Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Its interesting how people who seen the afterlife have said that the afterlife feels more alive than when they are alive here on earth.
Also interesting is how the people who have these experiences have a complete change in their life. This cannot occur by being starved of oxygen. It is rather a true, life changing experience where their eyes are opened to the truth.
When the brain is starved of oxygen it gives someone a euphoric feeling which makes people feel very alive. Many NDE in the hospital happen under anaesthesia. When someone is in the hospital and has 'visions of eternity,' and are under anaesthesia the anaesthesia can produce feelings of an afterlife and make someone feel very alive.
It's subjective to say that someone can't have a complete change in their life if they don't have an experience with what someone imagines is Jesus and the afterlife.
Your taking the testimony of someoneone that you think gives evidence of the 'reality of Jesus,' yet if such a testimony is going to be used as an argument for the existence of god, then the atheist testimony of their same kind of experience that Ronald Reagon etc. had, will have to be counted as evidence against the existence of god because there many people who had NDE experiences without god or kept their nonbelief. Also, I'd disagree that healing can occur only by the power of Jesus Christ since atheists and agnostics lead moral and ethical lives. They've transformed their lives without some god figure.
When the brain is starved of oxygen it gives someone a euphoric feeling which makes people feel very alive. Many NDE in the hospital happen under anaesthesia. When someone is in the hospital and has 'visions of eternity,' and are under anaesthesia the anaesthesia can produce feelings of an afterlife and make someone feel very alive.
It's subjective to say that someone can't have a complete change in their life if they don't have an experience with what someone imagines is Jesus and the afterlife.
That doesn't explain the fact that many people who have an NDE can repeat what was being said in the room, even though they are unconcious and their heart has stopped.
No, when we die our conciousness will pass away into nothingness and bodily dissolution. It's better to live life in the here and now rather than worry about going to some eternal reward or punishment because someone didn't follow the right invisible wizard.
It is better to live life in the hear AND prepare for the afterlife.
I believe, as stated above, that there is an afterlife for everyone, regardless of the belief system. It is not necessary to believe in a diety and if there is a diety our belief or not is not of major concern to it. Athiests, as stated, have NDE, psychic occurrances, 'miraculous' healings; and they will also survive death. They label these things differently, think many are delusions or constructs of the brain.
Still, I believe we only temporarily live in our bodies, then go 'elsewhere'.
I think that there are realms of exploration that must still be done about the human psyche and the world. We are just starting to scratch the surface of these things. Man has created religion to get some sort of handle on this world we have little knowledge of, to explain what science has not yet revealed. An atheist will call this sort of belief in god the 'god of the gaps' - the god which fills in for all the stuff science has not yet explained, a god that shrinks as man gains more knowlege.
I believe that positive human emotions are somehow important to our development. Kindness, gererosity, love, peace, altruism, hope, joy, awe. Our children thrive in environments filled with these things. Well, so do adults, even though we often seem not to recognize that.
Addicts have much better results when treated through AA than they do in other programs that are just like AA but for the acknowledgement in a diety.
The human psyche needs to feel that good will eventually overcome evil, that someday we will see the reason for everything, someday we will have all the answers, all wrongs will be righted, our individual lives are worthwhile, that we share some great connection with all around us, that there is harmony to our lives and the universe as a whole, that all problems can eventually be solved, that our efforts are not in vain, etc.
Can the atheist build such a positive fantasy-filled environment for himself and his family? Sure
It is much harder, though, without a focal point, without the symbology on the handy post-it note of the cross or star or whatever, which is so handy for the mind to grasp and hold on to. We require such concepts in our moments of need. So, the group myths of religions spring up to assist. The problem is, primitive social engineers got their claws into religion and filled it with the horrid dogma as well.
So, I don't think that the religious need feel badly about believing in an afterlife, but atheists are also correct to want to rid the world of religion because it is halting progress.
We don't have to throw away the bad with the good, though, if we could detatch religion from all that dead weight of dogma.
Last edited by goldengrain; 05-24-2008 at 06:45 AM..
It is better to live life in the hear AND prepare for the afterlife.
I think it's better to live the here and now life rather than worry about an afterlife which may not even exist and even if it does exist, there's an infintisemally small chance that the higher power someone spent their life worshipping will even be the one judging them. I think it's better to live this life to its fullest potential.
I am curious to what made you turn away from Christianity. Jesus Christ is the only way to eternity. He is the way, the truth and the life. There is no other way to eternity.
the short story is that I read the bible for what it is and not what we are told it means.
and it really sucks you ask a question then make a proseltizing statement, which only voids the question you asked
Forsure. Some people just repeat the same thing, over and over again, as though if they say it often enough to themselves and each other, it will miraculously become true.
I think it's better to live the here and now life rather than worry about an afterlife which may not even exist and even if it does exist, there's an infintisemally small chance that the higher power someone spent their life worshipping will even be the one judging them. I think it's better to live this life to its fullest potential.
It is possible (and best) to do both.
Definitely live this life to its fullest potential, but realize that your real home is on the Other Side. As I've wrote before, we actually judge ourselves more strictly on the Other Side than any higher power.
It is very comforting to know that we will be reunited with family and friends again.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
