Atheists...this is a question for you.??

Question

I have seen several atheists simply state that nothing happens when you die; you are just dead...you no longer exist, etc. Those atheists state these things as if they are fact. Don't you guys know that this cannot be proven as a fact because no one who is alive could know for sure what happens after we die? Why do many atheists claim to know *for a fact* that nothing exists for us after death?

PS - I am NOT a believer. And to the first guy who "answered" you are just avoiding the question. And just because believers do it, does that mean you must stoop to their level?

How can you still be alive without a brain? The neurosciences are now accumulating evidence that it may be possible. Read up on the current scholarly literature.

Answer 1

Nobody knows exactly what happens when you die, So stating that as a fact is kind of premature. So I agree with you on this one.

-Atheist

Answer 2

Those atheists are probably overstating their position to make a point. The only thing they can know for a fact is that there is no evidence that anything happens after you die. There is a lot of wishing and hoping and scholarly writing about what people think will happen after they die, but no one has been able to document evidence that is observable by others. Both theists and atheists are in the same boat on this one, but neither want to admit it.

We don't know. That's the real answer.

Some people choose to believe that what their religion tells them will happen is the truth. Others choose not to believe anything until they have concrete evidence that something is true. This is how our courts of law function. Judgements are made only when they are supported by observable, documented, and verified evidence.

Because it is impossible to absolutely prove that something does not exist (or didn't happen), our society must only act on that which can absolutely be proven that it does exist (or did happen).

I can't prove to you that there is a special Angel circling around the moon who comes down to earth and talks to me whenever I have a bad day any more than you can prove to me that there is a God who is up in the ether somewhere who watches over you and makes all the rules for society and decides what happens to us when we die.

Why can't we just agree to disagree on this one? We will all find out the truth for ourselves (or be proven wrong) eventually, so why bother fighting about it?

Answer 3

I just basically figure that death is non-existence because before birth we were non-existent and so after death, when once again we have no body (or at least no functioning body) we will be non-existent again.

I don't so much claim that this is a fact as I claim that it's probably the most likely thing to be true. I don't believe in magical souls and so without a soul, what would there be of a mind that would keep on existing after the body is dead?

Answer 4

When atheists say these things, they aren't necessarily saying that they know without a doubt that this is what actually happens. They are just saying that that's what they think happens. It's like asking Christians why they state "for a fact" that people go to heaven or hell after they die. Any atheist or theist who claims to know anything about what happens after we die "for a fact" is just posturing. There's no way to know these things while we are still alive.

Answer 5

Through out our life and the lives of several generations before us (going back at least a thousand years) the leading theories about life after death come exclusively from religion.... the promise of heaven happens after the deceivers promise of eternal life on earth fails.. but as this religious momentum gave him power over the masses, he continued... his promise of eternal life in heaven also fail.. the difference here is that because his slaves promissed blind faith he never has to prove that it ever occured... so using some bible here's a verse.. "let those who have eyes see... let those who have ears hear" what your eyes see hapening when you die is what occurs... what is the proof?. what our eyes see... it is far easier to prove death is final that it is to prove heaven or any other form of life after death exists...

proof that it does not exist.... Harry Houdini... now there's a man who could escape from anything... as if his life experience made him the perfect candidate to prove if life existed after death... now if heaven or hell needed to be escaped from he is ready... and he made a pact with his wife giving only her something he would say.. if there is life after death.. he would reach her..... for 20 yrs or so after his death his wife searched every avenue to no avail... she never got her message... and since then many so called beleivers went around unmasking the so called sceance profiteers and psychics...

Answer 6

no one know actually what is the answer of this question.
but we try to figure out logically.
if we have a soul, i believe the other animals and plants should have souls too as they are living being. it does not make us special just because we are human.
but there is no evidence that there are souls in plants and other animals. i conclude that human don't have a soul.

i do believe that there are some thing left behind when we die.. memories of the dead is still "living" in other ppl.

even there is something left behind, it doesn't mean they we are still alive in other place.

so i say, relax and enjoy your life. it is better than worrying what happen to you when you die. we will reach the point that we will know what happen to us anyway.

Answer 7

Put it this way ..... this is the truth to our knowledge as of now.

Many atheists, this might surprise you, have a view of an after life. However, due to the lack of evidences, we keep the view of the after life to ourself and not to propagate it as the gospel truth like some religious organisation did.

The only difference between an atheist and a theist is the fact that atheist does not believe in the existence of supreme creature without evidences, until proven wrong while theist believes in the existence of supreme creature without proof, until proven wrong.

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I had read your "scholarly" evidences, but these are only in hypothesis stage. In fact, I had to read something like that everyday to keep updated to the latest advancement on the development on Medical and Psychological sciences.

Answer 8

well we certainly cant prove that there is no afterlife, or anything of the like...we can come to this conclusion through our general knowledge. for example we know the brain is responsible for all functions, feelings and thoughts. i think it is a safe assumption that when you brain either ceases to function or exist, naturrally its functionality would die with it.

with science it is upon the person who makes a claim to validate it against the evidence that we have. our evidence points that there is no "afterlife".

we also cannot disprove the celestial tea-pot that orbits pluto but we can come to a fairly general concensus that its existence is "non-existant"

we simply use the same method for death, i hope this helps

Answer 9

Ya got me on that one--especially if stem cells from a person can be kept alive and then implanted into someone else's brain upon their death, then who really does know exactly what will happen to death--perhaps it will lose it's meaning as "the end". Good point you made there!

Answer 10

Given the facts that we know now, that nothing happens after death is just the logical conclusion to draw. One can always revise later when new knowledge is gained, but for me at least, I state it as a fact because given what I know it IS a fact!

Answer 11

Look, you believe in a magical soul that goes somewhere. Other Christians believe Jesus will ressurect the dead, but nothing will happen with them until he does. Either way, since there is no evidence of a soul, and that there is in fact no reason to believe that a soul exists, we must assume that when the brain dies and you can no longer perceive, all will be as it was before you were born--except what you have managed to influence and change in your brief stay during life.