Do you really think we need religion to believe in an afterlife?

[Piers]

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Is it really necessary to rely on relgion for one to have belief in an afterlife?

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No, obviously. Was there anything else [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[tame_deuces]

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Is it really necessary to rely on relgion for one to have belief in an afterlife?

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I'll go a little semantic on this one, so excuse me in advance. I find it interesting though because it seems religion has gotten an incredibly strong 'meaning' on this board colouring this thread greatly.

Depends a bit on how you define religion. Religion doesn't have to include theism, or belief in a god if you will.

It is no doubt that if you believe in an afterlife, your belief could fall under some definitions of religion. But I don't think it would fall under the 'everyday' usage of the term religion unless it had influence on some other aspects of your life also.

[foal]

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Well how many atheists on these boards, actually consider the possibility of there being one?

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I do. One problem with the word "atheist" is that the concept of "God" is pretty fuzzy and the categories atheist/theist/agnostic seem to suggest that "God" or "a god" is the only metaphysical possibility. Either there's a an all knowing, all powerful cartoon-like character watching over humans and giving a [censored] or everything is made of atoms and the universe occured somehow by some random fluke.

[Paul McSwizzle]

Is the consensus on this board that when we die there is nothing?

[mickeyg13]

I had this funny image of what if it turns out there is a God and, rather than having the qualities many think He has, He instead turns out to have a strange sense of humor. Perhaps then nonbelievers, rather than spending eternity being tortured, would instead spend eternity debating amongst themselves how God does not exist, though they would be completely unaware of their fate. Of course I'm not suggesting I think that is how it is, but I found the thought amusing. Oh the irony in someone still insisting after a billion years in the afterlife that there is no afterlife [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ZeeJustin]

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Is it really necessary to rely on relgion for one to have belief in an afterlife?

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Being atheist has nothing to do with an afterlife, or believing in unicorns or being superstitious.

It just so happens that atheists are generally too logical to believe in those things.

[madnak]

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I had this funny image of what if it turns out there is a God and, rather than having the qualities many think He has, He instead turns out to have a strange sense of humor. Perhaps then nonbelievers, rather than spending eternity being tortured, would instead spend eternity debating amongst themselves how God does not exist, though they would be completely unaware of their fate. Of course I'm not suggesting I think that is how it is, but I found the thought amusing. Oh the irony in someone still insisting after a billion years in the afterlife that there is no afterlife [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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God is powered by irony.

[FortunaMaximus]

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Is the consensus on this board that when we die there is nothing?

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No, but it's the logical majority.

You could pin your hopes on unknown or undiscovered technology, Clarke's Third Law. But I wouldn't bet my life on it.

[Jamougha]

I find it intersting that the number of Americans professing belief in an afterlife is quite a big lower than the number who say they believe in God, like 70% vs 85%.

[TheMuppet]

No. And the thought of an afterlife scares the [censored] out of me.

So no matter what, the preservation of my sanity prevents me from believing in it.