Wednesday, August 20, 2008

What happens when you die? —Mormon Alumni
I grew up mormon so i know their perspective of the afterlife. I want to hear what others believe
I've been to funerals, I've seen the deceased lying there. I'm pretty sure that's the end of an individual's existence as a sentient being. Sorry.

Don't get me wrong, I think immortality sounds pretty nice, but you have every reason to be cynical when religions promise blessings after death for adherence now. I do think it's an important question to ask, and I think people should consider and deal with the fact of their own mortality. But don't let it make you crazy. After all, you don't worry about the timeless millennia that passed before you ever came on the scene, right?

And if it helps, people do live on in some ways. Your identity, or other people's perception of you, doesn't disappear with death. The good you've done for others continues; even your genes may continue if you have children. If the thought of death haunts you, try thinking beyond yourself and try to expand your definition of identity. You're a part of a family, a country, a world, even a part of life. In the scheme of things, your death is just a date on a government record. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

Don't hand over the one life you have to religious dogma for the false hope of life after death.

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