I was thinking about this earlier and I thought I'd get an opinion off you guys.

The Afterlife - Do you believe in it?

If so - What do you believe? Do you believe that we go to heaven? Or do you believe that something else happens to our souls?

If not - What do you believe happens when we die?

One more question in relation to this topic - If you do believe in the afterlife, what is your opinion on ghosts? Do you believe they exist?

So go ahead and lemmie know your opinions!

Good question.

I'm aeithiest, so I technically don't beleive in heaven. However I have thought of many different things, ranging from reincarnation to a eternal void to ghostly type things.

Never heaven and hell though. Jackasses at school have destroyed any chance of that.

No I don't believe in a after life.

Unless heaven counts as one.

I believe in eternal afterlife in heaven.

i believe in heaven

yes i belive in an afterlife, i belive in a heaven and a hell, yes some of us can go to heaven and someitmes the bad people go to hell for a certain number of years until they have paid their price and then can go to heaven

ghosts are people who have not completed their tasks on earth and until they have don their last wish, they can't go to heaven or hell, plus, they exist

i believe that there is nothink then u are died that is it no more you your never coming back but if u die in a killing or somethink u will beomce a ghost or somethink

I keep an open mind. If there is such thing as a God of some sort, then ill believe in them when i see them after death. *shrugs*

Otherwise, i take the view that when you die, your body rots and gets converted into parts of other animals ect. You return to the ball of energy that is the universe as unthinking matter (all matter is energy if that description confused you).

I believe that you will go to heaven for an eternal. I also believe that if you do horrible sins like rape, murder, ect. you will burn in hell.

About ghosts, I believe that their are ghosts besides the holy ghosts, yet I don't know the reason why they would be ghosts.

Mostly my thoughts...


~Muskets

i believe quite a few opinions... havent settled on one yet...

1. when we die we either ascend to heaven or burn in hell... if were nuetral (been good but also bad) we stay on earth and drift as ghosts... forever bound to earth and its ways...

2. when we die all that happens is we enter or in my opinion 'ascend' to a higher plain of existance... kinda like a heaven but not exactly... more like a place for souls to stay until final judgment form whatever greater unknown forces in the universe...

3. when we die... we see the truth, everything in life, we understand everything... kinda liek obtaining the knowledge of everything...

4. same as 3 only along with that we end up being bound to the universe to explore and realize some of the great things there is in the universe, something that you couldnt do while you were alive

5. if theory of everyhting is made up of energy... then when we die, we do infact return into the ball of energy that we were spawned from and become one with the universe once more..

6. when we die we pretty much go to heaven for final judgement on whether you stay in heaven or hell...

7. same as 6 only if you are judged to go to hell you have the oppertunity to have a second chance and live another life (of course not remembering anything at all about your after life, but instead your soul being afraid of going to hell becomes good...

8. when we die we either become a angel or demon or entity of energy... angel being we were good and went down the good path in life, demon being we were bad and went down the bad path in life, entity of matter being we were neutral and return to helping the unknown force of the universe that keeps things balanced...

9. pretty much we die rot in the ground and nothing happens but eternal blackness... or worst nothing... nothing at all...no realization, no thoughts, no nothing your no more...

10. you just become a ghost and wander the earth...

okay my opinion on ghosts... pretty much i belive in them... i belive in spirits that were forsakened to be bound to the earth or universe for ever never knowing what heaven or hell is like... i also belive in guardian angels that are there to fend off evil spirits form cursing you... i also believe in the fact that ghosts can be seen heard and everyhting... can be felt, do to the fact that everyhting has to consist of energy, matter consists of energy... there for if a soul is energy it has to be partially matter which would make it able to project sound, be felt, be heard, even seen, i mean how else coudl it be explained... ive been witness to some.. rather eerie situations in my early child hood (around age 5-9) from actually seeing the ghost of ym dead grandfather (saw that when i was in my aunts house in new jersey) to even once beeing witness to pretty hard proof... such as the one time i took a picture of myself... i didnt see just me in that picture... and no it wasnt some one else... on account of i was home alone that day messing around with our new camera)

but i do also belive in a way that ghosts are also people who havent completed a mission of theres... (i have a feeling im gonna be a ghost for along time after i die...)

anyways i belive in the supernatural... i also strongly belive that messing with the supernatural will get you in nothing good...

im not necesarilly religious... im not athiest but i dont follow any religion.. i pretty much go on my own... i follow my own path... so dont ask me if im crazy... im going on my ideas and thoughts form experience and assumptions..

and believe me... my ideas on what happens when we die always change.. so dont expect me to keep most of those ideas... i always assume something might happen so...

i have a feeling for some people like me (people who arent religious but arent athiest, people who follow there own paths)... that when you die what happens to you depends on what you think will happen to you

i could go on... and on.. and on.. but i wont lol

Personally, I believe in "afterlife" per say. I believe in Heaven and Hell. I believe that everyone who follows God and who are truely saved will go to Heaven, and all the sinners will die, and live their second life burning, suffereing, and dieing in Hell for eternity, having no way of ever getting out. I also believe their are ghosts. Personally, I think they are demonic spirits, good spirits, like angels, and maybe just, I dunno, just random, wandering spirits, lol.

Well as the majority of the debate team crew will know I certainly don't believe in any of the predictions made by big organised religions.

I'm a little bit torn between my rational side and my psychadelic left-field theory side.

Rationally nothing happens. Our bodies expire we vent our bowels and get stuck in the ground or incinerated our energy and matter get recycled to the skys and seas. Which is really quite a beautiful way to go if you think about it.

Irrespective of my usually dominant rational side I'm also very interested in the possible concept of a Noosphere as contemplated by some of my favourite philosophers and scientists like Terrence Mckenna, Richard Alpert, Timothy Leary and Aldous Huxley.

The Noosphere is hypothetical with no concrete supportive evidence. It is basically a theological/philosophical next step in the advancement of the planet and it's dominant species (being us).

The basic premise is that there is a 3rd sphere which governs our planet.

Geosphere- The Earth.
Biosphere - Flora & Fauna
Noosphere - Consciousness

It is believed that as we advance people become more intelligent/sentient.

This affects the Noosphere and continues the gradual increase in average knowledge pushing our race towards a higher purpose.

The actual agenda of the point is a matter of disagreement within the people that believe so obviously it's rather vague.

There is a lot of suggestive evidence that does seem to support this theory and additionaly the model fills in the gaps that evolution can't explain in a far more intelligent manner than religion.

Mid/Late December 2012 is meant to be a point of specific relevance for the development of the Noosphere. 2012 is usually misconceived as another doomsday prediction but it is in fact not. Although to explain that I'd need to get into the I'ching, Novelty/Routine patterns and the Mayan Calendar which I really can't be bothered to do atm...

Very simple to answer.....

You live ....you die......END

Afterlife theories and ideas are propagated so we don't have to consider our own mortality. As humans we can't seem to accept that we are no different to other living beings except in brain development and capacity.

Our purpose, as that of all living creatures is to procreate and continue the species.

The only form of "afterlife" is the progression of gene pool passed into offspring.

Live whatever life you're lucky to have to the full, remembering to help one another along the way.

Don't waste your time worrying about ficticious idealistic fantasy lands such as heaven, you're alive now...Relish it!

I dunno.
It's hard to believe that you just "stop".

Is it? I find the idea of just stopping quite good. Especially in a society where you have to work each day just to survive. To spend your whole life working menial, repetitive tasks to ensure your own continuation and then one day to just not wake up seems quite nice in comparison.

But no, I don't believe in an afterlife. Maybe the closer I get to dying the more I'll want that comfort zone, but I doubt it. I'm more of the opinion that if you lead a fun life, what need you more?

well even then.. i dont just want to fall asleep and never wake up again... relatively speaking... i mean just to stop... kinda ruins any aspect of what might happen... it kinda scares me... i mean it seems extremely scary and kind of a depressing thought to think that once you die it just stops... nothing happens but darkness... id like to think something happens then just rotting in the ground... sure we all relish our lives but to just stop... pretty much if it is true that that happens then we have alot of lost hope in the world

and rob although in todays society that is true... wouldnt you want to be able to relax after death instead of just nothing? i mean you worked hard during life it would seem liek a waste for everything to stop and not even be able to relax after death... unless you count just stopping as another way of relaxing

its completely based on person A's opinion Vs. person B's opinion...

so i dont know what you think thus i can onyl assume so...

if i lived life an extremely hard way just to keep a family fed and stay under a roof then once i die id at least want to be able to float around and keep an eye on my family relax and watch how they live without me, try to keep them safe in anyway if possible... i wouldnt just want to stop...

merely my opinion... even if i lived a fun life... it would kinda make me not want everyhting to just stop... its true what more do you need in that case... but even a fun life has times that you just need to sit back and relax...

You go into the ground and your decaying body provides nutrients for plantlife.

But I hope there's reincarnation..that would be sweet.

i wouldnt mind reincarnation... always have another chance at life i geuss lol

the only question about that is... do you get to choose what your reincarnated as? cause i dont want to be no tree or flower... i wanna be a human lol...

i think i know what religeon/cop out/belife system you are. your probebly agnostic. wich in my opinion is probebly the best because your the most open minded.

agnostic... hmm ive never even heard of that but im actually getting the feeling of liking it...

lol i think ill look that up

EDIT: OH DANG! that pretty much sums up my thoughts... im most likely agnostic... no doubt about it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic

yup pretty much says how i think of things when it comes to this topic

I've always wondered. I tell myself when I die, I'll wake up somewhere else, as a little kid, starting a whole new life. Or we just die and go to Heaven. T

now this is an interesting question....
hmm... for some reason iv actually put a lot of thought into this in the past few months (and for no real reason which is the wierd part...) I am a strong believer in Heaven and Hell... however.... I think Heaven is what you make of it, and i dont mean that we may all be in heaven right now, i mean that it appears to you as what ever you want it to be.... where as hell i think appears as an unchanging, unending whirlpool of your worst nightmares and realities where you live out and relive your worst, most painfilled, guilty and horrifying moments for all of eternity... but thats just my view

To be quite frank with all those people who believe in Hell, i ask the following question... why the heck would the Devil torture all the souls he gets??? surely he would give them anything they wanted to get them to join his side and fight for him... mmm? Make them view God as a complete gimp and get those souls as his allies to fight the forces of heaven?

Maybe the Christian church says its a bad place to scare people into following its advice.

This might be true if he were fighting a war..... but then again wouldnt it just be easier to promise you whatever you want and then simply.... once your there your free will is gone, you will never die. the pain will never stop, and you cant redeem yourself once your there... you will do what the devil instructs you to if you end up there, he won't reward you for it... think about it, he wins that all that would matter.... the devil wouldnt doesnt care about you or what happens to you all hes interested in is keeping you from reaching paradice..... he just gets another free soul to enslave and enjoy watching wrythe in pain and agony for all of eternity...... think about it like this, if he was once an angel that God kicked out of Heaven, why would he want other people reaching an eternal happyness that is forever out of his reach?

srry if im getting slightly exact and annoying with this topic but its tjust because theres finally a debate up that i have a great deal of information to contribute to...

EDIT: also for sometihng i just saw further up: a ghost, spectre, spirit, apperition (check spellign on that one), or even in those odd cercumstances a shade are all the parts of a spirit that are left behind on earth of by someone who was unready to die or feared death... the soul itself still goes somewhere.... thats just the image or memory left behind..... if you beleave in that sort of thing,,,, (Shades seem to qualify as more of an evil memory than an actual thing like a ghost)

For revenge? If someone kicked you out of your life when you had endless amounts of money, had a great job and family life and were happy all the time, wouldn't you be a little bit ----ed off, to say the least, if someone came and took all that away? Now, if we apply that to the Devil, then ofcourse he will want revenge, and one way to get revenge would be to try and turn people against god.

Can I please put that in my sig it made me I see what you mean robo. I only believe in scientific evidence and as far as I know, no evidence of Hell/Heaven although I do respect people's religions and they're beliefs.

Even though the thought of everything just becoming black feels weird, I kind of believe that is going to happen. But when I think about it, we will never know if it just turns black, as we won't be able to see it, as we will be dead.

It's just a really weird thought.

We might just be reborn, without knowing, without a feeling about it.
I have always wondered though, when a person dies, can he come back and see how people are taking it? How people are doing. Kind of like as a spirit, I don't know.

I guess we will all have to find out by ourselves.

I find that the afterlife is a part of are imagination. The fact taht there is"heaven" and hell is kinda unrealistic.
its just a way for us human to addap to are surroundings. A way to feel safe.
If we had no higher power most of humanity would go insain and just be lost with no purpuse.

Although iI would love to just chill around the world and watch the little people do stuff. Its Sims on a global scale!!!

That question is the only thing that scares me.

If i held up a gun to your head and said "are you feeling lucky?" would that scare you too?

as off topic as that seemed it kinda fit in in the long run
anyway, im a strong believer in heaven and hell
do you seriously believe that those who live their lives to ruin other peoples lives are not punished for it?
if you tihnk about it hard enough common senseshould begin to kick in...

No.

Common sense? Common sense that there is a clear cut natural justice that exists in the universe and after death judges every individual on the merit of their existence? The world is not black and white. There is not a clear cut good and evil. Some acts may be deemed wrong by some, but noble by others. For example, one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. Who would, who could judge that although an act was wrong for one person it was more - or less - right for another.
Those who commit the most evils in life are those who live the best. The richest in society who control lives globally. Is there any justice in that? That those who own business and hire and fire people - making and breaking lives for a profit - should live in opulence?
There is very little justice in life and I would imagine even less in death.

anyway ill agree with you on your last statement but ill add a bit to it too.... Life is cruel, and to those who make it worse, why should the afterlife be any different?

And heres where things get interesting and technical.... the question was never do you believe in heaven and hell, it was do you believe in a n afterlife... no one said there had to be a judgement, jsut somewhere to go after your dead.... like saphira said, its common sense that there would be sometihng after death.....
otherwise ppl would have no reason for living...

"With out a place to go after you die, living loses all meaning.... and life can not exist......" -CobraKakashi
chew on that for a moment or two....

Oh and as for this part.... i could spend hours tearing away at that statement but since iv got a schedual to keep ill leave you with a single thought that should break every valid point that that statement makes..... Adolf Hitler.... you basicly just said that he lived a great life if what your saying is true...

im not gonna bother thinking about adolf hitler...

among the facts of heaven and hell...

technically there is still a reason to live without these... for say imagine dieing and then actually staying on the earth or being able to wander around the universe or such as that, it would be a way of showing you the actual meaning of life over time, since you will be subject to the actual nature of the universe, see more than any person that is alive would be able to see, and in some cases this would require extreme patience, since eventually the universe is technically in a expanding, non expanding cycle, eventually you will see the rebirth of the universe, among that you will see the lives of other people around the earth...

so much could be thought of in this case of being a wandering spirit free to roam where ever you wish...

in my opinion, i cant necesarily believe in heaven and hell mainly for the fact that there isnt really much evidence of either, just the fact that religion is suppose to be so powerful without any reason behind it says that religion seems to try and prove something without proof... heaven could be real, but the fact that there are so many things that are considered a sin, it kinda makes me think, who would be able to get into heaven... unless they were near perfect... as for hell, there are actually records of the devil possesing people, im trying to remember who that one girl was that was possesed by the devil, she could turn her head around 360 degrees, cant remember her but there is a movie on it, its also a true event... but among that, it says the devil could exist, but hell is yet to be proved...

among this, if there was a heaven and hell, where could they be located? in another plain of existence? if so would they exist on the same plain? in some of my friends opinions, they think hell might be located outside the end of the universe, in my opinion its not possible...

i could go on with what i believe but we are not debating about that...

among the common sense part... im sorry but think for this part and wait for common sense to kick in...

as rob said an act of wrong in one persons opinion is an act of right in anothers... if this came into play then punishment wouldnt be allowed for what the person did was actually good for some and bad for others... thus punishment would be canceled out... so in relativity, this also helps say that what point would a heaven and hell have if every act done by someone is considered good and bad? oh right... the whole religious sin part... but how does that come into play when your not even baptised? what if you have no religion? i believe this has been said before actually people without an religion go nowhere, people with a religion go to heaven or hell... meh, religion seems to be a good way to get through life with pointless hope...

It's not common sense to believe in life after death, common sense implies quite the opposite, actually. The reason for living is to help secure the survival of our species by reproducing.

Why does there have to be an afterlife?

Chewed on. And laughed at. So you feel the meaning of life is to die? Congratulations, go and commit suicide.

And I'd say Hitler did rather well for himself. He had to do next to no work, merely making speeches and leaving the others in the Nazi party to interpret what he'd said. He slept for as long as he wished, hardly turned up to meetings and was notably lazy. If that statement had ben intended to mean that those who sin most are holy, it would've been a complete contradiction. If you'd continued reading to where I said "Is it fair for those to live in opulence" - or possibly understood the definition of opulence - you'd understand that I was inferring that those who commit the most evils are those who live their lives in the most comfort.

....... i cant even count just how many things are wrong with what you just said........... that some kind of death threat or sometihng?...... anyway to clear up my little quote, it means that if theres nothing to look forawrd to when you die, people would be afraid to livem they would stay contained away from any possible sorce of.... death, and there owuld be constant research into immortality and how to make it happen.... and as far as opulence goes, that was a different sentence and thought i was focussing specificly on what you said a few lines befre that.... selection journalism mate....

sorry cobra, man but at first i was agrreing with rob on that commit sucide remark, you need to say this stuff more clear man, im nto agreeing with rob now, but you left out the whole, search for immortality and such part

oddly enough, the thought just crossed my mind, if adolf hitler was so comfortble being evil then i wonder how comfy the devil would be... along with that, your comment is also partly not true, look at suddam and such, he ended up hiding in fear, got captured, he was hung...

not exactly comfy in my opinion

It's not a death threat, it's me ridiculing you. That seems to be somewhat beyond your comprehension however.

To further my point - before being deposed Saddam Hussein enjoyed living in opulence with his most loyal subjects around him. He named airports after himself - and if you have the power to do that, you can't be having a bad life.

And as for people being afraid of death - people are already afraid of death. Otherwise there'd be no need for a belief in an afterlife. If there was no belief in an afterlife everyone would live each day like their last and enjoy life.

And since I myself while being poor by the standards of the nation, live in comfort compared to those in the third world, I'd like to bring up a point made by Jesus on heaven - "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God".

We all live in comparative comfort, and comparative wealth, so everyone here is going to hell anyway. What need a belief in the afterlife?

1 simple word...










= HEAVEN!!!!!!!

OMG I MUST BE GOTH!! I AM BUT, NOT AFRAID OF DEATH!!...

i believe i will lose this argument very fast...

i'm in all honesty im not that afraid of death, infact, why should i be? hmm? i await death with open arms, for the day i die, is the day i find out if there is a heaven and a hell, whether reincarnation happens, and everything else we but have no clue about...

i maybe selfish for knowledge, but knowledge is what we need in order to do anything, the more knowledge we have, the more we should be able to do...

money is but a cheap substitute for knowledge, you can do alot with money, you can do alot more with knowledge, you can even get more...

heres a question... you probably know the smart anwser...

you are asked how you want your allowance... your parents say they can give you 1,000,000 dollars today or give you a penny today, 2 pennies tomorow, 4 pennies the day after tomorow, and so on for 30 days...

well if you said penny the first day then times that by 2, 30 times then, congratulations you just got 10,737,418.24 dollars...

knowledge my friend... without it, we couldnt live... the more knowledge someone has, the better they become... look at god, he is suppose to know everything, [sarcasm]no wonder they call him god heh he knows it all![/sarcasm] ...

you get my point right... if i was to die, i would learn things that we most likely could never learn while were alive... this does not mean i shall go and kill myslef, for this is not how it works... if i were to kill myself i would be but signing a contract with the devil saying, buy knowledge, the cost... your soul and all your time for eternity....

i do not fear death that much, i do not wish to die at the same time, living is a good way to learn as well, because for all i know... living people probably learn the less important but more meaningful things...

knowledge is power... i do not fear death, i welcome it.... but i let it linger near, so that when my time really does come, it does not waste a second...

call me emo, goth whatever... im saying what i have come to realize after a while...

and WARfrog, im not even gonna start there... except for this, religion threw me off good... but taught me some important things...

I Think There Is An Afterlife.But Not Heaven And Hell.(If There Was I Would Be Sent Straight To Hell)
I Think My Soul Would Walk This World Forevermore.



For Views On The Afterlife Click Here

darnit... i didnt wan anyone to ever find that

oh well funny as freakin hell...

but i swear to god if that happens to me, i will make myself spontaneously combust... nuff said...

Actually Youll Just Combusted . Because Spontanious Combustion is when you burst into fire without warning.
Since Youd Make Yourself Burst into flames you have warning so therefore it is jus combustion

once again you pick a horrible example.... how did Suddam die again? oh yeah first he was found in a hole cowering in fear and begging the soldiers not to shoot, then he was brought back, ridiculed, and hung... sounds real comfortable.... adolf hitler? complete coward, instead of facing death he kills himself... he kills himself in an unfurnished bunker-like area that would not be considered comfortable in the least... as for ridiculing me, i think your the one with the inability to think things out clearly... that wasnt ridiculing, it was telling me to go kill myself.... purhaps its beyond your comprehension that that sort of thing is considered a death threat and i have every righ to take it as such... try actually reading these things in context once in a while... this was said after watching a beggar and a rich man walk up to an alter where the poor man prayed quietly, and the rich man prayed out loud saying Thank you for making me so much richer and more civilized than this filthy begger..... i can deffinately see that man not getting in to heaven... as for not not fearing death, yes many people fear death, but just as many dont... id be lying if i said my soul is prepared to enter heaven... but i dont fear death... i will admit that right now.... i believe that when i do die i will be judged on how i have acted in life and will be sorted out likewise... i am a strong believer in God and that God is merciful and will look at what i have done right with my life rather than persisting on what i have done wrong..... so thats how i back up my reasoning... how do you hold up yours?

actually for me it would be combustion, for everyone else around me, they wouldn't know this thus for them it would be spontaneous combustion


but for the begger and the rich man praying, i never heard of this one...

as for everything else quoted, mostly i'll stay quiet because i already stated what i think would happen when i shall die...

but just for the record, just because you get scared in the sight of death, does not mean you are overall scared of death, if you ask me, the body no matter what will react to the sight of impending doom, it will produce adrenaline and such for defensive purposes, your heartbeat will start working frantically and your thinking capabilities will really kick in, unless your actually scared senseless that is...

lemme give you a little story though, when i was around 4, i almost died from drowning, i can stil remember being in the water with light slowly slipping away, just the sweet sight of the ripples of water, i then blackout in memory there and next i can remember i was on the ground... nothing big... age 8, im hit by a car goin maybe 25 miles... i remember the loud whine of the engine and then the sudden thudding and immense pain as i was smacked and actually flipped right over the car onto the windshield and over back onto the street, dont remember much after that but hearing a screech, the part that does seem to partly still make me a little concerned is that after that i remember not seeing any bright light, but i was floating in what seemed like space, everything seemed to be giving me anwsers and telling me secrets, nothing was quiet at all, the starry lights gave off a glittering kinda of noise, the coulds and such seemed to let off a high pitched wind kind of noise, the darkmatter there seemed to be letting off a loud hum and everything seemed as if it was giving me so many questions with anwsers to them, then it all slipped away into darkness, i geuss anything i might have been told was all taken back... i think i became concious after that, i suffered a broken rib and i think some trauma from that accident... when i told my mom about this, she contradicted me, took me to a church and told me to pray like my life depended on it...

meh, ever since then i've been awaiting death for the true day i am to die... as for now, i can only do so much

Are you aietheistic?

Thats one of the smartest things I've heard in here.

Can't remember if I posted in here or not, but if I did, my viewpoint has probably changed. I lived in the South for about 6 years, and I'm laid back and slow because of it. Life in the South is slow.

I take life one step at a time, and only worry about the immediate things.

and thats exactly how you should live life, it means your not concerned with things that really dont have anything to do with you or things that are a long way off... either way, i wish my life was like that