what happens after we die?

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Somehow such a destinity as there is nothing after death don't sound like something I can accept. How can I accept the idea that the conscience and memories of all humans disapear after death! If this is reality, then reality is greatly overrated; though it's overrated to begin with even without that. As for the life after death of other life forms, I care much less and if there is indeed a life after death for humans then the processus by which it happen is a mystery and thus we can't know what happen to other life forms either. (Unless we're dead.)


Not everyone that have been near death and came back report NDE. Some negative one exist too.


I don't worry about my place in the world that much, I worry that my conscience of the world and myself cease to be. And I also worry that it might be the destiny of all humans. We may be small compared to the Universe, but sentient life forms may be the rarest things in the Universe.


I guess you don't understand my fear.

What is wicking? When I look it up it seems about capillary stuff, not funerals.

No, that's why I asked.

You bind the hands and feet close to the body, because they do not have enough fat in them. You wrap the body in cotton, and start it on fire. The fat in the body wicks onto the cotton and slowly burns you into total ash. It is like a candle, and you are the wick. When people thought someone died of internal combustion, and nothing was left of them, that is what happened. They accidentally starting thier cotton clothing on fire. Usually a kitchen grease fire.

Ooooh, a human torch!
I googled "wicking funeral" and google interpreted as Viking funeral. Which were often cremations as well. I think one of those burning boat funerals would be awesome too, but that's probably illegal too.

You have indeed uncovered the beginning so that you may seek the end;for in the place where the beginning is,there the end will be.Blessed is he who will stand in the beginning,and will know the end and will not taste death.

The few times I have gotten into arguments with atheists over this subject (since at one time, I came under influence of atheism as an undergraduate), I usually propose Pascal's Wager.

This is my plan for burial when I die...

http://www.treehugger.com/culture/egg-shaped-burial-pods-fertilize-forest.html

In another twist on green funerals and eco-friendly burials, two Italian designers envision a new way of paying it forward, even after death.

In the attempt to make cemeteries, funerals, and burials greener, many different ideas have been put forth over the last couple of decades, including one which can turn your loved ones into compost, but this concept goes a step further and envisions planting "sacred forests" with the bodies of the deceased serving as fertilizer.

The Capsula Mundi concept, from designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel, uses an egg-shaped burial pod made from biodegradable starch plastic as the coffin, in which the body is placed in a fetal position and buried under the ground. A tree (or tree seed) is then planted over the top of the pod, which will use the nutrients from the decomposing body as fertilizer for its growth.

Although the Capsula Mundi is still a design concept, not an actual option for those planning for their funerals (in part because of regulations about burials and cemeteries), the designers hope that in the future, this type of burial will be allowed and "memory parks" full of trees will be planted. Instead of cemeteries full of headstones, the trees would serve as living memorials to the deceased.


"Capsula Mundi saves the life of a tree and proposes to plant one more. By planting different kinds of trees next to each other it creates a forest. A place where children will be able to learn all about trees. It’s also a place for a beautiful walk and a reminder of our loved ones." - Capsula Mundi

But that's the problem, most atheists can't somehow start believing in a God they don't believe in. In my experience you can't convince yourself to believe something just because you want to. I want to believe in an afterlife, but I don't see any evidence to convince myself.
Atheists often critize Pascal's Wager because it doesn't tell you which God to believe in, but if you go with the wager obviously ANY God would give you better odds than none.

Do you also hang garlic on your front door to ward off Vampires just in case as well? Do you try to stay awake so that Freddy Krueger doesn't get you in your dreams just in case he's real?

I don't personally do that. But the idea of the wager is that you put in finite amount of effort on earth (opportunity cost), to get an infinite reward when you die. That's a good wager for a small effort. But then I don't buy the premise of the infinite reward.

Agreed. Be a good person because it's the right thing to do, and it feels good to do good. Not because of an unfounded, disproven childish concept of eternal rewards in an "afterlife" . . .

Since there's probably no hell you might as well be selfish and evil

And yet there is also no:

Forgiveness: if I have damaged the lives of others, there is not going to be anyone there to pet me and reassure me that I'm really a good person. I just go to the grave knowing what I have done and realizing that this is part of how I have defined my entire existence.

Eternal justice: nobody is there to set things right for anyone that I hurt. I go through life knowing that, if I throw another person's life off-course and that person meets a terrible end, that person will not be given some compensation "at the end." Most likely, that person will die a lonely and bitter person, and in many cases, that person's grave will be spat on by people who have misjudged him. Dad is not there to come in behind me to fix my mistakes. That which is broken stays broken.

Afterlife: I can't take anything with me to oblivion. I have never seen a hearse being followed by a Brinks truck. Even if I earn billions during my lifetime as a Bernie Madoff who Got Away and I went to the grave laughing, here is someone else who will go to the grave laughing: a beach bum who never really cared about anything.

And Hell? Here is the dilemma:

If I am a good person, I could never tolerate the disproportionate suffering of anybody, even very nasty people. Even with people that I would do some pretty mean-spirited things to, there is a point at which I would think, "okay, that's not cool." Therefore, what good is "eternal bliss" to any morally decent creature when needless cruelty is done unto others? A truly moral person could never rest.

If I were a truly evil person, then I would think that the ideal sort of person is someone who, like me, exercises a Machiavellian lack of concern for others, and I must believe that Hell is full of all those "sissies" who get all sad-faced over the "little guy." Believe me, I have known people who are like this. They believe that, if you take your eyes off of the pursuit of personal gain for one instant, then you are a loser and an insect, and they despise you for it. There are criminals who break into people's houses, and they think that their victims are terribly stupid people who deserve to lose their belongings because, out of trust toward their fellow man, they didn't get a home security system. There are rapists who think that men who would not take advantage of a woman on a dark night in a certain situation is a "fag" and deserves to burn in Hell.

The only good people I have known are those who have been exposed to an example of honorable conduct and learned to want to emulate that example. For some of them, it has been Jesus. For others, it has been Socrates. For a few, it has been Mr. Spock.

Last edited by Persimmonpudding on 05 Dec 2014, 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

Don't forget that you don't actually have to be a good person to go to Heaven, as long as you "repent" and accept Jesus. However, deny the Holy Spirit and your place in Hell is guaranteed; regardless of the good you have done in your life...

OMG, GOD is a three letter word and NOT the ESSENCE OF GOD.

THAT'S JUST COMMON SENSE for folks who have A DIRECT CONDUIT WITH GOD AND NEED NO SILLY LITTLE HUMAN INVENTED WORDS TO GET TO THE TRUTH OF LIFE AND GOD.

SO HELL NO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW THE WORD GOD EXISTS TO KNOW GOD, you silly little human.. [sarcasm intended/].. as this SELFISH ABSTRACT 'LANGUAGED' IDEOLOGY IS THE DIRECT CAUSE OF MILLIONS OF HUMAN DEATHS AND COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF HUMAN SUFFERING WHEN FOLKS ARE NOT PART OF SOMEONE ELSES 'GOD' CLUB. :)

GOD AKA MOTHER NATURE TRUE OR ALL THAT IS HATES anti CHRIST CHRISTIANS, OVERALL. [MORE SARCASM INTENDED/]

BUT SOME ARE okay. :)