a benevolent diety out there somewhere who is watching out for me and has a place prepared for me.

Unfortunately, I just don't buy it anymore. I wish I could.

Still, atheism isn't a green light for me to do any foolish thing I want to just because there will be no Hell. There are purely secular reasons why I wouldn't want to do as an atheist the things I wouldn't want to do as a christian. I think we make our own heaven and hell in this life, based on the consequences of our actions; and there are always consequences.

It has nothing to do with God, IMHO.

El Chistoso

Answer 2

It depends on what kind of afterlife you're talking about.

An afterlife spent kissing God's *** without indulging any desires. No, thank you.

An afterlife where my wishes are reality and there is infinite delight. That would be nice.

An afterlife of being physically or mentally tortured. Hell no.

An afterlife where I can roam the earth as a spirit observing people. Might be interesting for a while, but it would get boring.

Being reincarnated as a human or other organism with no memory of my past life. I'm indifferent.

Answer 3

Not in the least. I wish I could live longer BEFORE death, but not for more than 500 years or so - that would be long enough to witness some really interesting history and to learn a lot about a lot. Then I think I'd be done. But wishing won't make it so. And as for the "afterlife" - it sounds terribly dull. I can't imagine the attraction. Seeing dead relatives would be nice, but again, it's more important to grow up and realize that the end means the end.

Answer 4

particular, in spite of the undeniable fact that it relies upon on what the afterlife is like. The afterlife than many faiths choose for to have self assurance in takes away which skill from the only existence you have. that's an afterlife of servant-hood and would not look interesting in any understand.

Answer 5

i've thought about this a few times. in a way yes. it would be nice to see people ultimately held accountable for those they hurt, even for petty crimes. but then i start thinking, some of these people who hurt others are the way they are because of some emotionally traumatic event that happened early in their lives, i.e. physical abuse. others are the way they are because they were born that way with some form of chemical imbalance. how would punishing these people beyond this life make it any more meaningful?
but thenn, who say there has to be any sort of punishment in the afterlife? maybe we are all just left with thoughts of our life after we die. and we have to think about the choices we've made. maybe it's for all eternity, maybe it's only for a split second. i wouldn't mind that.
still, in any situation, the concept of an afterlife would seem rather pointless.

Answer 6

Yes, I wish there were an afterlife. It is a shame that everything I have researched on the matter indicates otherwise, because in all reality I do want there to be an afterlife.. What I want and what I get do not often coincide though :(

I also agree with toogethr as far as life extension goes, it is one area that I remain hopeful in.

Answer 7

The only reason I wish there was a heaven is because we're supposed to learn and understand everything there. There's SO many things I wish I knew about the world and the thought that I'll eventually have all my questions answered is tempting.

Other than that, I really don't care.

Answer 8

Of course. It would be bad if everything would be black in the end.
But there are risks involved. As some people believe, there is heaven and hell.
Hell is hell which is bad. And Heaven is the opposite.
But if there is a chance where you can go to hell, I rather not have an afterlife even though there is heaven. (conservatism)

To gain a chance in heaven, you must also take the chance of hell with it.

*For me I rather lose heaven to lose hell*

Answer 9

I have wished for "continued life", not an "after life". I don't know what 'after life' means. It sounds contradictory. Death is the END of life. There can be no life after death since that would negate the meaning of the word death. Now, a continuation of life is something else. There is reason to believe this is possible using technologies that are coming online right now. Read Ray Kurzweil.

Answer 10

Perhaps, but I'd want it to be more reasonable. On the hell side, I certainly wouldn't want a normal, good but non believing person to be punished with eternal torments, that seems like a extreme price to pay. On the heaven side, it seems like a overly extravagant reward for a few years on this earth. Both seem to be highly fixed and over compensating for the few, short years that we have in this life.