Contradiction between Atheism/Agnosticism and Afterlife

HavingCrack

I'm just wondering what everyones thoughts on this are. Does anyone else see a contradiction between being an athiest/agnostic and still believing in an afterlife or re incarnation. As far as I'm concerned both atheism and agnosticism are defined by lack of belief/not sure of in deities so everything else is fair game as to whether you believe in it or not if you get me .

Personally speaking I like to think the presence of paranormal events signifies soem sort of afterlife or re incarnation but I don't see this as being a contradiction to my agnosticism. Whats everyone else views ??:D

iBumblebeetuna

HavingCrack wrote: »

I'm just wondering what everyones thoughts on this are. Does anyone else see a contradiction between being an athiest/agnostic and still believing in an afterlife or re incarnation. As far as I'm concerned both atheism and agnosticism are defined by lack of belief/not sure of in deities so everything else is fair game as to whether you believe in it or not if you get me .

Personally speaking I like to think the presence of paranormal events signifies soem sort of afterlife or re incarnation but I don't see this as being a contradiction to my agnosticism. Whats everyone else views ??:D

I personnally am skeptical about the existance of an afterlife, but being an atheist has nothing to do with it.
Atheism is the simply the lack of belief in a god/gods and says nothing about a persons views about anything else, be it paranormal or otherwise.

I think you will find that the majority of atheists probably don't hold a belief in a life after death, but god and an afterlife/re-incarnation don't neccessarily go hand in hand.

Dades

iBumblebeetuna wrote: »

I think you will find that the majority of atheists probably don't hold a belief in a life after death, but god and an afterlife/re-incarnation don't neccessarily go hand in hand.

I think this sums it up.

Usually the inquiry or skepticism that leads to atheism/agnosticism would lead one to conclude that there is also no afterlife - or at least no reason to think that there is.

Not always, though!

metrovelvet

I have trouble with this too.

I know a die hard atheist who is convinced there's a ghost in her house.

I know another one who paid a significant amount of money to have a curse placed on her ex husband just before taking out a life insurance policy out on him.

What am I not getting?

Rev Hellfire

metrovelvet wrote: »

I know another one who paid a significant amount of money to have a curse placed on her ex husband just before taking out a life insurance policy out on him.

The important question then is did it work ?

metrovelvet

Not yet. Close but no cigar.

magicbastarder

there's no direct contradiction, but being an atheist kinda removes the framework in which an afterlife might occur.

The Mad Hatter

metrovelvet wrote: »

What am I not getting?

Shafted by charlatans.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

smokingman

Seeing as afterlifes were invented as a reward mechanism for all religions, I can't understand why anyone would class themselves as atheist and still believe in them.

Maybe they're just living in the false assumption that their own life is not under their own control?

Dades

^^ Unless you specify a belief the afterlife of a particular religion, it doesn't matter.

Like when you hear people say they believe "death is not the end", but don't claim to have any specifics.

smokingman

smokingman wrote: »

Maybe they're just living in the false assumption that their own life is not under their own control?

I don't see how believing in an afterlife means their life isn't under their control?


I don't think dis/belief in an afterlife and a deity have to go hand in hand.

smokingman

bluewolf wrote: »

I don't see how believing in an afterlife means their life isn't under their control?

If you think there's something after you die then maybe you think there's some way of shaping this magical place by your actions in this life which will ultimately be judged - by something that will have ultimate control....

Kooli

Interesting thread! I would have just assumed that no atheist believed in the afterlife, I never really considered them as separate belief systems.

So everyone on this thread seems to be saying that theoretically it is possible to be an atheist who believes in an afterlife or ghosts etc, but I'd be really interested to hear from anyone who actually holds that position themselves, because it doesn't seem to 'fit' for me.

magicbastarder

Kooli wrote: »

Interesting thread! I would have just assumed that no atheist believed in the afterlife, I never really considered them as separate belief systems.

well, saying 'i don't believe in god' does not automatically imply 'i don't believe in a human soul', because a soul could exist even if god didn't. but obviously, an atheist would expect a soul to conform to the laws of nature, and not have to revert to 'man in the sky' explanations.

Kooli

magicbastarder wrote: »

well, saying 'i don't believe in god' does not automatically imply 'i don't believe in a human soul', because a soul could exist even if god didn't. but obviously, an atheist would expect a soul to conform to the laws of nature, and not have to revert to 'man in the sky' explanations.

Yeah I do see that theoretically, but I find it hard to imagine in practice, and I've certainly never met anyone that held both beliefs. Would be interested to hear from them, that's all.

Herbal Deity

It's not contradictory to be an atheist and believe in an afterlife, strictly speaking.

It would be rather contradictory to consider the notion of a God to be ridiculous while believing in an afterlife, however. For most atheists, their reasons for not believing in a God also apply to fairies, leprechauns, ghosts, psychics, homeopathy, reincarnation, an afterlife and countless other examples of supernatural/paranormal/non-scientific beliefs.

checkyabadself

HavingCrack wrote: »

Personally speaking I like to think the presence of paranormal events signifies soem sort of afterlife or re incarnation

With respect, I`d like to think a lot of things too. Whats the basis that paranormal events signify that you`ll go to an afterlife ? It`s a bit of a leap if I say so myself. Why don`t they signify whether my crops will suffer drought?
For you to say you think such and such signifies an afterlife is shameless wishful thinking in the extreme.

I could never understand why religous people in general never give much thought to why they never existed before they were born. They`re always looking for more and never stop long enough to enjoy what they actually have.


As for people saying atheism, tecnically, is mutually exclusive from believeing in an afterlife......I think it`s hard to not believe in god, but think there might be a "heaven".

Galvasean

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

But it sure helps!

HavingCrack

checkyabadself wrote: »

With respect, I`d like to think a lot of things too. Whats the basis that paranormal events signify that you`ll go to an afterlife ? It`s a bit of a leap if I say so myself. Why don`t they signify whether my crops will suffer drought?
For you to say you think such and such signifies an afterlife is shameless wishful thinking in the extreme.

I could never understand why religous people in general never give much thought to why they never existed before they were born. They`re always looking for more and never stop long enough to enjoy what they actually have.


As for people saying atheism, tecnically, is mutually exclusive from believeing in an afterlife......I think it`s hard to not believe in god, but think there might be a "heaven".

Sorry I don't really believe in an afterlife to be brutally honest but I decided to play te devils advocate (no religious pun intended) just for the sake of the argument as I wasn't sure how much support I'd get for my post otherwise

Calibos

What 'presence of paranormal events' would we be talking about?? The time your aunty saw a ghost and she's an honest woman so you don't doubt her word, or the time you saw a bush and branch look like a human figure for a second a figure in the shadows disappear right in front of your eyes?? You didn't arrive at the agnostic position through rational, logical or philosophical musings did you? You just took the that position because the idea of organised religion nor any fringe beliefs tickled your fancy? Am I right?. Either that or...compartmentalise much??

rantyface

A lot of people just believe what suits them, find arguments to support it, and don't think very hard about it.

It might suit someone to not believe in god because it frees them from a lot of obligations to live their life a certain way, but it might also suit them to believe in an afterlife because it makes dying easier.

It's hard to say without talking to the person themselves. What are their reasons for not believing in God? What are their reasons for believing in an afterlife? Usually people don't believe in God because they see no evidence for him, and usually people only believe in an afterlife because it's part of their religion. There certainly is no evidence for it.

axer

For me I believe anything is possible so everything comes down to probability.

The chance there is a god or gods is highly unlikely but possible.
The chance that there is a god that is actually like the god depicted by any of the man made religions is so low in probability that I would say impossible.
The chance of an afterlife is unlikely or at least there is nothing to indicate that it exists.

but anything is possible...