I would love to believe ... that when I die I will live again - Carl Sagan

[man4allcats]

23. Why do you care what I think or say?

It's not going to make any difference anyway. Reread my first post. In the sentence where I used the word "fact" I stated "As an atheist, I find some solace in knowing that once my death occurs I will not miss the life I had because there will in fact be no me to miss it." It's personal: "I find some solace" - "my death" - "I will not miss" - "be no me to miss it." What are you so afraid of that it matters to you in the least what I believe about what happens to people when they die - whether it be a transition to another form of consciousness or merely a transition to dust? If others wish to believe in some comfy fantasy, that's fine with me. I really couldn't care less. And because I'm that egalitarian, I can't understand why the hell any of this matters to you.

You say you wouldn't be so arrogant as to use the word "fact" and that I shouldn't be so arrogant as to use it either. There is a reason I suggested you define that word as well as the word "proof." Discussing this with you is like trying to discuss evolution with a creationist. Read Dawkins - not just on evolution but also on atheism. Creationists want "proof" (somebody up thread indicated to you that there is no responsibility to prove a negative) that god didn't create the universe. Those who believe in an afterlife want "proof" that there isn't one. As humans we cannot prove to an epistemological certainty that we ourselves exist. For all we can really prove, we might be just some anthropic dream state being experienced by some physical meta-dimension that has somehow managed to develop self-awareness. The actual facts may ultimately be nothing more than that. And yet while that possibility does exist, as the rational creatures we believe ourselves to be, we typically accept as "proof" evidence that is based on available "facts." Based on what we know about the universe and the language of mathematics that we use to help us understand it, it makes sense to accept that evolution suitably explains the existence of life on this and probably many other planets and further that each living thing's life will eventually end - period. Every indication is that when you're dead, you're dead. Sorry - no pie in the sky theistic god to extract our "souls" from our dead bodies and thereafter set us up in a nice apartment on the corner of Ecstasy and Eternity. You just die. At least that's my personal interpretation of the facts as they are known today. If you wish to interpret those facts differently; fine. Go for it. Depending on your particular interpretation, I may think you're unrealistic. But again, what the hell do you care what I think?!