Do you believe in an afterlife?

[kidshop]

Okay, but the energy of your body DOES get transferred when you die in a very clear cut way. If you are cremated, the potential energy contained by your body turns into thermal energy as your body burns. Decomposition requires energy but also releases energy back into the soil, to organisms that feed on it, etc.

"Mental energy" (or, a soul) is a human construct and there is no proof that there is any sort of energy that is released out of the body when a person dies.

There is a difference between a living being and a dead being, it is not just the physical form. It is something separate from the body and I believe it goes somewhere when the body dies. This is just something I “know”, deep inside, can’t really explain it. It just is for me.

I have also had experiences I can’t explain like many others, and these seem to indicate ( to me) the souls of people go on.

Some people have musical or artistic gifts. Perhaps some have a sense of another realm?

 

[Cubbiecakes]

Our brains can do amazing things during times of extreme trauma and even when trauma does not exist. If one wants to believe that a conversation(s) actually happened and it brought peace to one or many, then that happens to be a good thing but it can not be proven to have actually happened. FAITH can be uplifting but can also be one's downfall.

Faith is a culturally-inflicted mental illness. Children are carefully groomed for it by their families, and it's reinforced by their community.

 

[lisaviolet]

If a society does not believe in an afterlife, how do they attempt to influence members not to do things deemed harmful to society ( murder, theft, lying, etc)? Is it fear of getting caught and being incarcerated? Is it appealing to humanity’s good nature?

People can of course be good without believing in an afterlife. It has always astounded me, since I was very young girl, that people continually make that association.

So yep I suppose it is appealing to people's good nature. Or rolling the dice. I was about to say "or have faith" but thought it was too ironic!

I believe that most people are a combination of good and bad. Used a quantifier because I do believe in evil. Just trying to add that I think it is productive in society to see people as a combination ie. human, not some caricature.

Totally picking on your words L&Lfan but I do believe influencing members of society is not a positive slant and never has been.

 

[lisaviolet]

Yes I believe in some form of afterlife. Who knows what that 100% entails, but I do believe it exists.

Very curious about it.

 

[Sandeep1]

Yes I believe in some form of afterlife. Who knows what that 100% entails, but I do believe it exists.

Very curious about it.

Hopefully there are puppies wherever I go.

 

[Sandeep1]

Anyone watch a series on Showtime called "Time of Death?" Came out about 5/6 years ago. So sad.

 

[luvsJack]

Faith is a culturally-inflicted mental illness. Children are carefully groomed for it by their families, and it's reinforced by their community.

Uhmmmm no. Not at all. It’s called free will. No one is “groomed” for anything.

There are thousands, if not millions of people of faith that never set foot in a church or knew anything about their choice of religion until they were adults.

If you don’t have faith in anything, that is your choice but do NOT insult others that do by saying it is a mental illness.

 

[luvsJack]

All this talk about believing in an afterlife making people act a certain way. That’s not how it works. At least not for a great number of people who believe a certain way. You don’t get eternal life for good things you do. There is no score card. And you don’t necessarily lose the chance at eternal life by being bad (evil is a whole different thing here, not talking about that).

Eternal life comes from faith. Faith and belief. Not how many good deeds you did.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I never did until my brother died in 2004. My SIL was contacted by an acquaintance that told her she had been contacted by my brother. My SIL was mad at first, because she didn't believe in that stuff and she was still grieving. It had been less than a year. The woman told her that my brother wanted her to know that he likes that she sleeps in his t-shirt, and that she didn't need to "hide' it in her bottom drawer. She told NOBODY about that. It was the one connection she had to my brother that she wanted to herself. She also said the woman said he would communicate through music to let us know he was OK. When she told me that, is when I had to sit down.

My brother was a hoot at karaoke. His favorite song to sing was Puff the Magic Dragon. Even when he was singing another song, if he got messed up and couldn't figure out the lyrics, he would just sing "puff the magic dragon" into the mic. He became famous for it, and we have adored that song ever since. About a week before I was talking to my SIL about the medium contacting her, I was driving with my radio on. I was listening to the local top 40 radio station. Puff the Magic Dragon came on!!! I couldn't believe it. I had not heard that song being played on a regular radio station, since I was a kid. When I got home I called everyone I knew and asked them when was the last time they heard Puff The Magic Dragon played by a DJ on the radio. The answer from everyone was years and years. Then my SIL told me about him communicating with music, and I know that is an easy out for mediums, because so many people have songs they can relate to with a deceased person. But PUFF? On the radio? I have been a believer ever since.

 

[Sandeep1]

All this talk about believing in an afterlife making people act a certain way. That’s not how it works. At least not for a great number of people who believe a certain way. You don’t get eternal life for good things you do. There is no score card. And you don’t necessarily lose the chance at eternal life by being bad (evil is a whole different thing here, not talking about that).

Eternal life comes from faith. Faith and belief. Not how many good deeds you did.

Excellent point. I use to have that scorecard mentality but realized it simply wasn't the case.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I never did until my brother died in 2004. My SIL was contacted by an acquaintance that told her she had been contacted by my brother. My SIL was mad at first, because she didn't believe in that stuff and she was still grieving. It had been less than a year. The woman told her that my brother wanted her to know that he likes that she sleeps in his t-shirt, and that she didn't need to "hide' it in her bottom drawer. She told NOBODY about that. It was the one connection she had to my brother that she wanted to herself. She also said the woman said he would communicate through music to let us know he was OK. When she told me that, is when I had to sit down.

My brother was a hoot at karaoke. His favorite song to sing was Puff the Magic Dragon. Even when he was singing another song, if he got messed up and couldn't figure out the lyrics, he would just sing "puff the magic dragon" into the mic. He became famous for it, and we have adored that song ever since. About a week before I was talking to my SIL about the medium contacting her, I was driving with my radio on. I was listening to the local top 40 radio station. Puff the Magic Dragon came on!!! I couldn't believe it. I had not heard that song being played on a regular radio station, since I was a kid. When I got home I called everyone I knew and asked them when was the last time they heard Puff The Magic Dragon played by a DJ on the radio. The answer from everyone was years and years. Then my SIL told me about him communicating with music, and I know that is an easy out for mediums, because so many people have songs they can relate to with a deceased person. But PUFF? On the radio? I have been a believer ever since.

He came through to someone who was open to it and knew how to interpret the messages. I’m glad you got this.

 

[Disney Ron]

Who are you calling naive? The people who believe in the afterlife, or the ones who don't?

The answers you seek can be found at Wendy's.

 

[Disneylover99]

I believe in some kind of afterlife.
But my thoughts about it have changed over the years.

I’ve recently been thinking that maybe there’s no afterlife for you if you don’t believe in one.

 

[indimom]

I believe in some kind of afterlife.
But my thoughts about it have changed over the years.

I’ve recently been thinking that maybe there’s no afterlife for you if you don’t believe in one.

Interesting thought, since that would make everyone in this thread right/correct in their own belief. How often do we all get to be right? lol

 

[CaoilinnsMom]

Wish I did....Sometimes I will agree with others who do and then I go right back to not knowing. The idea of communication beyond the grave scares me, it can't just be people who love and care-there is a dark side to everything.

 

[gillep]

I believe in some kind of afterlife.
But my thoughts about it have changed over the years.

I’ve recently been thinking that maybe there’s no afterlife for you if you don’t believe in one.

As someone who doesn't believe in an afterlife, this is also fine with me. To be honest, I don't really get the appeal of an afterlife. I believe that this life is what we get, and that we should live it to the fullest and appreciate each moment as best we can.

 

[John VN]

As someone who doesn't believe in an afterlife, this is also fine with me. To be honest, I don't really get the appeal of an afterlife. I believe that this life is what we get, and that we should live it to the fullest and appreciate each moment as best we can.

Once I could think(reason) for myself, i.e.-not influenced by parental, family members, religious input, it occurred to me that an AFTERLIFE is an infinity and beyond state of existence and why in the World would I want to be in whatever "state of existence" forever. It does not appeal to me AT ALL!!!

 

[DLgal]

The answers you seek can be found at Wendy's.

Ahh... the classic spicy chicken sandwich defense.

 

[DLgal]

How do we know that this life here on earth isn't the afterlife?

 

[Disney Ron]

Ahh... the classic spicy chicken sandwich defense.

I prefer the triple with cheese and large fries defense.