Have you ever seen...

[Makenshi]

I'm an atheist, and believe that once we die, we are simply dead. Being dead is much like what it was like before you were born... nothingness.

"How terrible is the idea of nothingness! How deserving of pity are those who think that the voice of one who weeps is lost in a vacuum, without encountering the least sign of response! A pure and saintly affection has never been known by those who think everything dies with the body. They believe that the genius who enlightened their world with vast intelligence, is a mere combination of matter which, as a flame, is extinguished for ever; that of a dearly loved person such as a father, mother or adored child, nothing remains but a handful of dust which time
will inevitably disperse".

How can anyone who has a heart remain indifferent to this idea? Why are they not frozen with terror at the thought of absolute annihilation and do not even show a wish that this be not so?

This is not even about the fairy tales of the Bible, point in which I agree with you. It's just... reasoning...

[spoiler:67c18b927d]My belief is that those tales are just the oral history of a self-centered primitive people, that came to be written and rewritten over time, losing integrity. And due to the fact that they are primitive history, I'm sure the truths hidden in those words should be interpreted in the light of reason, which is ever evolving along with civilizations. To put it simple, they had contact with things which they simply couldn't understand, so the bullshits that, if studied by means of science and philosophy, can make sense to us and even be proved.[/spoiler:67c18b927d]

 

[TheGM]

Well if you beileve in that I guess you are less likely to stuff a bomb up your ass and kill yourself for somebody else.

 

[Makenshi]

Bombermans are not a product of atheism or faith, they exist because of greed, despair, social injustice, opressure and a lot of other stuff... all done by humans.

Mohamed is purposedly misinterpreted by Osama&buddies to suit their goals, and then they send Abdulah, Sahyd and other ignorants, who are tricked by them, to blow americans who are not evil, but place evil Bush up there. Not that I know his the Muslim book, but I suppose it's just like the Bible in nature (primitive folklore turned into divine law, along with some real otherwordly/spiritual/psychic contact not comprehended).

Most people say religion is bad. I say bad people turn religion into bad stuff. In the end, the texts are not to blame, nor the concept of afterlife. People think about other planes of existence like they do about the 1st girlfriend (who made them suffer): that bitch is no good, so screw her/the bible make no sense, screw god/i can only see and interact with matter, so screw afterlife and anything beyond it.

I wonder what would an atheist in ancient greece say about micro and macro stuff (that we interact with only through lens and special equipment) or even stuff like magnetism, gravitation, nuclear strengh... we see the effects of those, can calculate them, and even measure them THROUGH their effects, but NOT interact with them directly (barely with equipments, but even than I'm no specialist to be sure ).

The afterlife has nothing to do with supernatural, for everything in the universe is under the laws of nature, imo. Science just has to be more patient, less prepotent, and advance enough to achieve the right equipment to detect and, possibly, interact with other planes, with the dead, etc etc...

 

[Kyuu]

Mohamed is purposedly misinterpreted by Osama&buddies to suit their goals, and then they send Abdulah, Sahyd and other ignorants, who are tricked by them, to blow americans who are not evil, but place evil Bush up there. Not that I know his the Muslim book, but I suppose it's just like the Bible in nature (primitive folklore turned into divine law, along with some real otherwordly/spiritual/psychic contact not comprehended).

This is rather off-topic, but it's funny how many people believe that. While I'm not a man of faith, and follow neither the Quran nor the Bible, I have seen a bit of the Quran. And no, it's not like Bible. While certainly not all Muslims interpret it the way people like Osama do, it is actually quite easy to interpret in a way that's hostile and even violent towards Christians, Jews, and anyone not of the Muslim faith. Especially Jews. A particular line that comes up quite frequently in the Quran talks about "driving the Jews into the sea." And that's the least of it.

And now, I'm off that topic. Probably set off an e-bomb just bringing it up.

As for the ghosts... yeah. This, along with every other bit of "evidence" I've ever seen, is obviously either doctored or a result of accidental photographic anomalies. That, coupled with wishful thinking, a healthy dose of imagination, and people who have entrusted their livelihood to the "profession" of ghost hunting, is quite enough to explain all the ghost hoopla that goes around.

 

[Nightling]

Now I have NIN's Heresy stuck in my head...
I have respect for the man. He lived, taught, and died for what his ideas. And the ideology was good, but I have a problem with Paul, the bastard that decided to make a religeon and belief system out of it.

Rufus: He still digs humanity, but it bothers Him to see the shit that gets carried out in His name - wars, bigotry, televangelism. But especially the factioning of all the religions. He said humanity took a good idea and, like always, built a belief structure on it.

Bethany: Having beliefs isn't good?

Rufus: I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant.