what's it like after death? (hell, atheist, quote, faith)

[slingshot]

I said to a friend "I wonder what it's like after you die?" He said "What was it like before you were born?"

[Tzaphkiel]

Originally Posted by slingshot

I said to a friend "I wonder what it's like after you die?" He said "What was it like before you were born?"

before you incarnate in a physical body, you are planning your life and the things you would like to do to grow and advance and become more kind, generous, and compassionate in how you treat others, using your free will to choose how to respond to the situations that you will face in your upcoming life.

after you die, you review your life and see how well you did in making those choices using your free will.

based on what you "learn" in reviewing your life just finished, you then decide whether or not to incarnate again, and if so you plan your next incarnation.

[TroutDude]

Originally Posted by slingshot

I said to a friend "I wonder what it's like after you die?" He said "What was it like before you were born?"

It may be like that. An apparently blank slate.

Or maybe our life on Earth may be considered as a seed planted in a fertile place in the universe.

Who knows might sprout from our planting?

[GoCardinals]

Originally Posted by slingshot

I said to a friend "I wonder what it's like after you die?" He said "What was it like before you were born?"

IMO, Nobody actually “knows” the answer because nobody (whether believer, Atheist or agnostic) has died and came back to tell us what it’s like. All of us, whether a believer, Atheist or agnostic) only has faith. And as per this faith we have variable answers.

May be, you could ask your friend that what was it like in the first 2 years AFTER he was born?
He cried, laughed he was fed with milk, he had diaper accident and whatnot - Just because he does not remember, does not mean he didn’t exist.

So who knows if he also existed in some form and somewhere BEFORE he was born, it’s just that he doesn’t remember.

[nateswift]

Luckily, I'm not in a position to let you know.

[normstad]

Originally Posted by slingshot

I said to a friend "I wonder what it's like after you die?" He said "What was it like before you were born?"

Your friend is a wise person, because that is exactly what it is.

[303Guy]

Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel

before you incarnate in a physical body, you are planning your life and the things you would like to do to grow and advance and become more kind, generous, and compassionate in how you treat others, using your free will to choose how to respond to the situations that you will face in your upcoming life.

after you die, you review your life and see how well you did in making those choices using your free will.

based on what you "learn" in reviewing your life just finished, you then decide whether or not to incarnate again, and if so you plan your next incarnation.

If I may ask, how would you know this?

[slingshot]

Originally Posted by normstad

Your friend is a wise person, because that is exactly what it is.

Thanks for the responses. I believe kind of like 'normstad's' response. To me, after death isn't about the deceased person anymore except what is left behind in the world by your presence.

[TRANSPONDER]

Good, entertaining and clever, or at least informative posts. I might just add my own sideslip comment on 'The atheist afterlife' (incorportating the reverse Pascal's wager). It goes like this:

There probably is no god(s) and no afterlife, but, even if there is, you can lay a sure bet that no one religion has the concession for tickets to the afterlife - that is no more than a scam to keep bums on seats and the money rolling in, and you can bet your life that any afterlife is not in the the power of any god to hand out or with-hold and is as natural as birth and death and something that we ALL get - no matter what we did on earth.

Nature only cares about eating, reproducing and survival. Morals is Man's invention. The Cosmos never heard of good or Bad. That's a fact of life, and our job should be to get a just society here, not rely on Perfect divine justice dished out after Pol Pot died, blandly lying about his guilt.
So if there is an afterlife, it's one that we all get and it is nothing to worry about. Hellthreat is RIDICULOUS, and if you take my word for nothing else, take it on that.

So the way the bet works is - if there is no god and no afterlife, then you should live this life to the full as it is the only one you get.
If there is - then it's the one that everyone gets and is Nothing Whatever to worry about.

So God -belief gains you nothing, but loses you the one life you got. The smart money goes on non -belief.

[Freak80]

It’s a nonsensical question, like asking what cities are north of the North Pole.