NationStates Jolt Archive

Mrs. C's 90 year old father died last week and I was wondering what you NSers think of death.

Obviously, the Christians here would believe in a Heaven and a Hell. The atheists here probably believe in death as being the end with nothing beyond. Some of you may believe in reincarnation and I have no idea what the agnostics her might believe as far as an "afterlife" goes.

So, what do you believe awaits you when you die?

Heaven. Even if you only take the first scene of the original Planet of the Apes movie, when Charlton Heston says "there's got to be something better out there".

You don't even have to belong to any major religion to believe that much.

Heaven. Even if you only take the first scene of the original Planet of the Apes movie, when Charlton Heston says "there's got to be something better out there".

You don't even have to belong to any major religion to believe that much.

What about hell for the bad people? Or, does everyone get forgiven and end up in Heaven?

Death is the eliminaton of perception of this universe and the establishment of perception in another universe. Hopefully one with blackjack and hookers. :)

Mrs. C's 90 year old father died last week and I was wondering what you NSers think of death.My condolences :(
So, what do you believe awaits you when you die?Certainty

Certainty

ooh. Good answer.

Death is the eliminaton of perception of this universe and the establishment of perception in another universe. Hopefully one with blackjack and hookers. :)

So, you believe in Heaven? Or, do you believe there could be the perception of another universe that would involve nothing but a George Bush as eternal president? :eek:

So, you believe in Heaven? Or, do you believe there could be the perception of another universe that would involve nothing but a George Bush as eternal president? :eek:

I think people who believe in Heaven and know they deserve to go to Heaven go to Heaven.

I think people who believe in Hell and know they deserve to go to Hell end up in a universe where George Bush is eternal president. :p

My condolences :(
Certainty

Thanks, I'll pass them on to her.

I also offer my condolences.

as for what awaits me in the afterlife?

I have no clue. Wether it be Heaven, reincarnation, or what, i don't know. but I can't wait till it's my turn to find out.

Death is the eliminaton of perception of this universe and the establishment of perception in another universe. Hopefully one with blackjack and hookers. :)

make it free hookers...

I also offer my condolences.

as for what awaits me in the afterlife?

I have no clue. Wether it be Heaven, reincarnation, or what, i don't know. but I can't wait till it's my turn to find out.

I'm in no rush. *munches on a taco*

make it free hookers...

Are free hookers still hookers? :confused:

ooh. Good answer.Hehe, yeah. =)

Got asked what humo(u)r was on a different forum. My answer was "Subjective."

What about hell for the bad people? Or, does everyone get forgiven and end up in Heaven?

I would think that the concept of Hell sucks.

I got the impression from reading the New Testament that God wants us all in heaven. I don't think he's asking for Old Testament style worship.

I believe that if you only read the words Jesus spoke, and not the rest of the New Testament, the message is rather simple, and I'm not sure most Christians would agree with my view. There's a reason that people back then wanted him nailed up - and that was because you don't need a lot of religious infrastructure if you pay attention to what he was saying.

You don't need ornate temples, etc. You don't have to be rich. You don't have to be powerful. You don't need a priest.

The offer in the book is one of redemption, forgiveness, and a better life in the hereafter - wherever and whatever that might be. All Jesus seems to be asking for is that if you want to come with him, all you have to do is ask.

You don't have to live the life of an ascetic. He makes a curious comparison at one point - yes, you could try and do all the things detailed in the Old Testament. Try and live your live like an automaton, and worship in impressive rituals, etc. But you're never going to get to heaven that way.

Alternatively, you could ask, "Can I come?"

In such a universe, God is not some asshole who demands worship. He doesn't demand that you live your life to any tighter a standard that "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". And in the end, he'll forgive anything - and I believe that even if you die, and never ask, or refuse, if you change your mind in that moment after death, you can still ask. I don't believe in a God that's a jerk.

I believe this in part because I believe, as Charlton Heston's character in the first Planet of the Apes said, "there has to be something better". There's not enough crunchy goodness in a mere 74 year life expectancy.

I think people who believe in Hell and know they deserve to go to Hell end up in a universe where George Bush is eternal president. :p

I need to repent NOW. :D

I'm in no rush. *munches on a taco*



Are free hookers still hookers? :confused:

I never expected this thread to turn out this way, but when you post on NSG there are very few rules and even fewer expectations.

It makes me feel really horribly depressed to have people I know die around me, but I don't get particularly spiritual about it. There we go.

So, what do you believe awaits you when you die?

Dirt.

and gunfire.

Definitely gunfire.

I imagine it'll lead to burial for many. Cremation is also popular. Less and less people are opting to be stuffed and mounted, however.

Certainty

Veeerrryyyyy good. Unless there s nothing and then you just won't know. That's the part of the conversation i looooaaathhhhhhh when it comes to Chrisitians. If there is no heaven and they die will they be proved wrong? Noooooooo, why? Becasue they'll be DEAD with nothing after that. Pah... how unfair...

Something. I do not believe in a place full of cluds for good people and a firey pit for bad people. That's a misinterpretation. I believe in spiritual 'communion' if you will, with God, and a liberation from the suffering of physical existance. I believe that there may be a Hell, not a Hell that is an eternal punishment, but a more fluidic state of spiritual existance that is inferior to 'Heaven'.

New Age Christian :)

... you know... that's a good, deep, question.

I think we need to study this to find an answer.

I think that would, by definition, no longer be a hooker, but a "ho".

EDIT: Lets do the tiiiiime waaarp again!!!!

Veeerrryyyyy good. Unless there s nothing and then you just won't know. That's still certainty of a sort ;)

Are free hookers still hookers? :confused:
... you know... that's a good, deep, question.

I think we need to study this to find an answer.

Death is the eliminaton of perception of this universe and the establishment of perception in another universe. Hopefully one with blackjack and hookers. :)

Hmm, i think i prefer an afterlife with plenty of good friends, good food & fun sex...

I believe in a heaven full of wild, God parties. Read Psalm 150 if you want know about those parties (full of dancing, singing, and music). Plus there will be infinite knowledge, and an eternal feast. We will have communion with Christ again. Its going to be flipping fantastic. It won't be mindless prostration, but if I was there, I don't think I'd have a problem with that either way.


As for the alternative, I don't believe in a hell where there is physical pain. Looking at the original language and metaphors that Christ used, I don't believe in eternal "fire". I do believe in eternal separation from God, which leads to eternal depression and sorrow. But those people that are there really can't complain about it, because they chose their own way.

So, what do you believe awaits you when you die?

I find "what awaits you when you die" to be an oxymoronical statement. Nothing can possibly await the dead, by very definition, there is no person to await anything.

I'm in no rush. *munches on a taco*



Are free hookers still hookers? :confused:

No, they're tramps. ;)

I have no idea. I used to believe in a heaven and I guess I still kind of do. After the events of the last year, I have trouble believing in a God who can condemn us to hell. I can believe in one who provides us a heaven -- we need that. Hell we make for ourselves.

Sorry if I'm just rambling and not making any sense.

I imagine it'll lead to burial for many. Cremation is also popular. Less and less people are opting to be stuffed and mounted, however.

Depressing, isn't it?

Depressing, isn't it?

Terribly. I'm already working on the perfect facial expression for when I die, to let future generations know what kind of life I lead. Something like this (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/TheViscount/1189677526095.jpg) or this (http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb140/Walternat0r/FuckingLoveColoring.jpg)

The unknown. Possibly the unknowable.

As an atheist, my beliefs on the subject are pretty easy to figure out. Death=all gone. Kaput.

My roomies are agnostics. They don't have any firm beliefs on what happens afterwards. But they hope for some sort of afterlife where thay can see their mother again. Other than that they figure to find out when they get there. They're pretty fuzzy on their beliefs of any punishment/reward sytem involved. They don'y believe in a god figure, though.

I think that the very idea of having an afterlife is a harmful force on our present world. Even if it does exist, it is lazy and/or greedy to disregard our existence in favour of the next, and taking the afterlife as the easy way out of making big changes in the way we run things in the here and now is renegeing on our duty to our children to create a better world for them than we inherited.

I have no conviction one way or the other on whether "heaven" actually is real, but if it is, I shall have to give God a stern telling off for making that fact public.

I do believe in eternal separation from God, which leads to eternal depression and sorrow.

Why would it lead to "eternal depression and sorrow"? Eternal boredom maybe, unless you end up there with every other person in existence who didn't believe in "God" in which case it would get quite crowded!

Personally I find the concepts of Heaven and Hell quite childish. If I had to choose one version of afterlife to believe in, I'd probably believe in reincarnation.

What I do find funny when talking to religious people is that they insist there must be afterlife, even the rare ones that accept the possibility of being wrong about "God". Some of them seem to be very afraid of the option that you simply cease to exist. Keeps making me wonder why.

"Hell is -- other people!"

-- Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit

I would rather not know what'll happen to old Comatica when my ticket's punched. If it's the end of perception of time and space and any conscious thought, then no big deal. At least I won't have to deal with jackasses anymore. :p

I guess I'll just be surprised. I honestly don't have any problem with just the end of my existence. All the more reason to live my life fully.

Death...

The most sensuous image one can write about. Death is also rest. Not stopping, but rest. Death could be a just punishment or a well deserved gift. Death is the ultimate release.

I think I need a drink...:p

Death is the eliminaton of perception of this universe and the establishment of perception in another universe. Hopefully one with blackjack and hookers. :)
I dunno, it'd get pretty damn tedious pretty quickly. I've been playing poker with a few of my mates quite often, and that does get too damn similar too damn quickly. Playing it for the rest of eternity would be too much, with or without having enough cash to do so.

It'd be awesome to have a Valhalla, 'cos getting pissed and beating the shite out of people would be amusing.

Although that too would probably get tedious after a while.

I have no beleives, I acknowledge that I do not know and will not know untill I actually die myself. I'll see, if there still is an I, but I sure as hell am curious! There is only the unknown after death. Sure, we can see that as far as we know, that wich makes you you dissapears after you die, but ofcourse a lot of things can happen: it can be copied and lifted away, just to name something. I don't give a ratsass what someone beleifs, nor do I give a ratsass what I would beleive (that's why I don't) because it doesn't matter anyway.

I have no beleives, I acknowledge that I do not know and will not know untill I actually die myself. I'll see, if there still is an I, but I sure as hell am curious! There is only the unknown after death. Sure, we can see that as far as we know, that wich makes you you dissapears after you die, but ofcourse a lot of things can happen: it can be copied and lifted away, just to name something. I don't give a ratsass what someone beleifs, nor do I give a ratsass what I would beleive (that's why I don't) because it doesn't matter anyway.
Let's hope it'll give you a boost in grammar and spelling.

I have no beliefs, I acknowledge that I do not know and will not know until I actually die myself. I'll see, if there still is an I, but I sure as hell am curious! There is only the unknown after death. Sure, we can see that as far as we know, that which makes you you disappears after you die, but of course a lot of things can happen: it can be copied and lifted away, just to name something. I don't give a rat´s ass what someone believes, nor do I give a rat´s ass what I would beleive (that's why I don't) because it doesn't matter anyway.

Your grammar is horrendous! It burns my eyes so I had to, you see, I had to fix it! There was no other way around it. So, Fixed!

I believe in reincarnation for everyone. In several hundred years of horrible agony, hitler and saddam will return (hopefully reformed). Around the same time, gandhi and mother theresa will end their several hundred hyears of bliss.

I'm not sure how I can break it to christians nonbluntly, so I will be direct. Insetad of looking for jesus's second coming you'd be more accurate if you looked for his twenty-second coming (and that's assuming that the one you talk about was his very first life!)

I believe in reincarnation for everyone. In several hundred years of horrible agony, hitler and saddam will return (hopefully reformed). Around the same time, gandhi and mother theresa will end their several hundred hyears of bliss.
The only reason I'd personally believe in such a thing as Hell is to see people like Hitler and Stalin burn for the rest of eternity, sod them getting a second go at it.

Snake? SNAKE! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

what if we are dead? and when we die we experience true life?

Snake? SNAKE! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
Hat's off for the MSG reference.

Hat's off for the MSG reference.

ha ha thank you:cool:

"Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present." - Wittgenstein

Dead people don't think. I'll be dead. I won't think much of death. ;)

What awaits me? I'm not sure what sort of answer you're interested in. I'll decompose; my friends will feel sad... I guess those are not the type of answer you want, though. If that is true: why should I think something awaits me? Or: what sort of thing should I expect?

So, what do you believe awaits you when you die?

Claudius. Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius?
Hamlet. At supper.
Claudius. At supper? Where?
Hamlet. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain
convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your
only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and
we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar
is but variable service- two dishes, but to one table. That's the
end.

My view on death: Death happens. It's natural, it's not entirely a bad thing (it can end suffering) and one day it will happen to me. The best I can hope for is to leave the world better than I found it (or at least not worse) and leave happy memories for my friends and family when I go (well... and that I don't go for a long time).

I don't know if anything awaits me when I die. I suppose I'll find out (or not) when I die.

Peace and quiet I hope. I will be pissed the fuck off if I'm aware of the fact I'm dead.

It makes me feel really horribly depressed to have people I know die around me, but I don't get particularly spiritual about it. There we go.

Is it weird I get a certain 'boost' from knowing people have died. Not the people close to me mind you, but celebrity types. I can't help but to think "I outlived another one, huzzah."

Death is the eliminaton of perception of this universe and the establishment of perception in another universe. Hopefully one with blackjack and hookers. :)Awright, i'll subscribe.
I've torched all the other newsletters for heat anyway.

I will be pissed the fuck off if I'm aware of the fact I'm dead.But you won't mind the fact that your corpse will *still* be getting some action from some agitated and aroused NSG'rs, right?

Death...

The most sensuous image one can write about. Death is also rest. Not stopping, but rest. Death could be a just punishment or a well deserved gift. Death is the ultimate release.

I think I need a drink...:p

Death is the only friend of the poor.


In all seriousness, I can't really decide if I believe in reincarnation or in a spiritual world much like our physical one but better.

Mrs. C's 90 year old father died last week and I was wondering what you NSers think of death.

Obviously, the Christians here would believe in a Heaven and a Hell. The atheists here probably believe in death as being the end with nothing beyond. Some of you may believe in reincarnation and I have no idea what the agnostics her might believe as far as an "afterlife" goes.

So, what do you believe awaits you when you die?

well i'm kinda in two minds about this one as you're no doubt aware there's alot of uncertainty about death probably because few people have ever come back from it.

You die, peace and you lose all ability to think and just endless nothingness.
Or you go through a transaction where life was merely the illusion to keep your eh self as it were (soul perhaps?) aware of pain and pleasure and you have to go through life again but who you're born from depends on many factors such as what you did in your past life...hang on that sounds like reincarnation....damn em forget i just said that and i'll stick with the nothingness. It's far simpler than any religious ideas.

Um now i think about it some more death could be just another part of life in that we can't understand everything in this universe because we don't have the sense awareness ability to so in death we evolve new ways of sensing other dimensions or the like and we go to somewhere else. note being good or bad has no relation to how things go after you die, but your ancestors who may wait for you could give you a good kicking or a hug depending on what's happened....hey that's not a bad idea. ace i've just thought of a new religion i can make and sell for millions!:D

nah can't be bothered i'm sure it will become apparent.
still the whole still living in other dimensions thing is what i was aiming for, and it has a sense of justice not based on any godlike being. just the millions of other people waiting there.
hmmmm i'll have to think about that one.

weeelllll, as a Jew, I don't believe in hell...and technically, we don't believe in heaven either. Pretty much you go to gehenna (mutilated that word) and repent for eleven months before becoming one with god until the messiah comes and we are, for want of a better word, reincarnated in the world to come.

but the science part of me wonders. I think that regardless of whether or not there is an afterlife, your brain, in the instant before dying, takes you to wherever you think you are supposed to go (be it heaven hell, or wherever). Because of the theory of relativity, while to the rest of the world you are dead, in the last billionth of a second before your body shuts down, you live out eternity.

I have no idea what happens after death, aside from the usual decomposition of the body. But, my mother died a year and a half ago and was buried in the National Cemetary in Riverside, CA (she was a WWII Navy vet). I figure she's found all the cute guys who were buried there and is having a grand party with them.

Celt, my condolences to you and your wife. Ninety years is a good run, though.

Mrs. C's 90 year old father died last week and I was wondering what you NSers think of death.

Obviously, the Christians here would believe in a Heaven and a Hell. The atheists here probably believe in death as being the end with nothing beyond. Some of you may believe in reincarnation and I have no idea what the agnostics her might believe as far as an "afterlife" goes.

So, what do you believe awaits you when you die?

I don't know.
I like Prattchet's assumption that after death, you will get whatever you believed in in life. So if you believed in hell, that's where you'll go.

Me, I think it's rather pointless believing in anything regarding what will happen once you died. You'll find out soon enough anyway.

I think people who believe in Hell and know they deserve to go to Hell end up in a universe where George Bush is eternal president. :p

Im getting LG a christmas present this year:D

On the topic of religion, I follow a Valhallan ideal of it is how you live your life now that determines how your afterlife is

Be Loyal to friends and family, set and follow good moral codes, and when you die you go to valhalla where its a good viking-style life of eating, drinking and glorious combat

Mrs. C's 90 year old father died last week and I was wondering what you NSers think of death.

Obviously, the Christians here would believe in a Heaven and a Hell. The atheists here probably believe in death as being the end with nothing beyond. Some of you may believe in reincarnation and I have no idea what the agnostics her might believe as far as an "afterlife" goes.

So, what do you believe awaits you when you die?

He will be OK. He will be taken care of. That's my belief. It's a hard time, and a difficult time, and sad for those he leaves behind, but it's not something to fear.

I think people who believe in Heaven and know they deserve to go to Heaven go to Heaven.

I think people who believe in Hell and know they deserve to go to Hell end up in a universe where George Bush is eternal president. :p

*Goes to heaven* WOO!

I pity you poor fools. :)

Death is the only friend of the poor.


In all seriousness, I can't really decide if I believe in reincarnation or in a spiritual world much like our physical one but better.

I will always akin Death to a release. But I´ve been in a weird mood for the past few days so don´t take me too seriously.;)

I will always akin Death to a release. But I´ve been in a weird mood for the past few days so don´t take me too seriously.;)

You mean weirder than normal?:eek: *runs away*

mounted, however.Even for movies?

You mean weirder than normal?:eek: *runs away*

Unfortunately yes, Maineiacs. I´m weirder than normal.

I will always akin Death to a release. But I´ve been in a weird mood for the past few days so don´t take me too seriously.;)

That's okay, I liked your post. And without the weird at the edges, "normal" would be undefined. Hmm, that might not make sense. I'm tired.

I have no idea what the agnostics here might believe as far as an "afterlife" goes.

Neither do they. In fact, they also BELIEVE they have no idea. :p