Atheist: When you die..?

Question

Please give me intelligible answers.
What are you going to think/say/do if when you do die, you find out there really is a God and a Heaven and Hell.
What would you think?

Please think about it, thanks.

First of all I NEVER SAID HE WAS MY GOD.
Second I AM ASKING A GENERAL QUESTION TO ATHEISTS, NOT ACCUSING THEM OF ANYTHING.
You people get so defensive.

Answer 1

Pascal's Wager, eh? I'll take the Hindu version. It'll be fine, because Vishnu is easy-going.

Answer 2

Wow... all I can say is that you're REALLY gonna be in deep kim chi, when you arrive at the great tree fungus in the sky, and find out that the Speckled Tree Frog worshippers from the jungles of Borneo were right, all along.

You know... I kind of like what Icarus62 had to say about this sort of question, a month or so ago... "Here's one way of looking at it: Live as if there are no gods, enjoy life, and be a decent person. If there is indeed a just god, you will be rewarded. If there are no gods, you had a worthwhile life and that's the end of it. If there is an unjust god, then you're probably screwed anyway, whatever you do." ~ Icarus62
.

Answer 3

FIRST i would go "Huh" then i would go about my business, doing whatever goes on wherever i end up. Plus if any god wants to punish me for not believing in them then they are not somebody i would idol, or worship. I am not an atheist because i do not like being confined by the definition of a word. If some sort of god showed up i would have to say it was real, but until then i will keep an open mind and do the sensible thing and not worry about worshiping something that wants to send me to hell.

Good question though

Answer 4

Naturally, I doubt that will happen. But since this is a hypothetical question, I'll oblige.

If I were to die only to discover that there really is a God, Heaven, and Hell I would know that although I did not follow a particular religion, I was a good person who cared for others and lead a moral and ethical, fulfilling life. If this displeased your God, I would still stand up for what I believed during this life.

*Drink*

Answer 5

I would probably be glad that I lived a good life and treated people fairly and as I would like to be treated.

If this God of yours truly is love, I should have nothing to worry about. If he is more like the selfish one in the OT, then I guess me and my trillions of homies in hell will just have to take over heaven.

I mean, if the only way into heaven is by trusting that a schizophrenic man who lived 2000 years ago is my only hope, I think we will have the numbers to take the small handful of you on.

And we fight dirty ;)

Answer 6

The event is too unlikely (unless one broadens it to a life after death and not just Christianity) to think about it very much. it's the difference between a black swan (google Karl Popper) and a flying pig.

I would, however, say that God asks too much, to have me believe in something without evidence, especially when it is perfectly within his power to properly reveal his existence.

Old books and cheap tricks don't count. By omnipotent standards, they're sub par, to say the least.

Answer 7

What makes you think it would be *YOUR* specific god?



What if the god that really exists sends all good people to heaven and all bad people to hell except people who pretended to know for a fact another god existed? then all good atheists are going to heaven but YOU ARE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL. Why not repend when you still have time? Why risk eternity in hell?

And how can you worship a sadistic god that tortures good people - most of the people who ever lived - for all eternity?

Pascal's wager:

"If god exists, it's infinitely better to believe, since you get heaven instead of hell for eternity. If he doesn't, it doesn't matter since you're dead anyway. So overall it's better to believe"

This is, of course, false.

Some of the problems with the argument:

* The implied assumption that god may exist (with a 50% probability, no less!)

* The assumption that there is an afterlife with a heaven and hell

* The assumption that the god cares about belief in him/her above all else

* The assumption that if you believe in a god, it will definitely be the same god that actually exists.

* The assumption that you lose nothing if it's false. You have lost a great deal, from time praying to a nonexistent entity (some people pray several hours a day!!!) to morality (your god may ask you to hurt other people) and much more besides.

* The assumption that people can believe in something simply because it benefits them. Would you believe goblins exist for twenty bucks? Why not?

* The assumption that any god won't see through the "believing just to get into heaven" ploy.

For more:
http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/wager.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal-wager/
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/wager.html

Answer 8

The same thing I would do whenever I'm in a situation I don't wish to be in... deal with it.
But, and I want to be clear here... I totally and completely reject the petty, megalomaniacal tyrant that 'christians' seem to think resides in the great beyond.
I couldn't and wouldn't worship the god of the christian bible because he is only worthy of scorn.

Answer 9

Not that it is going to happen, but just to play along:

I'd say that I led a good life, didn't hurt people, I helped people when I could, was a good husband, father, son, brother, etc, did good deeds, and if he's going to condemn me just because I didn't believe in him, then he's no kind of god anyway. Once that's established, he'd either let me in or vanish.

Answer 10

Have you ever seen a hearse go by
And think that you'd be the next to die?
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
The worms crawl in and out my snout.

I live a good life and I die, anything else would be a pleasant surprize.