Afterlife: Is There Life After Death?

BondBomb

I died. My heart stopped. I came back. I saw nothing. I went nowhere.
I died a catholic and was risen an atheist though if that counts for anything.

I don't think that was the 'second coming' that most religious nutjobs had in mind.

Why does the tern 'second coming' always give me the giggles?

why is it i am called a nut job because i believe in God i dont call you names because you dont.. see that is what i dont get and i dont like,, if you are a Christian you get called names or we basicaly slowly are getting our rights taken but other religions can do what they want.. it makes no since to me.. just saying if there is to be equality then let it be the same across the board.

Uh..I didn't call you a nutjob. And you are generalizing. One guy referenced religious nut-jobs and didn't even call out Christians specifically. Besides you are supposed to turn the other cheek but here you are calling for equality in name-calling?

Contrarian

I died. My heart stopped. I came back. I saw nothing. I went nowhere.
I died a catholic and was risen an atheist though if that counts for anything.

I don't think that was the 'second coming' that most religious nutjobs had in mind.

Why does the tern 'second coming' always give me the giggles?

why is it i am called a nut job because i believe in God i dont call you names because you dont.. see that is what i dont get and i dont like,, if you are a Christian you get called names or we basicaly slowly are getting our rights taken but other religions can do what they want.. it makes no since to me.. just saying if there is to be equality then let it be the same across the board.

What rights have been taken away from Christians?

I don't criticise any religion. It is none of my business what others believe. I genuinely would like to know what rights are being taken away, though, because I am not aware of this occurring.

KrazyAsianNic

Yes, I have to believe there is one that our souls go to. It's really the only way I can cope with those I have lost

Gallowmere1984

I died. My heart stopped. I came back. I saw nothing. I went nowhere.
I died a catholic and was risen an atheist though if that counts for anything.

I don't think that was the 'second coming' that most religious nutjobs had in mind.

Why does the tern 'second coming' always give me the giggles?

why is it i am called a nut job because i believe in God i dont call you names because you dont.. see that is what i dont get and i dont like,, if you are a Christian you get called names or we basicaly slowly are getting our rights taken but other religions can do what they want.. it makes no since to me.. just saying if there is to be equality then let it be the same across the board.

Way to jump on the defensive. For the record, when I say 'religious nutjobs', I am talking about the end of the world, second coming of Christ, Apocalypse now weirdos. Ya' know, the ones who predict the end of the world every five years or so.

Mustang_Susie

I died. My heart stopped. I came back. I saw nothing. I went nowhere.
I died a catholic and was risen an atheist though if that counts for anything.

I don't think that was the 'second coming' that most religious nutjobs had in mind.

Why does the tern 'second coming' always give me the giggles?

why is it i am called a nut job because i believe in God i dont call you names because you dont.. see that is what i dont get and i dont like,, if you are a Christian you get called names or we basicaly slowly are getting our rights taken but other religions can do what they want.. it makes no since to me.. just saying if there is to be equality then let it be the same across the board.

What rights have been taken away from Christians?

I don't criticise any religion. It is none of my business what others believe. I genuinely would like to know what rights are being taken away, though, because I am not aware of this occurring.

Children have been told that they cannot read the Bible in public school

RobynC79

I am a scientist and a non-believer - I have no illusions of death, and my experiences and knowledge combine to tell me there is no afterlife.

However, "is there life after death' is not a question that can be asked by scientists (and few do), because if we hypothesise 'there is no life after death', we cannot test it with any means currently known to man. It is a question of theology, then.

However, I find the logic that we should act well during life because it assures us a happy rather than horrendous afterlife to be rather demeaning to human and chosen deity alike.

Why should a deity stoop to bribes and threats to compel his creations to behave according to the doctrines he supposedly set down?

I'd rather be a decent human because I find myself to be satisfied by being kind and ethical, not because I feel obliged to adhere to some human interpretation of 'correct' conduct lest I find myself in an unpleasant afterlife.

Why I find this satisfying I can answer acceptably and with logical consistency by evolutionary theory of social behaviour, without needing to appeal to anything else.

Gallowmere1984

Children have been told that they cannot read the Bible in public school

Really? When? I'm not even being a smart *kitten*. Even as an Agnostic, that pisses me off.

Now, are you saying they can't read it aloud (aka, preach) in school? If so, I'm fine with that. But if they aren't even allowed to possess and read it to themselves, that's just horse****.

SwimFan1981

I think we live on through other entities. For example, when buried, you continue to feed the earth. Flowers, trees and grass will grow from you, you will then go on to feed birds and so on....
I don't believe in heaven or hell.

Gallowmere1984

I think we live on through other entities. For example, when buried, you continue to feed the earth. Flowers, trees and grass will grow from you, you will then go on to feed birds and so on....
I don't believe in heaven or hell.

So, basically you believe in proven biology? Seems...logical, even if a tad redundant.

SanteMulberry

I died. My heart stopped. I came back. I saw nothing. I went nowhere.
I died a catholic and was risen an atheist though if that counts for anything.

I don't think that was the 'second coming' that most religious nutjobs had in mind.

Why does the tern 'second coming' always give me the giggles?

why is it i am called a nut job because i believe in God i dont call you names because you dont.. see that is what i dont get and i dont like,, if you are a Christian you get called names or we basicaly slowly are getting our rights taken but other religions can do what they want.. it makes no since to me.. just saying if there is to be equality then let it be the same across the board.

What rights have been taken away from Christians?

I don't criticise any religion. It is none of my business what others believe. I genuinely would like to know what rights are being taken away, though, because I am not aware of this occurring.

Children have been told that they cannot read the Bible in public school

Nor are they allowed to openly pray together on their lunch break in many schools (and one such in my area). That is considered to be "instructional time" . (And at the same school, students are permitted to congregate outside the front doors and smoke during the lunch break.) What does that suggest to you?

Gallowmere1984

Nor are they allowed to openly pray together on their lunch break in many schools (and one such in my area). That is considered to be "instructional time" . (And at the same school, students are permitted to congregate outside the front doors and smoke.) What does that suggest to you?

It suggests that public perception is gradually leaning toward religion being more poisonous than cigarette smoke?

SanteMulberry

Nor are they allowed to openly pray together on their lunch break in many schools (and one such in my area). That is considered to be "instructional time" . (And at the same school, students are permitted to congregate outside the front doors and smoke.) What does that suggest to you?

It suggests that public perception is gradually leaning toward religion being more poisonous than cigarette smoke?

Or that a concerted effort is being made to stamp out all religious expression. In what way is the Christian faith "poisonous" in your opinion? We feed and clothe people through our many charitable organizations, we educate students through our many schools, we heal the sick in the many hospitals that we have founded and so on...that is "poisonous"?

theCarlton

Children have been told that they cannot read the Bible in public school

False. Children are not allowed to have prayer or readings led by their teachers or other school personnel. Let me remind you that if you are American you live in a country founded on a separation of Church and State. Christianity is not the only religion practiced in this country. If you wish for your child to have a Christian-based education, you are absolutely within your rights to seek a private institution in which he or she may receive that.

Gallowmere1984

Or that a concerted effort is being made to stamp out all religious expression. In what way is the Christian faith "poisonous" in your opinion? We feed and clothe people through our many charitable organizations, we educate students through our many schools, we heal the sick in the many hospitals that we have founded and so on...that is "poisonous"?

I didn't specifically say a thing about Christianity. I said 'religion', as in all of them.

I have absolutely no problem with religious expression in public, honestly. However, I do believe that it should be kept away from children until they are of a stable enough mind to separate fact from fiction.

See, here's the thing that no faithful like to hear: children being brought up in a strictly religious household is no different than the way children in North Korea are brought up worshiping the 'Dear Leader'. By the time they are old enough to think for themselves, it's generally too late for them to make distinctions between what is real and what is propaganda. Even if you don't agree with my stance, I think you can see my point.

BondBomb

Nor are they allowed to openly pray together on their lunch break in many schools (and one such in my area). That is considered to be "instructional time" . (And at the same school, students are permitted to congregate outside the front doors and smoke.) What does that suggest to you?

It suggests that public perception is gradually leaning toward religion being more poisonous than cigarette smoke?

Or that a concerted effort is being made to stamp out all religious expression. In what way is the Christian faith "poisonous" in your opinion? We feed and clothe people through our many charitable organizations, we educate students through our many schools, we heal the sick in the many hospitals that we have founded and so on...that is "poisonous"?

You can't claim that of all Christians. There are 'Christians' that picket funerals of soldiers. Christians that molest children. Christians that bomb buildings and do other hateful, racist, nasty things in the name of Christianity. Whether you include them or not they are claiming the same faith as you. We had a perfect example of a Christian in this thread that didn't think name-calling was being handed out fairly. Exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to be.
Good people are good people no matter what you believe in. I would like to add that I do all of those things and I am not a Christian. Just active in my community.

Mustang_Susie

Or that a concerted effort is being made to stamp out all religious expression. In what way is the Christian faith "poisonous" in your opinion? We feed and clothe people through our many charitable organizations, we educate students through our many schools, we heal the sick in the many hospitals that we have founded and so on...that is "poisonous"?

I didn't specifically say a thing about Christianity. I said 'religion', as in all of them.

I have absolutely no problem with religious expression in public, honestly. However, I do believe that it should be kept away from children until they are of a stable enough mind to separate fact from fiction.

See, here's the thing that no faithful like to hear: children being brought up in a strictly religious household is no different than the way children in North Korea are brought up worshiping the 'Dear Leader'. By the time they are old enough to think for themselves, it's generally too late for them to make distinctions between what is real and what is propaganda. Even if you don't agree with my stance, I think you can see my point.

It was asked by Contrarian what rights have been taken away from Christians.

Respectfully, I don't agree with you or your point.

Gallowmere1984

It was asked by Contrarian what rights have been taken away from Christians.

Respectfully, I don't agree with you or your point.

I am genuinely curious as to why. I mean, the only real difference is that the Kims are/were living breathing people, and the deities of faiths generally require more leaps of faith than a frog with it's *kitten* on fire in a pool of gas.

Mustang_Susie

Nor are they allowed to openly pray together on their lunch break in many schools (and one such in my area). That is considered to be "instructional time" . (And at the same school, students are permitted to congregate outside the front doors and smoke.) What does that suggest to you?

It suggests that public perception is gradually leaning toward religion being more poisonous than cigarette smoke?

Or that a concerted effort is being made to stamp out all religious expression. In what way is the Christian faith "poisonous" in your opinion? We feed and clothe people through our many charitable organizations, we educate students through our many schools, we heal the sick in the many hospitals that we have founded and so on...that is "poisonous"?

You can't claim that of all Christians. There are 'Christians' that picket funerals of soldiers. Christians that molest children. Christians that bomb buildings and do other hateful, racist, nasty things in the name of Christianity. Whether you include them or not they are claiming the same faith as you. We had a perfect example of a Christian in this thread that didn't think name-calling was being handed out fairly. Exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to be.
Good people are good people no matter what you believe in. I would like to add that I do all of those things and I am not a Christian. Just active in my community.

The perfect example of Christianity is it's namesake: Jesus Christ
The rest of us fall woefully short, regardless of what we call ourselves

Mustang_Susie

It was asked by Contrarian what rights have been taken away from Christians.

Respectfully, I don't agree with you or your point.

I am genuinely curious as to why. I mean, the only real difference is that the Kims are/were living breathing people, and the deities of faiths generally require more leaps of faith than a frog with it's *kitten* on fire in a pool of gas.

It is a matter of faith that every person must reconcile with God.
I cannot do that for you.

BondBomb

Nor are they allowed to openly pray together on their lunch break in many schools (and one such in my area). That is considered to be "instructional time" . (And at the same school, students are permitted to congregate outside the front doors and smoke.) What does that suggest to you?

It suggests that public perception is gradually leaning toward religion being more poisonous than cigarette smoke?

Or that a concerted effort is being made to stamp out all religious expression. In what way is the Christian faith "poisonous" in your opinion? We feed and clothe people through our many charitable organizations, we educate students through our many schools, we heal the sick in the many hospitals that we have founded and so on...that is "poisonous"?

You can't claim that of all Christians. There are 'Christians' that picket funerals of soldiers. Christians that molest children. Christians that bomb buildings and do other hateful, racist, nasty things in the name of Christianity. Whether you include them or not they are claiming the same faith as you. We had a perfect example of a Christian in this thread that didn't think name-calling was being handed out fairly. Exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to be.
Good people are good people no matter what you believe in. I would like to add that I do all of those things and I am not a Christian. Just active in my community.

The perfect example of Christianity is it's namesake: Jesus Christ
The rest of us fall woefully short, regardless of what we call ourselves

This I actually agree with!