I'm a Christian, I believe in the afterlife because your experiences on Earth a.k.a God's testing ground or possibly the actual Hell, should be what judges you for when you die. Think about it, would there really be a place full of fire and brimstone when you die? Probably not, therefore because of all the suffering on Earth you could say this is Hell. So yeah, I think that when you die, your body dies but your soul crosses over to another plain that you cannot reach in a physical body, which is supposedly heaven. Ghosts could be souls breaking through the two plains; that's why I think they exist. If you're atheist or whatever, I'm not going to force my religion on you, because we all have seperate ideas.
THis is a big roulette game, because reguardless of what you believe the afterlife will be what it is. Unless Quantum physics and Robin Williams' "What Dreams May Come" are right... I for one find that asking the dead direct questions works best for figuring it out though. Or am I the only one who has Necromancy as a hobby?
I'm a Christian, so personally I believe in Heaven. I believe that everyone has a soul and once their physical body expires, their soul moves off to Heaven, free of political corruption and the "Hell" Earth really is. (Seems like I got some pretty high hopes huh?) Well, so be it, that's how I feel.
My personal motto is "You're born, you live, you die, you get skull-f*cked by maggots." It's bleak, but it's how I feel. I also feel that if I'm wrong, and there IS a Heaven and a God and all that jazz, that when I die and am thoroughly embarrassed for being wrong, that God (or whichever Deity may or may not exist) will be like "Well, you were a good person. Come on in." Because I refuse to believe in a God that feels there is only one right way to act. That's one thing I never understood. From what I've gathered from friends who do believe and from when I went to church as a kid... It seems to be that it's either Flawless Victory or one mistake and you're a goner. At the end of the day though, I feel that this life is what we have, and is what we make of it. So I do my personal best to be a good person and follow my own moral code and set of values.
Afterlife? Nope. I think you just die and that's it. Although it is funny.... So many people, a long time ago, with no connection to each other, thought very similar things regarding the afterlife. Makes you think.
I hope you guys that said "Nothing" realize what that means. If there is no afterlife,and it is just a black empty void.Than why live? If there is no reason for us to be here. Whats the point of anything? If there is no god(i think there is)than how are we even here? Think about it you live 100 years on earth,then you die and spend eternity in a bleak void. Whats the point of even living?Why try to achieve anything if all of our futures is just nothingness? And that is part of my proof that God exists. I mean look at the beginning of time and space,Why did it happen?If there was a bleak void before the big bang then did all the matter spontaneously come into existence? Something had to trigger it,yet there was nothing there to do so. God did it. My thoughts on creation. Rant over.
I believe that after we pass on, we are judged for our deeds by a higher power. After that, the guilty are punished, and the just are rewarded. I don't want to turn this into a religious discussion, because those never end well, but I believe that if there wasn't a God, then there's no incentive to be good. If I were an Atheist, I would've become some sort of Supercriminal, because I wouldn't believe in divine retribution. I would've hatched plans that would make me rich by illegal means, bribed the courts so that I would get away with anything, and do whatever I wanted, simply because I didn't fear losing God's approval. Just some food for thought. It doesn't necessarily prove God exists, but it does prove that religion is still needed.
Several things happen in my case, one is that I take the place of my OC in the MLP universe, two I take the place of a Space marine in the 40k universe. Yes I am one of those people that believes in alternate realities.
I do too...I.E god created more than one universe. I wonder..... !THEORY!What if God lets Humans create alternate realities? Like say a book.the events and characters in the book happened in an alternate universe created by the author. Must test theory!I would make it plausible to visit the Ponyverse! Black holes maybe? No. Uh....A Particle smasher the size of a star? Maybe. Uh....Something that turns the TV screen into a portal? Where would i get that? Eh ill just have to try everything 'til i get something. Shoving my face into the screen doesnt work.
Sparky may want to cool it on the religion thing here as it can be a very touchy subject, just sayin. Sorry bout that didn't mean to rant on there.
im just going to not worry about it and hope its reincarnation cause really why would god spend who knows how long making original souls and personality's when he can just recycle and reuse?
You raise a very good point Sparkypony, something I've been thinking about a lot lately and partly the reason I decided to make this thread. Personally I summed up the questions of Why live?, What's the point? into the question "What is actually important in life?" After a lot of pondering over this question my current answer is, "Nothing, everything and anything." You see I believe that in one way nothing is important. We as humans, our Earth, even our solar system is but a spec in the universe. Our Earth and it's entire contents could be destroyed by a stray gamma ray, our solar system could be consumed by a wondering black hole at any moment. The Human species would no longer exist every achievement ever accomplished would no longer matter, however, as far as the universe is concerned it's just another normal day. If the human species were to disappear overnight the universe would just continue on as if nothing ever happened. On the other hand, everything is important, for the simple fact that if nothing had any purpose or use then there would be nothing, no stars, no planets, no life. For me the simple fact that something exists gives it purpose and importance. So ultimately I think anything is important. It is one's self that gives importance to things. Going back to your questions. "Than why live?' - Because there are things that are important to me in this life and I do not want to leave them. "What's the point of anything?" - The point of anything is dependent on the individual, you yourself choose to gives things a point. "How are we here?" - Pfft beats me, that's a hell of a question you're asking an answer for, but one that is important to me and one I hope that the human race can someday answer but if not I'll enjoy the progress we make. In fact, often times it is the road towards a goal that is more enjoyable than arriving at the goal itself. "Why try to achieve anything if all of our futures are just nothingness?" - Again I think that's up to the individual to answer. Sure you could do nothing your whole life, you could even cut it short, and does it it matter? Well, not really I guess, like I said before the entire human race could be wiped out tomorrow and it wouldn't really matter. Unlike a video game I don't believe there is some ultimate goal to life that once we reach it we "win", for me life just is what it is. Thus, I decide what is important to me and that is why I live my life. This is all just what I believe though and you, nor does anyone else have to agree with me and I think that's quite a wonderful thing which is why I waned to start this thread. I though the afterlife was a good place to start because no one can be certain about what awaits us after death, essentially it's open to interpretation, we all have our own opinions/versions of the afterlife and since there is no definitive answer there is no point arguing over our own personal answers.
When we die, we will end up in Equestria... Jokes aside, I don't know. I'm leaning towards that nothing happening, but reincarnation is also possible too. It's just that there is so little evidence that I don't know myself.
