Do you wish there was an afterlife? even if you don't believe one exists?

No, I would prefer a complete end, a shutdown.

There probably isn’t, but I like to play with the concept and make my own versions of afterlife.

If there really is, it’s definitely not as we ever imagined it (although Greek/Sumeiran version seems fair enough)

I don’t believe in an afterlife. We already have all the time there is, lots and lots of it. How could there be more?

Nope – I’ll be happy to be dead.

Not at all. I’m very content knowing that my life will end when my body does so.

Of course I wish there was! That would be cool, to be able to watch over my kids and grandkids and watch all my generations unfold over the centuries. I could also see my Mom and Dad again, and etc.
But I hear they don’t have beer in the afterlife. :/

But what I really wish is that I had a pet unicorn to ride around town.

It would be nice if it was life like here on Earth, being able to do all the things I wanted, all the things (and girls!) I wanted to do but never did, and all the things I enjoyed. Otherwise it would be boring to no end.

@Dutchess_III Well if they serve the beer that you drink in the afterlife then that would be called “Hell.”

LOL!!! Brat.

Nope. Pretty sure once around is enough for me. Besides, I don’t believe in an afterlife.

Although, as Woody Allen says,

“I’m taking a change of underwear just in case.”

I don’t believe there is any form of afterlife, but it would be lovely to be able to believe that those I have loved and lost were in some beautiful place enjoying a peaceful, happy existence and I’d see them again after I die. Sadly, I am as certain as I can be about anything that this is not reality.

No. The existence of an afterlife, as in “the indefinite continuation of consciousness after death”, would make life meaningless. What would be the point of saving lives, fighting disease, hunger, injuries, if you lived forever without any ailments after you die?

No need to look further than to islamic suicide bombers, and the famous christian motto “Kill them all, and let God sort them out”.
The bomb-belt fashionistas believe they will go to eternal paradise with their eternal virgins, and the christians believe that those who deserve it will go to heaven.
Neither of them place any value on life itself.

I would like to believe in an afterlife. I would also like to believe that this is the best of all possible worlds and that Jesus died for my sins. Unfortunately, this is a chasm too great for my mind to stretch over.

@ragingloli I’m really starting to like you, y’know.

There have been, however, beliefs in afterlife, but with great emphasis on this life. Greeks believed in the afterlife, but their afterlife was seen as a sad imitation of this life. Living in the underworld was depicted as being a strange mud like being with no memories, no glory and no beauty. You were “alive” but only technically. Afterlife was seen as a worse option than this life, not as any form of salvation. It was a place of sadness and sorrow, and that is exactly why Greeks loved this life. They believed living this life is wonderful and we should live as good as possible, because the life after death is simply horrible.

It doesn’t go far from what you wrote, but well, it was an example of believing in the afterlife, but still putting all value on time we spend here.

Considering that Sumers (Sumerians?) and Egyptians had similar view on the afterlife, I dare saying that the concept of afterlife as anything to strive for originated in Abrahamic religions.

Just thought it would be interesting info to share.

I wish in some form of afterlife one can read women’s mind like a mirror and understand what goes on over there..)

Odds are we consist of finite information and consequently will not escape living again and again for multiple reasons.

Sure I wish there was an afterlife. I wish I was religious too. I envy those who do believe.

I wish there is an afterlife, and my wish is true, and believe I am destine for the better part. :)

Yes. As long as it was a nice one. Change would be nice. Nothingness, not so much.

If my consciousness were infinite, I think I’d get sick of it.

However, I, too, and pretty curious about how the world will unravel (albeit skeptical). There are also people who I would really like to see again. Actually, it’s more of a desire for everyone to be reunited.

@Hypocrisy_Central . What’s heaven supposed to be like?

My personal understanding of it is limited to how it’s portrayed in movies. Do they get it right? Pearly Gates and such?...

We look for rewards or salvation always in what we do, even selfless contentment must come with the expectation of conclusion or death.

@MrGrimm888 Mark Twain, who had a very strict Christian upbringing and was very well versed in the Bible, wrote a small book titled Letters from Earth (1909) at the end of his life. It’s a short story written in epistolic format about how God created everything and then got into an ethical disagreement with his favorite angel, Lucifer, and kicked him out of heaven and old Luce had to leave his best bros, Michael and Gabriel, behind.

Lucifer, now Satan, sentenced to drifting around in empty space forever, is bored out of his mind, so he decides to go down and see how the Earth experiment is doing. He is shocked. Completely flabbergasted at how Man turned out and begins writing letters back home to Mike and Gabe. There are eleven letters altogether. In Letter II, Satan describes the Christian conception of Heaven. It is bloody hilarious.

Letters from Earth readable online.

Letters from Earth in downloadable pdf format.

I’d like to come back as a butler, to see how the other half live & to piss in my master’s tea if he takes liberties with my service.

@ucme I wonder what your servants – sorry, staff – have to say about that.

At times I wish it. I wish my grandmother could be with her father whom she missed all her life. He died when she was 5.

I’m fine if there is nothing afterwards. If there is something, I don’t want it to be just floating around in another demension. I also am not keen on the whole heaven and hell reward or punishment for how one lived their life. I like the idea that we stay near the souls we love and no longer experience bad health or worries about all the stresses that come with life.

Eternity, by definition, is a looong time. Any activity you engage in will repeat ad infinitum and eventually to ad nauseum. “Darm! Am I having sex with Claudia Shiffer again?!”

I prefer to live this life like it is the only one I will have. Make it count.

Oh shit,You mean theres more after this shit show!!??
I hope not I will just be happy to be gone,no after glow for this burnt out truck driver thank you.

@Espiritus_Corvus God I love Mark Twain! “When the Creator had finished thinking, He said, “I have thought. Behold!” ”

@Espiritus_Corvus . Interesting stuff….

@Espiritus_Corvus Thanks for those links. I downloaded to my kindle.

@MrGrimm888 What’s heaven supposed to be like?
No earthly being can fathom that in the slightest.

Ok…

I would not want more of the same.
If there were an eternity ahead, I would want to be gleefully oblivious.
Maybe an infinite existence as a butterfly would be cool, or as a book everybody wants to read, but I can’t read myself.

It tells us in the Bible what heaven is like @Hypocrisy_Central. It’s has streets of gold and pearly gates….all that greedy Trump Tower stuff we’re supposed to not even care about while we’re alive.

@Dutchess_III Where does it say that?

Revelation 21:21

The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.

If one wishes to believe that what the Bible says is correct, seeing how it was written and translated by men. I’ll have to give a GA to @Hypocrisy_Central for that last one.

@Dutchess_III It tells us in the Bible what heaven is like @Hypocrisy_Central. It’s has streets of gold and pearly gates….
Partial at best, and described as best one can of things never seen by using things that have been seen. But don’t just believe the Bible on what heaven looks like and miss the parts that should not e missed.

Oh, I read those other parts. Like the part where Noah slept with his daughter in law.
And the part where God populated the earth by incest. Twice.
And the part where Lot offered up his daughters to be gang raped to protect himself.
Yeah. And the part where God let the king kill all of those helpless babies.
God is an asshole.

Now, now @Dutchess_III with that kind of talk you’re not going to see those wonderful gold filled streets when you leave this dirt pile.
Myself I’m not crazy about gold, gardening,or harp music so I guess I am doomed as well.

I’d rather live on a dirt pile than on gold! I mean, you can grow shit on a dirt pile.

Yeah, I don’t see the allure of sitting on a cloud and learning to play a harp myself. And doing it for all eternity? No thanks.

I find no appeal of roasting in a sulfur dungeon of sorts weeping along in because I thought I would be playing a harp for eternity (a lie many buys).

^So. What is required to go to Heaven?

@Dutchess_III . I never tire of playing guitar. Maybe you could learn to love the harp. If I had all eternity, I would learn every instrument ever created. That’d be awesome.

BUT I CAN’T SING!!!! Plus, in Heaven I would have no vocal chords… :(

@Dutchess_III
You should apply for “Colonies got Talent”, then.

^^^^ ^So. What is required to go to Heaven?
Not that you would believe it, I will PM you with exactly what it takes, not that anyone does it perfectly, but the Father knew that, which is why grace is so important; however, it is surprisingly simple.

LOL! I’m sure that PM will change @ragingloli‘s life!

^ he was probably telling mrGrimm, Dutchess.

Oh you bet @Dutchess_III we will soon be hearing she was born again .

I did that before.

HC was addressing me. I haven’t gotten his PM yet. I’m curious about his views. They’re very different from mine. We’ve chatted a couple times about his religion on PM, because our discussion would be polluted by mockery on an open thread.

Sorry to be impolite to the others here…

^ Sorry to be impolite to the others here…
They should apologize to you because they do not really care for any enlightenment but only to sling scorn and mockery, as you said, not be a passionate part of the narrative.

I’m sure others PM about topics too… It’s a nice option on Fluther.

Some even PM to vilify me to others, another handy tip to see what some of the content was when you click on a user. <tick, tick>

@Hypocrisy_Central for some one so religious you sure are paranoid.

he sees satan everywhere

Now HOW would you know what is said in PRIVATE MESSAGES @ucme? Me thinks you are too concerned with yourself.

@SQUEEKY2 [… for some one so religious you sure are paranoid.
If it is true, there is no paranoia. I guess I just happened to stumble upon a Flutheronian’s profile before malignant, maligning statements made to them by another(s) got pushed out the back end. I know you got a msg from @Seek
On March 28th of last year saying she seen something that made her think of you and included a link, also @Tropical_Willie commented on an answer of yours in one of his threads back in July the 26th 2015. What I saw was no spook or specter, it was not imagined but witnesses, so there is no paranoia when you read it as clear as the morning paper.

@ragingloli he sees satan everywhere (Capitalization, sentences start that way) I don’t see him everywhere, but his handiwork is everywhere and I see him working through quite a few people….I will leave it as that.

HC. Just let them talk behind your back. Who cares…

That’s unfortunately part of human nature…

At least the PMs don’t pollute the thread…

People, can we focus on the question and stop ridiculing @Hypocrisy_Central and his beliefs.

^It’s not going to happen. HC is a lightning rod. And he managed to piss off some flutherites who will never stop following him,and mocking him,or saying mean things to him. The role he plays in his persecution is speaking his mind, and it’s not always a popular opinion.

Jellies often admonish him for bringing religion into threads where it isn’t relevant. He’s a religious guy,so of course that will shine through sometimes. Here we are in a thread that is 100% based on religion, and he’s still getting bullied,and ostracized. If he’s not welcome in this thread,where is he welcome?

Yes he brings up religionwhen it’s irrelevant in some threads. Think of how often Trump is brought up in threads that have nothing to do with him though.

As I’ve said before. If we aren’t careful, we’re going to run off everyone who doesn’t have identical beliefs. Then it’ll be boring as hell…

HC and I went at it for a couple weeks when I first joined. We have VERY different views on things, but seem to share a common respect for our strength in our convictions. And we usually can abstain from our differences leading to insults. I’ve probably inadvertently insulted him many times,due to my views on his religion. But he’s displayed patience and tolerance of my thinking. And I try and reciprocate.

Peace n love Fluther.

@MrGrimm888, I’ve been a member of the Fluther community for many years. I’m well aware of the community’s history with @Hypocrisy_Central. I’m also not going to turn a blind eye when I see him (or anyone else) being ridiculed. You may well be right that people will ignore my request. Nonetheless, I have faith people will choose to move on from the tone that has appeared in the latter part of this thread and return to the topic at hand. Ridicule is a form of bullying, and I hope everyone here is above that type of behaviour, regardless of who the victim is.

^I agree. It’s a form of bullying…

Never seems to matter how many times someone comes to defend HC, it always goes ignored, unless, as in this example, people agree about it. The closest thing I’ve seen is someone replying, saying he should be banned. Kinda makes me sad, as moderation here has stepped in and given two members here specific rules to run by as they always got on each others’ tits, yet I’ve never seen HC defended by the powers that be unless he was outright flamed.

Granted it is easier to deal with two clashing members than it is to deal with like 87% of a community. But heh it shows the man’s strength, as I’ve deleted my account several times for not even half of what that guy always goes through. Not saying I never blasted him, but I’ve shown him more respect than many and outwardly defended him many times.

He’s still wrong about everythng though. :D

^Yeah. HC is like if Timex and Rocky had a religious baby. The man can take a beating….

I think it’s important @Dutchess_III & you other squabbling children to get the name of the person right with whom you are tediously fighting with, or at least acknowledge your error & correct it…just sayin.

What?

^Read about 10 posts up Dutch.

I have no idea what I’m looking for @MrGrimm888. Can you just post a link to the one you’re referring to?

Sorry Dutch. I’m not that tech savy. You confused @ucme with @Hypocrisy_Central . That’s all…

O. Sry.
If you move your mouse so that it is next to the flag to the right of “Flag as…” an orange paragraph symbol appears. Right click on it and click on “Copy link location.” Then you paste it in your comments just like any other Link

Hahaha, ignorance as an art form.

I’m on a phone so it’s different than desktop. I have a laptop I am going to try using for Fluther. That may improve some things.

Hm. Yeah. It’s not available on my phone. Neither is the flag option. I’m going to change it to desktop mode and see what happens.

¶ . M

¶ yeah no.

I’ll get by without it. Thanks though.

But you could have copied the text and pasted it.

I guess. Like I said, I’m not tech savy. I only have a smart phone because I need it for my job. I’ve tried to stay away from computers before. The most I ever used them for was typing in records. I’m learning more about them though.

They are a blast!

Yeah. That’s how I stumbled upon Fluther .

How did you find us @MrGrimm888?

^I am a lover of most things science. I canoe through swamps,rivers,lakes and explore many places. I spend the majority of my exploring time observing/interacting with animals I see.

I have /had lots of spiders in my yard I had been observing for several years. (They all died this summer of an unknown cause, I think a combo of increased mosquito spraying and an invasive gecko.)

I had just gotten my smart phone, and was using Google to verify my observations, or answer questions I couldn’t figure out about all the animals I observe.

I don’t remember the exact question, but I think I Googled “what do spiders think about?” or something like that. I guess there was already an old thread about it on Fluther. There wasn’t really any other information about it anywhere.

So ,I joined that thread ,or reopened it.

I’ve always been a fan of debate. This site is a Q n A site, but seems to double as a debate forum.

I joined up. And now annoy many Flutherites.

I’m happy you all have me. I try to contribute when I can. I know most here have been here long before me. I value EACH jelly’s opinion.

Google is GREAT. But it lacks a organic touch. I prefer interactions with other animals, not computers. I will often ask Fluther before Google. Some here have an invaluable level of experience. I find their wisdom more valuable than Wikipedia or whatever…

I guess I’ll hang out in the lagoon until I piss everyone off enough to kick me out.

I’m a cage rattler, but I never intend offense. My lack of a personal filter gets jellies mad at me plenty, but that’s me…

I won’t say Fluther changed my life, but it has helped fill a need I have that doesn’t usually get filled in other places.

I found Wis.dm sort of the same way. I read a news article online, and at the bottom of the article was a question about evolution. I clicked on it…and holy shit! There was a party going on! I joined up as DutchCat, but after about a year one of my favorite people reknighted me as Dutchess. It was active for at least 5 years. It’s where I met Rarebear and Dominic, Yarnlady and others who are here on Fluther now.
Then it started dying. Some one posted a question about “What do we do now?” And someone else answered with a link to this site and so we invaded. Boy, was it rocky at first! Fluther was a staid, fussy old lady at that time. They didn’t even have a Social section. Every question was treated the way the are in General, and the moderation was ruthless! On Wisdm there was no moderation, at all, and so we had a hard time adjusting.
It took a little on both sides. Not long after we came Bendrew created the Social section, and that’s when we started having fun!

^Hmm… Lots of refugees here. Glad we have ‘Social, ’ or it would indeed be a different place. I doubt I would be here without it. I almost never ask questions in ‘General. ’

I like the variety of comments in ‘Social. ’ They can take things outside the box.

Right? I like to think us Wis.dmers had a hand in that. I know I started maintaining things like, “This is MY thread and you can say whatever you want to say, as long as it isn’t flame bait, and you can go off topic if you want.”

What is really astonishing was how this question ever saw the light of day! This was right after we got here, before Social was born.

^ I can, the high bar of Fluther, one cannot find much higher than that here, the GAs attest to that.

@Dutchess_III But I hear they don’t have beer in the afterlife.

In Heaven There Is No Beer

“If their ain’t cold beer in heaven, who the hell would wanna go?”