An afterlife for Atheists?

[dangull]

vic123, going back to the big bang theory, there would have to be massive amounts of material to produce all the material in the universe today. What would you say caused the spark to set of this explosion ? Also your theory about how a possible afterlife for atheists is a wild guess at best, but interesting anyway. I would take more seriously the numerous episodes of near death experiences, where people have been clinicly dead for a short time have seen thier body from the outside and been drawn to a light seen dead relatives etc before been brought back to life, is more of a reason for athiests not to dismiss religion out of hand.

 

[vic123]

My Nan is a Irish catholic from Connemara, my grandad is a athiest from Camberwell, when i was a kid (about 8) I was in the front room of my nan and grandads flat taking to my nan about what happens when you die, my nan starts talking to me about heaven, sounds good, then I walked into the kitchen and asked my grandad, what happens when you die, my grandad said "you go in the ground boy, that's it, there's nothing else, you go in the ground"


Iv been confused since that day!

The traditional response to the question, "what happens when we die?" has either been, "you go to Heaven if you've been good or Hell if you've been bad" or, "you rot in the ground, Son. Harsh but true!" On the face of it this seems to be all she wrote. Either Christians are correct and we survive our deaths or Atheists have got it and we're all heading for blackout. But I wanted to explore the possibility that there is another option. Perhaps I've made an error in the way I have titled this thread. Maybe I should have called it, "An Atheist's afterlife?" instead of, "An afterlife for Atheists?" The latter seems to imply that Atheists are still headed for the standard Christian afterlife but that it could have religious consequences ie, Atheists burn in Hell because they didn't believe in God. The former leans more towards the Atheistic version or description of such an afterlife and one which, owing it's existance to nature, can be explained using science instead of superstition.

 

[dangull]

vic123, going back to the big bang theory, there would have to be massive amounts of material to produce all the material in the universe today. What would you say caused the spark to set of this explosion ? Also your theory about how a possible afterlife for atheists is a wild guess at best, but interesting anyway. I would take more seriously the numerous episodes of near death experiences, where people have been clinicly dead for a short time have seen thier body from the outside and been drawn to a light seen dead relatives etc before been brought back to life, is more of a reason for athiests not to dismiss religion out of hand.

and how did the material of the big bang get their in the first place in your opinion ?

 

[Gullys Cats]

The traditional response to the question, "what happens when we die?" has either been, "you go to Heaven if you've been good or Hell if you've been bad" or, "you rot in the ground, Son. Harsh but true!" On the face of it this seems to be all she wrote. Either Christians are correct and we survive our deaths or Atheists have got it and we're all heading for blackout. But I wanted to explore the possibility that there is another option. Perhaps I've made an error in the way I have titled this thread. Maybe I should have called it, "An Atheist's afterlife?" instead of, "An afterlife for Atheists?" The latter seems to imply that Atheists are still headed for the standard Christian afterlife but that it could have religious consequences ie, Atheists burn in Hell because they didn't believe in God. The former leans more towards the Atheistic version or description of such an afterlife and one which, owing it's existance to nature, can be explained using science instead of superstition.

I think atheists go to heaven.

 

[timco]

Afterlife? Some still waiting for the life bit! let a lone one after that, but then it will probably only be just as bad as this one!

If I come back as anything it will be a slug or something so you can keep that too!

We are simple carbon life forms we live we die like other carbon life forms do flowers go to heaven? is their a Kama for slugs?

 

[vic123]

vic123, going back to the big bang theory, there would have to be massive amounts of material to produce all the material in the universe today. What would you say caused the spark to set of this explosion ? Also your theory about how a possible afterlife for atheists is a wild guess at best, but interesting anyway. I would take more seriously the numerous episodes of near death experiences, where people have been clinicly dead for a short time have seen thier body from the outside and been drawn to a light seen dead relatives etc before been brought back to life, is more of a reason for athiests not to dismiss religion out of hand.

The material that we see in the universe today was created from pure energy in the moments of creation. One of the things Einstein has shown us is that matter and energy are the same thing. How do you get matter from nothing? Good question! Nobody knows the absolute answer to that but perhaps the solution is to be found in the way in which matter distorts space. Let's imagine that I have a trampoline here. I place a snooker ball onto the material of this trampoline and we both notice how the weight of the ball causes the material to bend slightly. Next, I produce a ping pong ball and place it next to the snooker ball. We notice how the ping pong ball, even though it is identical in volume to the snooker ball, does not bend the fabric as much as the snooker ball does. Why? We both agree that it has to do with the weight, or mass, of these objects. Is there any way I could make the ping pong ball bend the fabric as much as the other ball does without increasing its' weight? Yes! By increasing its' energy. I pick up the ping pong ball and throw it at the trampoline's surface, causing the material to bend just like the snooker ball. At the very moment the ping pong ball touches down you take a photograph. Later, when we examine the pictures, neither of us can tell the difference between the balls as both now have an equal effect on the fabric. One has more mass while the other has more energy but, as far as gravity is concerned, mass and energy are the same thing. I heard of how an Astromoner has shown that light waves coming from the sun has moved an asteroid off its' orbit! If ever proof was needed that all the "stuff" we see could indeed have come from nothing more then a wave of energy then surely this was it. Light has zero mass and yet it has the power to move rocks in space! Of course, I am not sure what caused this wave function in our own universe. It could have been a black hole forming in a parallel universe or it might have been a cosmic collision of some kind involving pre-existing universes.

As for near death experiences...I think that they are cerebral manifestations of dying brains. I also believe that, if an Atheistic model of an afterlife exists, that model will be explainable and understandable within the confines of science and reason.

 

[dangull]

I think you will find that scientists have been amazed that people in a deep coma or worse have been able to see and hear things that were happening to them on the operating table, which would be impossible other than they had an out of body experience. Again your theory's on the big bang is speculation, but i can agree to disagree.

 

[beorhthelm]

I think you will find that scientists have been amazed that people in a deep coma or worse have been able to see and hear things that were happening to them on the operating table, which would be impossible other than they had an out of body experience.

no, it means we dont fully understand the state of coma, or they where in fact semi-conscious, or dreaming. you cant say something is impossible just because you dont understand it and invoke the supernatural just so you dont have to. it raises a question to be explorered for new discovery to be made.

 

[One Love]

You need to pay more attention. The Universe was in an extremely hot and dense state and began expanding rapidly. After the initial expansion, the Universe cooled sufficiently to allow energy to be converted into various subatomic particles, including protons, neutrons, and electrons. Though simple atomic nuclei could have formed quickly, thousands of years were needed before the appearance of the first electrically neutral atoms. The first element produced was hydrogen, along with traces of helium and lithium. Giant clouds of these primordial elements later coalesced through gravity to form stars and galaxies, and the heavier elements were synthesized either within stars or during supernovae.

No, I don't think I do.

I was talking about first cause.

 

[One Love]

no, it means we dont fully understand the state of coma, or they where in fact semi-conscious, or dreaming. you cant say something is impossible just because you dont understand it and invoke the supernatural just so you dont have to. it raises a question to be explorered for new discovery to be made.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

 

[glasfryn]

in the 70's and 80's there was a great belief in the "out of body experience" thing
I did read a book about it at the time ....people were traveling across continents and describing things they could never have seen any other way
now if this is to be believed then why could that spirit not disconnect from the body at death and run free
there are many instances of this ...things being seen leaving the body after death, near death experiences people seeing themselves on the operating table ect
IMHO if we are going to drag our sorry arses to somewhere its going to have to be extremely big
Oh and it is early in the morning ................................

 

[Nibble]

I'm hoping they have a decent coffee shop there and a good gym, other than that I couldn't care less.

 

[Dick Head]

Does no God necessarily equal no afterlife? Is a deliberate designer the only being which can offer an afterlife or can the universe offer one too? What will be the difference between a religious afterlife and a natural one?

If time is infinite but the Universe is finite but unbounded you will live your life again an infinite amount of times.
See Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence of the Same

 

[glasfryn]

I'm hoping they have a decent coffee shop there

you will notice the bit I cut out .................I'll have a nice flat white please and a part time job in a cattery