Are you still atheist if you believe in a afterlife?

Im atheist but I cant understant the concept of not existing. I think the thought of not existing is just in the mind. To me I feel nature always finds its way. I think all things within the universe is recycled. It rules out god cause then something would have had to create god and so on.

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Permalink Reply by BradHAWK on March 17, 2010 at 2:54am
Either one is an opinion.

More important are the foundations of those opinions.

Enough is known about how the brain and its tissue work to know that there is no extrinsic phenomenon involved in its function. How does a machine work? By interaction of it's parts. How do you kill the machine? By breaking or disconnecting its parts. How does a brain work? By interaction of its parts. How do you kill the brain? By breaking or disconnecting its parts. There is no separable component which can live without the brain, and which the brain can't live without.

During its lifetime, however, the brain/soul does affect the world and one could say that those effects are remnants of the mortal soul.

But yes, beleiving otherwise doesn't go against atheism - atheism is simply the lack of belief in deities.
Permalink Reply by Travis Brummett on March 16, 2010 at 9:33pm
I also read that nothing is not a stable state for anything to be in.
Permalink Reply by Travis Brummett on March 16, 2010 at 11:56pm
You cant experience what death is like, all you have is what you think.
Permalink Reply by Limber Lightfoot on March 17, 2010 at 1:27am
I accept that it's the meat in my head that makes me who I am. It stores my memories, it presents my reality, it controls my body, it creates my dreams and passions. When my brain stops so do I. I have long periods of non-consciousness in my life, it's called sleep. The universe goes on whether I'm conscious for it or not. When I die I'll be dead forever, and I'll be done.

As far as death goes, I fear leaving loved ones behind when they need me. I fear how death might come to me, but I have no expectations beyond death. That's not to say I wouldn't *like* there to be a heaven, or reincarnation, or something. We just need someone to set it up because I'm sure it's not happening right now. I'd love an immortal soul but I just can't see it.
Permalink Reply by BradHAWK on March 17, 2010 at 2:05am
I accept that it's the meat in my head that makes me who I am.

Thus the age-old approbation "I love you for your meat."
Permalink Reply by Limber Lightfoot on March 17, 2010 at 3:08am
/me raises an amused eyebrow.
Permalink Reply by jimmycrackcorn on May 25, 2010 at 3:38pm
the ego dies. no energy can be created or destroyed only changed. so we all live forever as cells, atoms, protons, electrons and various things. personality is created with chemical combinations and social experiences, why would that all stay with this energy? it gets disbursed into the universe, your dead the end.
Permalink Reply by Tom Thompson on May 25, 2010 at 9:51pm
Traditionally (as in during the rise of the monotheisms) atheism was a label given to anyone who didn't accept the official state religion. It was entirely possible to believe in one or more gods and still be called an atheist.
Permalink Reply by Rudy Ruddell on May 25, 2010 at 10:00pm
The more science studies physiology, the more they boil it down to a series of chemical reactions. Even our mental activity is a result of billions of chemical reactions that cause electrical impulses and hormone secretions that result in thought and emotion. I usually get a pretty repulsed reaction to this, but I am sorry to inform you that your existence is made up of billions of chemical reactions and electrical impulses.

That is not to belittle human existence. All of the wonderful artistic, engineering, and scientific achievements of humans is a result of these reactions. Isn't that amazing? Sorry, when those stop, you stop. End of story.

To answer your question more directly, you could be an atheist and believe in an after life, because someone could conceive of a religion where there is no God, but there was an afterlife. However, such a thought is made up of the same wishful thinking with which religion is created.
Permalink Reply by Sonny Mobley on June 10, 2010 at 3:27pm
:nod nod: Belief in an afterlife wouldn't make you a non-atheist. It would just make you a silly atheist.
Permalink Reply by Limber Lightfoot on May 26, 2010 at 1:32am
One of the hardest things about being an atheist is not being bale to bring yourself to assure your 5 year old, who asks "what happens to people when they die", that everyone goes to heaven and is happy and warm and watching over their loved ones, waiting for the day when we join them *sigh*. It's the only time I envy theists.
Permalink Reply by Johnsky on May 25, 2010 at 11:11pm
The reason you cannot visualise non-existence is because you currently exist, and for as long as you have existed, you have only known existence.

Yes, the matter you leave behind stays behind... but you, your conscious mind, is merely a pattern of electrical links in the brain. When they break down, you (conscious and subconscious) cease to exist.

Same as when you format a computer. Yeah, the hardware is still there, but you just lost everything that made it individually yours.

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