2007-10-02 06:28:36 · 33 answers · asked by Lisa M 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
If by afterlife, you mean the probability exists that if the Universe was to experience a big crunch and another big bang, someone who looks like me could hypothetically come into existence, sure...
2007-10-02 06:33:56 · answer #1 · answered by Stedway 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like any group, Atheism attracts a broad range of people with different beliefs.
So while some Atheist deny both the existence of a God and an afterlife, there are some Atheist who accept the possibility of an of afterlife:
Most of the Atheist that I know who do believe in an afterlife, try to rationalize it from a scientific point of view.
2007-10-02 06:42:41 · answer #2 · answered by Infernal Disaster 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are an Atheist ONLY if you believe that ALL THERE IS is the life you are living now, nothing before, nothing after. If you believe in an 'afterlife' but not in a god, you are an 'agnostic' ... the term generally means that you 'have serious doubts' about the existence of a god, but that you are willing to accept 'parts' of theology, of which an afterlife is probably the 'top' of that list.
2007-10-02 06:32:52 · answer #3 · answered by Kris L 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Most likely not.
I for one am an atheist, and I am afraid to die, cause I think I really like being alive. Life is good and fun. And I know I only have one chance to live.
When you think about it, that is a very empowering thought: I don't sit waiting for divine justice (though I believe in an inexact form of social karma just based on observations) and I don't need to ask useless questions like "Why does god let bad stuff happen to good people" For the most part, very strong social forces determine what happens to most people and the rest are just freak incidents that demand no explanation.
The downside to this is that now you have to own up to your own destiny, instead of relying on god. And that means you need to have a set of values you truly believe in, and act accordingly, not just wait for god to teach you and lead you along the way.
I think *most* people in this world don't have what it takes to be an atheist because left to their own devices they would just watch TV and get fat and be drawn to the needs of society manifested thru advertising and consumerism. Religion and belief in god can lead to more satisfying lives for those people.
Now here is another question: What do people who believe in an afterlife think the afterlife would be like? Would it resemble life in any way? would people have free wills and do things based on the principles that appear to guide people (selfishness, horniness, hunger, love, and so on)
How can you know that an afterlife is:
1. Good for you
2. Not just an extension of regular life
Cause if it was an extension of regular life, it seems like an excuse to procrastinate what you need to get done in this life.
And whether or not it is a good life in the afterlife, you just don't know it. We don't have any reliable witnesses of what an afterlife is like.
So the simplest explanation is, I am what you see and what I see in the mirror, This body and brain and blood. And when I die, it is recycled into soil and plants grow on it, and so on. I am a machine, but a machine with principles and values and a set of beliefs and a love for life. All of those things need no further proof, we see it happen all the time. People rot away when dead. It's not that glamorous.
2007-10-02 06:43:31 · answer #4 · answered by Aurelio R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure, you can believe that people simply become ghosts. That doesn't require any Gods. Now, can a Christian that doesn't believe in Ptah believe that the world was created by the simple spoken word of a god?
Edit: For those that don't get my point, people can believe in many of the same things, but differ on what causes them. The only things in which you'll find consensus are things that can be proven to be true. I seriously doubt that there are many Christians today that believe the world is flat, but if you read up on Galileo and Copernicus, you'll find that the Christians of today hold vastly different beliefs than the Chrisitans of that time.
2007-10-02 06:33:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It wouldn't make sense. Presumably, the reason he doesn't believe in God is that there's no empirical evidence of God. Why would he have a different test for an afterlife?
2007-10-02 06:32:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yup, they can. It's like how you can be superstitious (to a point) and still be an atheist. The afterlife is sort of like that--you can believe what you want without being attatched to a certain religion.
2007-10-02 06:32:16 · answer #7 · answered by MC2 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes - some forms of Buddhism have no Creator Deity (or any Deity for that matter - thereby making them Atheistic) but have a Metaphysical structure that support a kind of "Afterlife" that shunts you into Reincarnation.
2007-10-02 06:32:49 · answer #8 · answered by D.Chen 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Even if you think the Bible invented the idea of the afterlife, which it didn't, why would God be the only way to achieve it?
2007-10-02 06:34:39 · answer #9 · answered by primary_chem 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheism is different from other concepts of life. Hence Atheists may not believe in God but they may or may not believe in life after death.
2007-10-02 06:36:13 · answer #10 · answered by Hobby 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋