We've read about many religions. Most of us are more familiar with Christianity and its teachings about the afterlife. Do you think your beliefs about the afterlife do inform your actions in the here and now? Should it? In other words, what would you do differently if you knew there was no afterlife?
Does a definitive answer to "is there an afterlife" help you? Or is it a question that we don't really need to ask and/or ponder?
YES!! I believe that my actions now on this planet are fully based on where God will send me in the afterlife. My choices and actions here and now help to determine if God will send me to Heaven or Hell. Based on my faith, I believe that these actions should be decision makers for the afterlife. If they weren’t then there would be no goal at the end of life. Personally, if there was no afterlife, I would probably make different decisions and choose to participate in different actions. If I knew there was nothing to “live for”, I probably wouldn’t set as many boundaries and guidelines for my life. Knowing that I will be face to face with God when all is said and done helps to create a direct pathway for my life and assists me in living a better life.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there is an after life and your choices affect where you will spend eternity. I am not very religious, so if hypothetically there was not an afterlife, I don't think my actions would change. I try to be a nice person to everyone just because that is the moral aspect. I am not just nice to people and do the right thing because I think I will be punished if I don't. I do the things I do becasue it is the right thing to do. It just so happens that being nice and doing good is a step in the right direction to spend eternity in heaven.
ReplyDeleteI do indeed believe that my hopes to attain a good afterlife do influence my actions and thoughts in the present day, though it's indirect. While I strive to meet the heavenly criteria of being a nice, good person in my current life, I don't truly think my motivation is getting into heaven. Now that I think about it, I'd have to say that my efforts to be a "good person" result from my desires to be socially liked and to interact well with others, all while making me feel like a viable member of society. When I am older and have more time to gather my thoughts and am no longer feverishly running around working and going to school, I think my motivation may change toward heavenly attainment.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's a bit careless and inconsiderate of me not to consider attainment of a good afterlife in my everyday actions and thoughts, but then again, I'm not sure God wants us to have to put effort in... It seems as if meeting the earthly criteria to ultimately qualify us for heaven should be done effortlessly on a daily basis.
If I knew there was no afterlife, I think I'd still have the same drive as I do on earth. Being a good person has great earthly rewards such as love, acceptance, success, and a good reputation. The average lifespan encompasses many years during which the benefits of being a good person can be reaped on earth, so it's never "just the afterlife" towards which one should focus. I don't really think a definitive answer to the question "if there's an afterlife" would influence my participation in humanity.
I think to some degree my actions are based on the belief in an afterlife. Most philosophies and religions have some aspect of your deeds in this life effect what happens in the next. Even if I knew that there wasn’t an afterlife I think I would act similar to how I act now. Usually when I volunteer to work for charities or other organizations I do say to myself this is helping me get to heaven although it I an added bonus if there is. I volunteer because it is satisfying to see the people that I am making a difference in their lives and hopefully improving their quality of life.
ReplyDeleteLike Ben mentioned I think there is some social motivation to it because there are physical aspects that are affected by our actions in the here and now like reputation and being likeable. Your actions now say a lot about your character and having a good character is important to me. If I knew there wasn’t an afterlife I would still want to help people out of a moral obligation like Kant’s categorical imperative.
I believe in an afterlife but in a different sense than Christianity. I believe now that all people will live eternally in one place and actions on Earth will not determine that place, for all people good and bad will be there. So in that way, I do not feel as though I have to prove actions for an eternal being, but for my own conscious. I do right things from a moral obligation I feel I withhold. My afterlife does not affect my current thoughts. If I did think that the afterlife was different and that my actions would mean something, I probably would not change how I live because I try to live a good life since my life now is what is important currently. I would not live an evil life because that would make my current life unpleasant. I'm not the best at explaining these thoughts, but I simply would live to be a good person regardlewss.
ReplyDeleteThus, regardless of an afterlife, I think that all people have an obligation as humans to still maintain good actions. I know that all people would not maintain good morality in life, yet I hope to be optimistic!
Even if there is no god or no heaven, religion has served an extremely important role in history and in society today. At the roots of every person lies a basis for what is good and what is bad and for many people this is religion. Without religion and the promise of an afterlife, their is no reward for living out our lives the way God told us is good. The fear of having to answer for the things we do one day makes us think twice about the decisions we make. I think as society today we have been slowly realizing many of the rules God "wrote" are actually written by men and many have become less important for us to follow. The same idea would apply if society did not have religion, only none of the commandments would important to follow because there would be no one to answer too. Granted, human beings as a whole have developed laws that acknowledge stealing or killing as wrong, but if you knew you wouldn't get caught and there was no God what is there to stop you. Morality comes to mind, but if there is no judgement, I don't know if morals could be applied.
ReplyDeleteI do believe in an afterlife and that one day I will be reunited with my loved ones. Religion has definitely brought me up with certain morals. But if I were to "prove" in a sense, that there was no afterlife, I dont think I would change much. I have already developed a sense of what is right or wrong. I wouldnt want to treat people in a way that I didnt want to be treated.
ReplyDeleteBut what if we proved today there was no afterlife, how would young children now be brought up? Would their actions significantly change? I guess it depends on who raised them, but would they have the same established morals? I feel like every human has a social obligation really, and doing something wrong, would feel wrong, regardless if it were thrusted upon you by a religion.
My beliefs about the afterlife completely inform my actions in the here and now. I am who I am because I am striving to reach the afterlife where I will spend eternity with my Savior. I definitely think that this is a worthy way of living life. It is great to be a good person just out of your compassion and love for others; however, I feel that a deeper meaning rooted in the afterlife is key. I live my life to show others the love of Christ so that they too may take part in the afterlife.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, though it is sad to say, I think my life would be very different if I didn’t have a definitive answer for myself in regards to the afterlife. I strive daily to make good decisions based in the scriptures and the will that God has for me, but I feel that if I did not have an afterlife to work toward, I probably wouldn’t follow so closely to this moral compass. Actually, I feel that my moral compass itself would be less strict, as I would not have any standards to set it by. I feel that without the hope of an afterlife, I would still care deeply for others, but I probably would make a lot more decisions that would make me temporarily happy in the here and now as I would feel that pleasure in the present is all I would have to live for.
The biggest issue that I have with death and the fear of death is in believing that there is an afterlife. If I did not believe in something after death, and that our actions on Earth had nothing to do with what became of us after death I think I would either kill myself, or become a moral degenerate. I work pretty hard at life, and what I am getting out of it is not really worth what I put in, unless there is an afterlife. Without the hope of an afterlife, what is the point of being a good or moral person? If there is no afterlife with a reward for doing good, why should I be honest, or pure, or kind to anybody? There would be no point in trying to do anything for anybody besides myself. We would not be working towards anything greater than obtaining as much pleasure as we could before we died and everything came to an end. I believe that there is an afterlife, and that what happens in that afterlife depends on what is done on Earth. If a person is evil, then he or she goes to Hell, if good, then Heaven.
ReplyDeleteI definitely believe in an afterlife and that my decisions and choices that I make right now will affect my afterlife. I try to be the best person that I can possibly be so that when I am face to face with Jesus Christ he will accept me with open arms. By living my life in the best possible manners, I can only hope that I can lead others with my actions to the same belief so that one day they will be saved as well.
ReplyDeleteIf there was no after life I am sure a lot of people would act differently. It is fair to question and/or ponder this question, yet someone still should live a life of high character regardless if they believe there is an afterlife or not.
I do believe in an afterlife and that my decisions now will affect my afterlife. I truly strive to be the best person I can each day. No one is perfect and you are bound to make mistakes throughout your life. One bad mistake will not doom you to a bad afterlife. You grow as a person as you grow older and by trying to make your wrongs right will help you make amends for all the wrong you have done. I can only hope to better myself as I grow older, and by bettering myself may reflect on others around me.
ReplyDeleteI believe in an afterlife, and I have believed in that for as long as I can remember. This most definately impacts how I live, not because I believe that good actions send me to Heaven and bad actions send me to Hell, but rather it takes a decision to believe in and follow Christ to get to heaven. My actions in this life now that I have accepted JEsus as my Savior are important though, because I believe that someday I will be standing before God and have to give an account for all that I have said and done. I believe everyone should ponder whether there is an afterlife, because for me it has helped me when dealing with the death of those close to me, knowing I will see them again someday.
ReplyDeleteI believe in an afterlife, and I believe how you live your life will affect that afterlife. I have been raised as a Catholic-Christian, and I do believe in a heaven and a hell. Yet, I still recognize the possibility of a different type of afterlife because there are millions, even billions, that believe in something different than a heaven and a hell. From my understanding, it doesn't matter which afterlife you believe in, but there is a direct correlation from the actions in this life and how they will affect your placement in life after death. If I did not believe in an afterlife, I'm not sure what I would be doing with my life. An afterlife provides a sense that even though this life can be difficult and unfair at times, there is hope for some sort of eternal paradise when you die.
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