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Originally Posted by ANARCHYisKING  there has to be something in the afterlife. if there isn't, this life we have now would be completely meaningless. that's why i think people who die fighting tyranny or doing what's right go to a special place. i don't know about heaven but there has to be somewhere similar. i believe jesus christ was an anarchist. think about it. throughout time, governments have usually killed people who believe in freedom. (jesus christ, william wallace) |
Meaningless? Only your individual, egotistical life. Rather imagine that you and I are here to progress our species or intelligence, or at the least allow it to progress.
The only thing that dies in death is the ego, or self identity. So no, theres no afterlife because consciousness cannot subsist. Consciousness is the result of neural firing in the biological pathways, and once the memory cells, sensory cells, and basic mechanisms for life expire, consciousness must follow.
Even if that wasn't the case, and you died and woke up, that would mean there is an immortal soul, which having no end, means that it must have existed before birth. But wait a minute, if you have no recollection of life before birth, no memory of previous form or experiences, nothing to contribute to the identity you'll build up in material life... then how is that "you"? It wouldn't be, so even in death, nothing of you would survive in any form from your life. So... the surviving soul has no evidence of existing after your biological functions cease. There was no "I" before birth, and there is no evidence of "I" after death.
Energy cannot be just done away with though. It assimilates, transforms, transcends, disperses, and persists. So the energy from which we're made on the atomic level does "live" on. You become energy for a lower life form, and ultimately return to the earth form which you came... just not you self awareness... its gone.
From a Pantheistic perspective, that can be construed as "returning to god (nature)" or the divine ground (atomic existence) from which all things came.
Now to address the topic...
The idea of heaven and hell is detestable to me. There should not be some sort of merit reward/punishment system to make people do the right things. Thats just a form of selfishness. To do good in expectation of a reward or to do good in fear of a punishment is still just doing something for yourself. Its debatable that all human actions are somehow selfish in nature, which I disagree with, but to do something for one's self and not for the sake of the progression of one's species or combined intellects is a delusion that leads to the worst immoralities; greed, hate, fear, these all spring from selfishness. And so the idea of heaven and hell or any "super" consequence negates the aim of all religion, which is to deny the self in pursuit for the betterment of other conscious beings.
"God, if I worship thee in fear of hell, burn me in hell. If I worship thee in the hopes of heaven, exclude me from heaven, rather I should worship thee for thine own sake." - Sufi saint woman
I'd like to think I'm in some way immortal, but thats just "me" wanting to perpetuate "me". I've got to say I have a terrible time staying on topic, which is sadly why most of my posts are painfully long... I apologize, but I've spent a lot of time (maybe too much) contemplating these subjects and I had a lot to communicate... again, sorry.
heaven 
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