To those who don't believe in Heaven or any Afterlife.?

Question

How can you possibly live your life thinking that when you die, you just perish into nothing? What an awful thought! It makes life look like a waste. If life is a waste, why live?

I mean, i'm not trying to point fingers or convert anybody. I am truly respectful of the life-style you live, but how can you live being sure that when you die, it's just... THE END?

Answer 1

We of Asatru believe that there is an afterlife, and that those who have lived virtuous lives will go on to experience greater fulfillment, pleasure, and challenge. Those who have led lives characterized more by vice than by virtue will be separated from kin and doomed to an existence of dullness and gloom. The precise nature of the afterlife - what it will look like and feel like - is beyond our understanding and is dealt with symbolically in the myths. Our lore describes many possible fates for the dead, from feasting in Valhalla, and the good and evil being sent to Hel (paradise) and Hifhel, respectively, to living on in the grave-mound to meddling in the affairs of one's descendants

There is also a tradition in Asatru of rebirth within the family line. Perhaps the individual is able to choose whether or not he or she is re-manifested in this world, or there may be natural laws which govern this. In a sense, of course, we all live on in our descendents quite apart from an afterlife as such.

We of Asatru do not overly concern ourselves with the next life. We live here and now, in this life. If we do this and do it well, the next life will take care of itself.

Answer 2

What we do ( or don't do ) affects the future of life in the universe long after we cease to exist . That is a purpose .
What we do makes us and others we care about feel good in THIS life . That is a purpose .
People work to earn money for many different purposes besides going on a vacation . Religious people , believers in an afterlife ( which a few Atheists also do believe in ) are putting all their money in the bank to go on a vacation to a place that a "travel group" ( the religion , of course !) is telling them is really great . The only problem is no one has proof that this destination exists , and there is a no refund policy . Once you die and the trip is cancelled you lose all that time you could have been spending on good times here on earth , instead of living in fear and guilt .

Answer 3

What's scary about that thought, when you really think about it? It wasn't horrible for me before I was born. It will be exactly like that, I think.

Life isn't a waste - it's a precious thing and humans are lucky to exist at all out of all the possible species that could have risen to be the dominant ones on the planet. I, personally, am a zillion times more lucky to be here as I am instead of somebody else in my place. A waste?! I don't think so. I'm certainly not wasting my life. Are you?

If you're only a believer in religion because you're afraid to believe in no afterlife, what a miserable reason to believe. And what a waste of a life, too. Living in fear and hoping that you'll survive your death seems like a terrible, depressing waste of a life to me. If you feel that way, I feel very sorry for you.

Answer 4

Why are you so vain and set on your earthly pleasures that you need to think that when you die here that you goto some magical paradise where you live forever? If that is the case what motivation do you have to actually live and experience anything worthwhile now? Why bother to live your earthly existence then? What is so inherently wrong with dying? And we never actually perish into nothing, we are comprised of matter and energy neither of which can be destroyed. So when we die all we really do is change form.

Answer 5

Okay, fair question. But look at it this way:

If God made humans and preordained our future, what's the point of living? If you have no freedom to live your life the way you want to, why bother?

From my point of view, the idea that life arose by chance and evolved to what we see today through natural processes is absolutely wonderful. The natural beauty around us should be a constant source of wonder and amazement, given that it occurred by chance. I think the concept that somebody made everything cheapens the whole deal.

As for no life after death, well... I agree it's not the most optimistic of options, but in my view it's certainly the most likely. And death isn't a waste, if you want to look at it in practical terms; after all, we're returning our organic material to nature.

I hope that gives you some insight into how some atheists - well, this atheist anyway - think :)

Answer 6

Why does a lack of afterlife make life itself a waste? If anything, it should make it all the more valuable.

You can just as easily look at it this way: If there's a heaven, what's the point of wasting your time on earth?

I... am an atheist...

Did you know that if I choose to run my own life, on my terms, I'll be a whole lot happier throughout it's precious expanse and I'll therein provide much more benefit to society?

Best enjoy my time in the here and now... And oh, how much fun I'll have... and oh, how much good I'll bring to others.

Answer 7

To nonbelievers, that's simply the way it is. It's like the unfairness of life. You just have to deal with it.

And a limited life makes it all that more valuable. As for meanings in life, people have found all sorts of meaning beyond religion. Religion is only one answer, no, thousands of reasons (from numbers of religion) that man has devised over the ages to rationalize his own existence.

Answer 8

Living life is exactly what I do. I don't live my life for some imaginary god or some false reward that I will never see. I live my life for now and if I end up leaving this life too soon then at least I enjoyed it.

Answer 9

Actually, it makes me treasure every moment of my life all the more, because this is IT. This is what there is, so do what you can with it while you have the opportunity.

People who spend their lives thinking about "their reward in Heaven" often miss the beauty of the world that is around them on a daily basis.

I'm reminded of Yoda: "All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing."

Answer 10

The only purpose of life is to make more of it. But humans have the ability to choose their own purpose; Carl Sagan said "If you want your life to have significance, do something significant." I would be delighted if there were more to life than one's all too short physical existence; I would also be delighted if I could fly by flapping my arms. There is no reason to believe in either.