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The concept of Atheism varies from follower to follower;
Who am I following? I'd be interested to know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoCardinals
however, a general belief in a majority of Atheists, IMO, is that death is the final end, and there is nothing after it!
True in my experience, though of course it has nothing to actually do with atheism as such.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoCardinals
On the other hand, believers of almost all faiths believe that consciousness continuous after we die.
Also true.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoCardinals
Looks like science is slowly moving in favor of believers.
Not true.
All the article describes (as if it has just been discovered!) is a Near Death Experience (NDE). These have been adequately debunked many times here and elsewhere. Also, the article points out that dying, unsurprisingly, eventually results in a dead brain. All they are saying is that consciousness MIGHT persist longer than previously thought, though how much varies by individual.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoCardinals
What's gonna happen now is that those Atheists who previously believed that there is nothing after death, will slowly change their stance, and now come up with theories like, "ohh yeah, we may be moved into another parallel universe, or we come back as animals, or our consciousness just floats in the wide space of universe etc.
I don't expect many atheists to change their position at all based on this fluff piece you've cited.
You are of course correct that if there ever is actual evidence of an afterlife that there might be naturalistic explanations for it. Step one is to substantiate an afterlife, step two would be to learn about it. We would do both using science.
Burying the dead in the ground is a religious ritual. What did they do to him? Let his body rot out in the open? toss it in the river? Cremate it?
Although atheists, agnostics, and all sorts of people are buried and cremated, I hope they haven't done anything with his body, since he's still using it.
I've actually attended one non-religious funeral. Your statement that burial is a religious ritual is not true for everybody.
The concept of Atheism varies from follower to follower; however, a general belief in a majority of Atheists, IMO, is that death is the final end, and there is nothing after it!
On the other hand, believers of almost all faiths believe that consciousness continuous after we die.
Looks like science is slowling moving in favor of believers.
What's gonna happen now is that those Atheists who previously believed that there is nothing after death, will slowly change their stance, and now come up with theories like, "ohh yeah, we may be moved into another parallel universe, or we come back as animals, or our consciousness just floats in the wide space of universe etc.
The consciousness in the scientific article to which you refer (or at least I think that's what you just read) continued for all of 60 seconds or in one case, there were a few brain waves detected by scientists ten minutes after bodily death. The the brain died totally. That is no way proves that consciousness goes on forever after death. So your premise based on science is unwarranted.
Burying the dead in the ground is a religious ritual. What did they do to him? Let his body rot out in the open? toss it in the river? Cremate it?
Nonsense. Disposing of corpses is a function of society in which religions frequently participate but it's very similar to marriage -- the state licenses and regulates it and allows clergy to perform the ceremonial aspects if so desired.
You act as if non-religious people aren't allowed to bury their dead. That's manifestly untrue.
My late wife (a Christian by the way) desired cremation for herself. In some parts of the US, and in much of the world, organized religion has come to accept cremation and other alternatives to burial.
My son (an atheist) desired cremation also, but I could have buried him if I'd chosen to. In point of fact I arranged the disposition of his body entirely online and no one said, "Stop! You need a clergyman's blessing first!".
Unbelievers mourn their dead like anyone else and often make use of secular ritual (funeral home, visitation, memorial services, etc) and there are clergy and non-clergy alike who offer assistance with such things, tailored with respect to the needs of surviving family.
Is the link to the article correct? It's taking me to the Yahoo homepage.
The link quit working because it was a link to the headline which has scrolled off the Yahoo main page. You had to click through to the actual article. I don't recall the title but if someone does a direct link can probably be found. Since GoCardinals thinks this is a such a life-altering revelation for us, I'm sure he's motivated to provide a better link himself.
Burying the dead in the ground is a religious ritual. What did they do to him? Let his body rot out in the open? toss it in the river? Cremate it?
Most of those things are illegal for health reasons. Do you want your rivers polluted simply because you think religion owns everything in society? There are pet cemeteries, are they religious in function s well? Not all religions bury their dead either.
How about the burial rites that preceeding the Abraham religions that involved burrying? Burial must be a pagan ritual, right?
Edit. The comment about tossing our bodies callously in the river or tossed on the ground indicates you place zero value on any person who does not believe in a God. Why do you think we are nothing but a lump of garbage?
Both options sound pretty good provided there's no embalming.
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