So you just died and...

[Pharaoh Cat]

We need to have a smiley made of that pic, there are so many occasions for its use in this forum.

What would we name it?

In a sentence, "You're shitting me, right?"

In a word, uh - hmm, I can't come up with a single word that captures it.  Can you?  Anybody?

[Tank]

No, really. I was hoping for a bit more contemplation and substance than that. Have you ever given it much thought?

LOL 

[Tank]

We need to have a smiley made of that pic, there are so many occasions for its use in this forum.

What would we name it?

In a sentence, "You're shitting me, right?"

In a word, uh - hmm, I can't come up with a single word that captures it.  Can you?  Anybody?

Oreally

[The Magic Pudding]

Looks like a determined squinty eye.

[history_geek]

My original response, for one, is the real deal. Why would this matter require any more contemplation..?

First, we need some nice proof of there actually being an afterlife. Provided that, we can speculate on what happens when you wake up dead. With no such proof, the speculation is utterly meaningless.

The same applies to the "nature" of gods. Without proof of and/or need for their existence, speculation is simply meaningless.

Well, there IS an afterlife. It's what ever IS after you die. As to what that is exactly, you might not be sure. As for not speculating without proof, I obviously don't know you personally, but I would assume that as a responsible adult you probably speculate about the unknown all the time, e.g. anything regarding future events, sporting events, the stock market, whether a person will be a good mate, etc. As important and crucial as speculation about some of those things can be, none of them would even compare to the speculation or contemplation that would be necessitated by the possibility of the Christian God. If he is real and is who the Bible says that he is, wouldn't that be absolutely the most important thing that any of us could speculate about and contemplate? Just saying...

Well, what about those who believe in reincarnation (*raises hand* thought I define it differently....)? Would the next life be "afterlife"? If this life is you newest reincarnation, is this "afterlife"?

Whenever I hear "afterlife" to me it always meen the egyptian-abrahamic (though I guess they base their ideas on some other religions) eternal "life" in your copy-paste soul-body in a form of paradise. The horror...*shudder*

Not so much the "paradise" part, but the "eternity" part....


Also, everyone most certainly do contemplate the unknown from time to time, but why would someone think about "afterlife" if they don't believe in it? Not much point really, and the value of such contemplation is arguable to begin with, if you ask me....

And why speculate about the Abrahamic "god"? It's just one of many that is claimed to be the "real" one, so what about all these others, shouldn't we think about them too, just in case, in a Pascal's wager kind of way...?

Also, I agreed with "O'Realy?" 

[Davin]

You find out the Christian God (Trinity) does exist after choking on a hot dog (or whatever you prefer) and died. What argument would you use to keep God's "wrath" and "anger" from descending on you?

This is an interesting thread. I have been reading through some of the responses, and it got me wondering. What exactly would God have to be like or do in order for you to believe in him and honor him? Because it seems that there are some sort of standards and/or expectations that the Christian God isn't meeting. Just curious...

This question always gets asked, the best response I have to it is, "what do you got?" Maybe grammatically incorrect, but the sentiment is well expressed. The point is that nothing that has been presented so far is reasonable evidence. I don't ask someone what it will take to prove gravity to them, I just explain what it is and show them how it works. Because you're making the positive claim that there is a god, it is your responsibility to explain what this god thing is and show the evidence for it.

Because I can express the same for any positive claim that I make, I think it's fair that you should be able to answers these: What do you think is the best evidence for a god, and/or what is the most convincing argument for you that there is a god?

[Asmodean]

Also, everyone most certainly do contemplate the unknown from time to time, but why would someone think about "afterlife" if they don't believe in it? Not much point really, and the value of such contemplation is arguable to begin with, if you ask me....

I speculate as well, but not on the high tiers of uncertainty. If I meet somebody, I can speculate on whether or not that person and I can develop friendship, for instance, but I do not speculate as follows: "There might be a person in my closet. That person is probably A, B and C. Could I beome friends with him, I wonder..?"

It's assuming too much. I don't know if that person exists, I don't know if A, B and C are accurate attributes... WHY would I then speculate on our possible friendship? Waste of time.

[xSilverPhinx]

This is an interesting thread. I have been reading through some of the responses, and it got me wondering. What exactly would God have to be like or do in order for you to believe in him and honor him? Because it seems that there are some sort of standards and/or expectations that the Christian God isn't meeting. Just curious...

First off, I'm not one to go looking for god (even dismissing all the claims theists have made thus far about their gods, which I find don't hold up to scrutiny). If I did, I would have no real way to really test if what I'm seeing really is what I think it is. Confirmation bias can be a bitch.

Maybe after I die, if there is a living afterlife, then I'll know. I'm the type of person who needs to see with my own eyes, not rely on what others say, especially in the case of religions, where religious authorities are not demonstrable authorities. If they were, there wouldn't be so many religions and so many different branches within each religion that claim a different divine Truth.

That they're mistaken, or delusional is way more likely, until they can really show that they're right.  

[Too Few Lions]

This is an interesting thread. I have been reading through some of the responses, and it got me wondering. What exactly would God have to be like or do in order for you to believe in him and honor him? Because it seems that there are some sort of standards and/or expectations that the Christian God isn't meeting. Just curious...

I'd like a bit more evidence for his existence than a 2-3000 year old book of myths written by pretty unenlightened people who thought the Earth was flat. I wouldn't take their word as truth on any subject matter, given how little they actually knew about the universe. They didn't even know that the Americas existed, or that the Earth revolves around the Sun, so why the fuck should I take their word about anything? Particularly stuff like how the world came into being or what happens when you die. I live in the 21st century, not the first century!

If he is real and is who the Bible says that he is, wouldn't that be absolutely the most important thing that any of us could speculate about and contemplate? Just saying...

The same goes for Mithras, Baal, Zeus, Indra, Allah, Yahweh (the Jewish version), Isis, Osiris, Sobek, Apollo, Odin, Thor etc etc. I really haven't got time to honour and worship the thousands of deities that people have thought up, and I don't see any reason to make an exception for your god. If I were a god I wouldn't give a toss if people believed in me or not, if your deity has rejection issues and low self esteem, it's not my problem.

[Asmodean]

Quetzalcoatl. He is a cool god, no? It was for him they ripped out the hearts of those captured in battle, yes..?

...Or maybe it was someone else... They had too many gods, those people. One more bloodthirsty than the other. As though a particularly nasty Asmo created them.

[Sandra Craft]

If I were a god I wouldn't give a toss if people believed in me or not, if your deity has rejection issues and low self esteem, it's not my problem.

See?  The invisible sky fairy needs to start off by being less of a dick, or at least convincing it's followers to depict it that way less often.

[Asmodean]

If I were a god I wouldn't give a toss if people believed in me or not, if your deity has rejection issues and low self esteem, it's not my problem.

See?  The invisible sky fairy needs to start off by being less of a dick, or at least convincing it's followers to depict it that way less often.

...A dickless alpha-eunuch. THAT would actually make a COOL god 

[Too Few Lions]

If I were a god I wouldn't give a toss if people believed in me or not, if your deity has rejection issues and low self esteem, it's not my problem.

See?  The invisible sky fairy needs to start off by being less of a dick, or at least convincing it's followers to depict it that way less often.

Yeah, any deity that just wants a world of people who sycophantically worship it and base their lives on some misunderstood ancient myths sounds like a pretty pathetic god to me.

[Will]

You find out the Christian God (Trinity) does exist after choking on a hot dog (or whatever you prefer) and died. What argument would you use to keep God's "wrath" and "anger" from descending on you?

I've been asked this a number of times over the years since outing myself as an atheist. My answer usually depends on who's asking. If it's a religious person in an argument, I usually answer that I would condemn god for creating me a skeptic and then judging me for the way he created me. If it's a religious person who's just curious, I usually say that I wouldn't have anything to say, because I was a good person and did my best based on what I knew. If it's an atheist, it's usually a scathing tirade about how truly immoral god is, and that such a god lacks the moral authority to condemn me.

But, truthfully? I'd try to kill god. An entity like that, one with a combination of such power and such pettiness and absolute cruelty cannot be allowed to exist, cannot be allowed to torture people for all of eternity. God isn't worthy of standing in judgment, and would have to be stopped. I'd almost certainly not succeed, but at least I will have done the right thing.

[Sweetdeath]

If I were a god I wouldn't give a toss if people believed in me or not, if your deity has rejection issues and low self esteem, it's not my problem.

See?  The invisible sky fairy needs to start off by being less of a dick, or at least convincing it's followers to depict it that way less often.

Yeah, any deity that just wants a world of people who sycophantically worship it and base their lives on some misunderstood ancient myths sounds like a pretty pathetic god to me.

Not to mention, he has no real powers or cool attributes. what a boring, useless god.

People who waste their lives praying and worshipping really need to find why they hace such a void in their life and do something productive