General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Enough of the Gene is with Gilda [View all]thesquanderer
(11,972 posts)"Afterlife" generally refers to some other non-earthly existence after we die (Heaven, for example). Reincarnation, in that respect, is not an afterlife. Yes, it is a return to life after death, but it is not another realm.
And both the belief in another realm of existence after death AND the belief in reincarnation are not things that, themselves necessarily require a belief in God (that is, a specific individual supreme intelligence responsible for creating these things). In theory, to the extent that these things could possibly exist at all, they could just as well exist without such a God.
Put differently, if someday we manage to prove that either an afterlife or reincarnation exists, that still wouldn't prove the existence of God. Different issues.