Atheists, people who believe that God does not exist, will argue that there is no life after death. This is because since they believe that there is no God, this therefore means that things such as souls do not exist. Therefore, without souls, they (other people) will not be able to enter heaven(--> no heaven). Thus, atheists believe that there is no afterlife.
Atheists also argue that evidence for life after death is based on the bible; atheists believe that the bible is not reliable as it written and interpreted by humans, not DIRECTLY from God himself. Paranormal events can also be explained scientifically as hallucinations, not by some "spiritual power". Atheists therefore believe that the afterlife does not exist as there is no concrete evidence that proves that the afterlife exists.
others, such as materialists (people who believe that the only thing that exists is matter) do not believe in life after death as physics has shown that there is no non-material world on Earth. Furthermore, there is no solid proof that souls exist; when a person dies, his or her body just rots in the grave. If there is no non-material world, then afterlife would not be possible as there would be no place where afterlife can take place. Thus, materialists believe that there is no afterlife.
Some people don’t believe in (a) life after death because of their upbringing. Just like Christians, if children are brought up in an Atheist (or Agnostic?) environment and hold Atheist beliefs and values, they will think it is normal that God does not exist. Additionally, attending Atheist (government, public) schools implies that they will have little contact with religious beliefs, and since they are also surrounded by peers who are influenced by Atheist thoughts, this will strengthen their belief that God does not exist. If God doesn’t exist, they will naturally believe that there is no life after death, because the belief(s) of (a) life after death can only be proven through non-material, religious ideas. For example, Christians believe there is (a) life after death because they believe Jesus Christ died for their sins and resurrected into Heaven, and told the criminals crucified next to Him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). However, science disproves of (a) life after death because firstly “Heaven” is believed to exist outside the dimensions of space and time, and since science eliminates the possibility of this, therefore it cannot exist. “Heaven” is also non-material, and science believes only in material things, for example, the body. This also leads onto Xinyi’s point about the soul being non-material, therefore science disproves this, and if the soul doesn’t exist, this disproves the Christian belief of “immortality of the soul”, and therefore there is no life after death. Furthermore, applying he Atheist belief of a person having no soul (just the body), this disproves the Biblical teaching “for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19); this raises the question, “what lives on”? Therefore science disproves in (a) life after death.
Apart from this, unanswered prayers may also disprove God’s existence and therefore disprove (a) life after death. For both theists and atheists (and agnostics?), the point of prayers is for God to listen and respond, but if they feel that God is not listening or responding in any way, this could disprove His existence, and therefore also life after death. For example, one may pray for a relative to be cured of a terminal illness like cancer. If the sick relative’s condition doesn’t show any sign of recovery or even worsened unexpectedly, this may lead to the belief that God does not exist, and also disproving (a) life after death, because life after death only comes through a omnipotent and ultimate Being like God. Related to this point is the presence of evil and suffering in the world. The fact that there is moral evil like wars and natural evil like earthquakes suggest that God is not omnipotent, omniscient and/or omnibenevolent - and if He lacks these qualities, this signifies that He lacks the ability to be “God”, once again reiterating that if God does not exist, there can be no afterlife. Therefore some people do not believe in life after death.
Sorry, I’ve probably written too much but you would get 8 marks if you wrote something along these lines, with these points: science, no soul because it is non-material, unanswered prayers and the presence of evil and suffering in the world.
Some people do not believe in life after death because they believe that the mind only developed as the brain became more complex. This is because it is mostly more 'complex' organisms (such as dogs, primates, dolphins...) that exhibit seemingly non-material feelings, conscience - consciousness that we consider the mind. So it would seem that the mind is a part of the brain's advanced functioning which developed as brains became more complex. Most people accept that if there is a life after death, it would be in a spiritual realm (as opposed to material existence) where a non-material part of the body - such as the soul or mind - lives on independent of the body. However, if the mind only developed as the brain became more complex, it must be dependent of the brain for its existence. So, when there is no longer any brain function (when a person has died), the mind also ceases to exist. If the mind does not exist, it cannot go on to live a life after death. Since there is no other non-material part of a human that could exist after death, some would conclude that there is no life after death.
Don't know if this is relevant or not, but the only way to find out is to try....
It is also possible that some people may not believe in life after death due to conflicting religious evidence. Each religion does indeed teach that there is a life after death, which could be used to provide evidence by religious people that there is a life after death. However, if there really was a life after death, then this afterlife would be well documented in all accounts of it, and uniformly documented as well: even basic things such as what happens to the soul after death are disagreed upon (Hindus believe in reincarnation, and even within Christianity some believe in immortality of the soul and others in resurrection). Some people could use this as evidence against the fact that there is a life after death, and even that these things are a product of the human mind. Leading on from that point, it might be argued that the afterlife may be a human psychological phenomenon (i.e. we make up life after death because we are scared of death and need reassurance). It might then be argued that, because there is no conclusive evidence for the existence of an afterlife outside of the human mind, and because it can be explained equally well as a projection of the human mind, there may not be an afterlife.
I don't really think you can use the prayer argument to answer this question. Just because God does not exist doesn't really mean that there can't be life after death.
It came up in the "Religion and Life" photocopy we had though ...
And I don't really want to start this, but Christians believe that life came from God, and therefore will lead back to Him - so in the same way, life after death is also part of God's plan for humans (Jeremiah 29:11). Also, using the argument of the search for meaning and purpose in life, people start to think that the purpose of life is an afterlife, where justice will be served. Where (or who in this case ...) would this afterlife be coming from? And where would it take place? All the laws of science disproves of an afterlife, and the possibility of it being able to occur in the Universe, since science also believes that nothing non-material cannot be proven and therefore cannot exist.
Also, by "God" I also meant like a "Power", a supreme "Force", not just "God" ... sorry, I mean like in Buddhism there is no "God" but there's a sort of "power" or "force" right? That's what I mean. There would have to be something like that to provide the afterlife.
Or ... nobody can prove anything since no one from the afterlife has come back to tell us what's going to happen to us after death :)
Actually this would be pretty good for a (d) question ...
(MAINLY BASED ON ATHEISTS)
ReplyDeleteAtheists, people who believe that God does not exist, will argue that there is no life after death. This is because since they believe that there is no God, this therefore means that things such as souls do not exist. Therefore, without souls, they (other people) will not be able to enter heaven(--> no heaven). Thus, atheists believe that there is no afterlife.
Atheists also argue that evidence for life after death is based on the bible; atheists believe that the bible is not reliable as it written and interpreted by humans, not DIRECTLY from God himself. Paranormal events can also be explained scientifically as hallucinations, not by some "spiritual power". Atheists therefore believe that the afterlife does not exist as there is no concrete evidence that proves that the afterlife exists.
Thanks Xinyi, but would that be enough points to get you 8/8?
ReplyDeleteermm.. nope XD
ReplyDeletei didnt wanna upload all the points incase other ppl want to upload more :)
ermm here are MOREEE points :)
ReplyDeleteothers, such as materialists (people who believe that the only thing that exists is matter) do not believe in life after death as physics has shown that there is no non-material world on Earth. Furthermore, there is no solid proof that souls exist; when a person dies, his or her body just rots in the grave. If there is no non-material world, then afterlife would not be possible as there would be no place where afterlife can take place. Thus, materialists believe that there is no afterlife.
i think that would get u 6 marks? or ...4 marks? im not sure..
ReplyDeletesorry kristian :(
Some people don’t believe in (a) life after death because of their upbringing. Just like Christians, if children are brought up in an Atheist (or Agnostic?) environment and hold Atheist beliefs and values, they will think it is normal that God does not exist. Additionally, attending Atheist (government, public) schools implies that they will have little contact with religious beliefs, and since they are also surrounded by peers who are influenced by Atheist thoughts, this will strengthen their belief that God does not exist. If God doesn’t exist, they will naturally believe that there is no life after death, because the belief(s) of (a) life after death can only be proven through non-material, religious ideas. For example, Christians believe there is (a) life after death because they believe Jesus Christ died for their sins and resurrected into Heaven, and told the criminals crucified next to Him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). However, science disproves of (a) life after death because firstly “Heaven” is believed to exist outside the dimensions of space and time, and since science eliminates the possibility of this, therefore it cannot exist. “Heaven” is also non-material, and science believes only in material things, for example, the body. This also leads onto Xinyi’s point about the soul being non-material, therefore science disproves this, and if the soul doesn’t exist, this disproves the Christian belief of “immortality of the soul”, and therefore there is no life after death. Furthermore, applying he Atheist belief of a person having no soul (just the body), this disproves the Biblical teaching “for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19); this raises the question, “what lives on”? Therefore science disproves in (a) life after death.
ReplyDeleteApart from this, unanswered prayers may also disprove God’s existence and therefore disprove (a) life after death. For both theists and atheists (and agnostics?), the point of prayers is for God to listen and respond, but if they feel that God is not listening or responding in any way, this could disprove His existence, and therefore also life after death. For example, one may pray for a relative to be cured of a terminal illness like cancer. If the sick relative’s condition doesn’t show any sign of recovery or even worsened unexpectedly, this may lead to the belief that God does not exist, and also disproving (a) life after death, because life after death only comes through a omnipotent and ultimate Being like God. Related to this point is the presence of evil and suffering in the world. The fact that there is moral evil like wars and natural evil like earthquakes suggest that God is not omnipotent, omniscient and/or omnibenevolent - and if He lacks these qualities, this signifies that He lacks the ability to be “God”, once again reiterating that if God does not exist, there can be no afterlife. Therefore some people do not believe in life after death.
Sorry, I’ve probably written too much but you would get 8 marks if you wrote something along these lines, with these points: science, no soul because it is non-material, unanswered prayers and the presence of evil and suffering in the world.
Some people do not believe in life after death because they believe that the mind only developed as the brain became more complex. This is because it is mostly more 'complex' organisms (such as dogs, primates, dolphins...) that exhibit seemingly non-material feelings, conscience - consciousness that we consider the mind. So it would seem that the mind is a part of the brain's advanced functioning which developed as brains became more complex. Most people accept that if there is a life after death, it would be in a spiritual realm (as opposed to material existence) where a non-material part of the body - such as the soul or mind - lives on independent of the body. However, if the mind only developed as the brain became more complex, it must be dependent of the brain for its existence. So, when there is no longer any brain function (when a person has died), the mind also ceases to exist. If the mind does not exist, it cannot go on to live a life after death. Since there is no other non-material part of a human that could exist after death, some would conclude that there is no life after death.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if this is relevant or not, but the only way to find out is to try....
ReplyDeleteIt is also possible that some people may not believe in life after death due to conflicting religious evidence. Each religion does indeed teach that there is a life after death, which could be used to provide evidence by religious people that there is a life after death. However, if there really was a life after death, then this afterlife would be well documented in all accounts of it, and uniformly documented as well: even basic things such as what happens to the soul after death are disagreed upon (Hindus believe in reincarnation, and even within Christianity some believe in immortality of the soul and others in resurrection). Some people could use this as evidence against the fact that there is a life after death, and even that these things are a product of the human mind. Leading on from that point, it might be argued that the afterlife may be a human psychological phenomenon (i.e. we make up life after death because we are scared of death and need reassurance). It might then be argued that, because there is no conclusive evidence for the existence of an afterlife outside of the human mind, and because it can be explained equally well as a projection of the human mind, there may not be an afterlife.
yay:) thank you peoplee~
ReplyDeleteI don't really think you can use the prayer argument to answer this question. Just because God does not exist doesn't really mean that there can't be life after death.
ReplyDeleteIt came up in the "Religion and Life" photocopy we had though ...
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't really want to start this, but Christians believe that life came from God, and therefore will lead back to Him - so in the same way, life after death is also part of God's plan for humans (Jeremiah 29:11). Also, using the argument of the search for meaning and purpose in life, people start to think that the purpose of life is an afterlife, where justice will be served. Where (or who in this case ...) would this afterlife be coming from? And where would it take place? All the laws of science disproves of an afterlife, and the possibility of it being able to occur in the Universe, since science also believes that nothing non-material cannot be proven and therefore cannot exist.
Also, by "God" I also meant like a "Power", a supreme "Force", not just "God" ... sorry, I mean like in Buddhism there is no "God" but there's a sort of "power" or "force" right? That's what I mean. There would have to be something like that to provide the afterlife.
Or ... nobody can prove anything since no one from the afterlife has come back to tell us what's going to happen to us after death :)
Actually this would be pretty good for a (d) question ...