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| 13 Jan 2014 09:27 PM |
| To be atheist, but want to believe in an afterlife? Being atheist gets me so depressed sometimes. Knowing that all there is after death is Oblivion? I think of my grandpa and cry a little. He thinks I'm Christian, and he prays about me. I hear those prayers and cry, knowing that we won't be going to a heaven. |
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| 13 Jan 2014 09:27 PM |
| I wouldn't want to live forever. |
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| 13 Jan 2014 09:28 PM |
| The crying makes you sound like a baby |
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| 13 Jan 2014 09:31 PM |
| Probably because I am FunExpress. A big baby. |
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| 13 Jan 2014 09:32 PM |
| I'm going to heaven, Lieutenant Dan |
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| 13 Jan 2014 09:34 PM |
| I guess OT isn't a good place for serious subjects. I should know this by now, after 3 years foruming on here. |
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| 13 Jan 2014 09:36 PM |
If you want to believe there is an afterlife, be agnostic.
I'm Christian. :L |
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| 13 Jan 2014 09:45 PM |
| But I just can't. I can't believe in something like an afterlife. I wish I could. It would give me hope for my life. |
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Zipo99
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| 13 Jan 2014 09:52 PM |
So, here is a serious answer for you: Growing up I was raised as a Christian until I was about 14 when I decided that religion just wasn't for me. I won't go into the reasons of why because they don't matter here. I effectively became an agnostic: not believing in any organized religion but being open to the possibility that I could be wrong.
My mother, while a Christian, is also highly spiritual. At a young age she taught me that all things have a spirit, an essence, and should be respected and treated as such.
I think of myself as a man of science, yet I constantly battle with the prospect of whether compassion or logic is most important in my decision making. For those familiar with philosophy, it is a battle between Kantianism and Utilitarianism. Over the years I have come to the conclusion: I would rather believe in what leads me to be a better, happier individual rather than what can be proven.
I still don't believe in any god or any of the usual after lives. I believe that my consciousness will rejoin the universe as the atoms that make up my body rejoin the cycle of creation and death. I believe that I will become a star, not in any literal sense, but more of a spiritual one. It is a highly personal matter that I share with you, seeing as no one else knows my opinion on life after death. ----- What I am trying to say is that it is alright to believe in what makes you happy. You don't have to have a reason that can be explained to anyone else. You don't need to share what you believe. Believe what makes you happy. I think that if you do this then you will lead a more fulfilling existence. To each their own, and no one needs a reason to believe what they do. Accept and respect it. |
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kitty234
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Roonil
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:05 PM |
| I've been having a lot of very similar thoughts myself. I prefer to say I don't associate myself with any religion. Instead, I try to accommodate other religions, and don't judge them. Nowadays atheists are doing the same thing that they claim other religions do. They think every other religion is stupid just because they don't have science to back them up. I completely understand. I hope you find comfort. |
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Zipo99
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cutbox
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:11 PM |
but what is the afterlife to an athiest? for christians and probably most other religions, there's heaven |
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:12 PM |
| I'm going to Heaven lieutenant Dan |
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:13 PM |
Zippo, I really respect and appreciate what you said. I can relate myself to you so well. The thing that I'm struggling on is not asking for acceptance from others. It's my struggle to understand why I believe in something I do not wish to believe. I like to call it not being stubborn. When I came to believe in no supreme being, I did not like the thought of it. I grew up hearing about a glorious sanctum called heaven. It appealed to me. When I was introduced to atheism, it was hard the grasp and swallow, and took me several years to decide that I will not believe in a religion.
Here is an analogy: It's like a man being told that his son died in war. He doesn't want to accept it, but has to. |
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kitty234
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:13 PM |
| I think the "afterlife" is hallucinations caused by the release of DMT when close to and after death has occurred. |
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:16 PM |
I have been down your road. I try to put together basic theories to make me happy. Here's mine:
I believe that humans created themselves. (Much like the Egyptian story how Atom, their god created himself.) It seems a bit odd, but I like to think that well, basically we were creatures who actually used our whole brain and had the ability to manipulate the physical world around us, to fulfill our needs. Hence why nature is made with literally everything we will ever need. Originally I see us as creating ourselves in spirit form, and then creating our physical bodies and then all that we see around us. When we die, we lose our physical body and revert back to our spiritual form. The reason we've forgotten how to use our spiritual abilities is because we have chosen to leave those ways behind, and continue to give birth in our physical form, rather than our spiritual form. Thus, upon dying we are awakened in our spiritual form and all secrets are revealed, upon discovering this life-after-death.
I like to believe this theory also explains paranormal activity of any sort, the illusion of gods and other spiritual mythology, and the difficulties in life we face.
Basically, we gain an afterlife simply by reverting back to our true form. |
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:18 PM |
Also, you don't have to believe in something you don't like. You could be a deist? (Belief that a god exists, but has no relationship with humans.) |
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:18 PM |
I think that's probably a "Theist Atheist"
╠ The OT'er who is Thick As A Brick ╠ |
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Digtzy
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:19 PM |
| I clicked on this thread to be serious. |
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Zipo99
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:21 PM |
@Design, The man doesn't have to. He could live in his own psychotic delusion where his son is still alive.
On the serious note, though, I have a close friend who has legally been pronounced dead on three occasions. I'm not sure if this will help, but the way he describes death is entering a deep slumber with a smile on your face. When you fall asleep and you are aware of nothing around you, and your consciousness leaves you, but you aren't aware of it. It is peaceful. He is a strong christian, yet he says nothing of the afterlife. He is not afraid of death anymore (seeing as he has encountered it thrice before). I, the same as him, think that death is nothing to be feared. It will happen eventually to us all, what counts is what we do with our lives before then.
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:28 PM |
| Moments of my life, I lose fear of death because I know I will have no conscience of it. |
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Digtzy
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| Joined: 12 Jan 2014 |
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:30 PM |
@DesignConcept
I can understand this loss of fear. I believe in God, to be honest, because I've had personal life experiences that I believe to be caused by him.
I believe in a lot of things, and I also believe that death shouldn't be feared. |
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Zipo99
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| Joined: 11 Oct 2008 |
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| 13 Jan 2014 10:32 PM |
| We can cross the bridge of the afterlife when we come to it. For now, we have life to occupy our time. Let us not focus on the end, rather let us endeavor to make the best of our lives as they are. |
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