What do you think happens after death?

Nothingness.....just like before we were born.

Ready for it? You will know nothing about it to have any after thoughts

People with terminal illness.

EOT

People always wonder whether there is a life after death.

However, let us not lose sight of the fact there is a life before death.

life is precious- enjoy and #bekind

a wise man once ssid every person has 2 lives.

the second life begins when you realise you have 1 life left

The thought of living in eternal bliss, paradise and peace, and being with all your friends and family, who've passed away over the years is a very nice thought. I hope it's true, but i have the feeling that death is like a dreamless sleep that you don't wake up from. It's a scary thought, but you won't be conscious to notice anything. We possibly could be reborn in another life.

We could have lived another life before, but have no memories of that previous life. The truth is that anyone who claims to know the answer is a total and utter bluffer. The only thing i know for certain that happens is that we'll either end up in a box, and that box will be covered with dirt and rocks, or we'll be cremated. Outside of that i haven't got a bulls notion about what happens!

There is a scene in Terminator 2 where they pull out the chip from the terminators skull. In that moment the machine powers down. It's inert. Is it dead? As soon as the chip is re-inserted, the machine comes back to life. It has the potential to remain 'alive' for 130 years on it's existing power supply. For me, so long as there is power aka life in the human body and the brain is functional. The individual remains. When these things are absent. That's it. We get one bite of the cherry. When it's gone. It's gone. The best we can hope for is to have people who actually care about us at the end.

The same thing as before you were born....nothingness. Circle of life.

Hopelessness rings out?

Weird observation.

Those not accepting there isn't a life ever after are full of hope for the one life we get, I know I certainly am and try to make every single day count.

If by "hopelessness" you mean an absence of hope that there is an afterlife then perhaps your observation is better expressed as a lack of desperation (for an after life) ringing out.

I recently had surgery with a risk of not coming out alive and as I was being prep'd and the anastatic being injected the last thought I had was one of satisfaction that if today was the day my lights went out I didn't have any regrets, I'd seen a lot of the world, have had (and continue to have) an interesting and fulfilling career and I've been lucky enough to find a life long partner with whom I've had two kids who are in college and well on the way to being well educated, interesting, inquisitive and respectful young adults.

Now I'm through that particular surgery I look forward every day to learning and doing new things regardless of whether it's as basic as the eternal fight to play better golf or learning new information I can apply in my job.

If I somehow thought there was a happy ever after I'd be more inclined to take my foot off the throttle and coast as I get older thinking all will be grand in the afterlife or next life (depending on which God you want to believe in) but being reconciled to there not being an afterlife means I'm determined to get the absolute max out of this one right up to the day I die which, if from a terminal illness of some sort, I'd like the option to choose for myself with the help of my family without such a caring act being illegal for them to do.

Not lurking at all. Saw the OP on the main Boards list and thought it curious that someone in the Christian forum asking a question they must already have the answer to if they are a genuine member of the forum so assumed they were looking for responses from non Christians and hey presto!!

It is not Catholic teaching that animals dont got to heaven. It was simply a common opinion of Catholic theologians and they openly said they don't know. Check out the scholar Jimmy Akins thoughts for more information https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NdVVbI1OS0

So if I live a moral yet atheist life, looking after my family and my community, you would expect that I’ll be condemned to hell for eternity, as will all Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Protestants and more. Is that how you expect things to work?

Ok thanks for that.

If 'wishful thinking' is evidence then there seems to be a hell of a lot of evidence floating about.

I am another who is not lurking in this forum but merely saw the thread on the home page. Paranoid much? Hehehehehe.

If my partner was pregnant and the doctor told me it was a boy - I would not have to "hope" for a boy. I would be already certain. If I somehow knew that I was going to win the Lotto this weekend I would have certainty. I would not sit around "hoping" I will win.

As such is it a little comical to anyone else to see the only person on the whole thread who has thus far claimed outright certainty - suggest that many/most/all the other posters on the thread appear to lack "hope" or are "hopeless"? A somewhat pedantic reading of the words hope and certainty would suggest that this commentator is the only one who thus actually lacks hope.

Or perhaps he means the other common use of the word "hope" which is that of having something to look forward to - to strive towards - to live for. For that I can defer to the quote from Ricky Gervais of "It’s a strange myth that atheists have nothing to live for. It’s the opposite. We have nothing to die for. We have everything to live for."

I guess I am with most of the other posters on the thread in that I see no reason to expect anything but total oblivion at death. The concept does not worry me or scare me in the slightest however. As someone once said - death does not scare me much - the actually dying part though terrifies me :) There are not many pleasant ways to go about it it seems. I can only "hope" I manage to find one of them. But the state of being actually dead - bothers me not in the slightest any more. I have made my peace with it by many methods.

But that lack of reason to expect anything after death is not for want of trying. I have engaged in a lot of "spiritual" journeys both with and without the aid of foreign substances of dubious legality. I have encountered many of the experiences that people speak of - such as meeting entities or consciousness that appear to be separate from my own. Out of body experiences. The seeming interconnectedness of all things. And the feeling that the entire universe itself is a conscious all loving entity. There are few such experiences I have read about which I have not myself had. Yet I remain entirely unconvinced that any of it was anything but expressions of my own perturbed consciousness in that moment. I do not believe I actually met other consciousnesses. I do not believe my consciousness actually did leave my brain/body and travel.

Like Gervais I find this does not leave me "hopeless" or devoid of motivation or drive. Quite the opposite. I feel compelled every day to explore this life and my body and what they can do or they can be. For whatever reason I am most drawn to things that involve finding new ways to move and experience my body. Physically, sexually, balance, movement, whatever. I particularly am drawn to capoeira and Jujitsu and "power" versions of Tai Chi and other forms of martial art movements and dance. But also everything from archery to horse riding. But even close up magic and sleight of hand and other forms of physical illusion. Basically anything that hones the finest of motor control and movement I seem to love.

And obviously as I said above I enjoy finding new ways to perturb and play with my consciousness to find what experiences are possible there.

I never did like the phrase "Life is short". After all name one thing you will do that will take longer :) But tongue out of cheek I tend to try to live life as if in a state of emergency. I can only sympathize with those who have said on the thread they have a terminal diagnosis. I can not really imagine what that must be like. But in my own way I try to live my life by the lights of the fact that we technically all have a terminal diagnosis to work with. And that fills me with hope and drive and motivation and lust for life day to day rather than the opposite.

So access to eternal happiness is largely down to the geographical accident of birth then - if you are lucky enough to be born into a Catholic country and family, you have some home. If you are born into a Muslim country and family, you're screwed to eternal pain and agony.

Did Jesus really think this through?

Religion is the definition of having no idea of what you're talking about.

My parents are Jehovah's Witnesses and say exactly the same thing that you do re peoples of all faith now living as they do.

My mother in law is a follower of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) and when she goes to her compound in India with thousands of other followers, there are people from all over the world of other faiths there too.

I know Born Again Christians who also say the same thing.

It's a bit of a 'I'm in a cult' hallmark tbh. Proof that it's the 'true religion' as so many other people threw off the shackles of false religion to join their true one.

So you'll have to forgive me if I don't think people from other faiths joining your religion is a sign of anything at all other than humans being easily led.