Is there a life after death?

“Simply a mind shutting down wouldnt have that capability. Now would it?”

Yes, actually.

Have you ever had a lucid dream? Imagine a supercharged lucid dream “on steroids.” That’s what happens, because the brain goes into super-emergency-crisis mode, and starts deploying large amounts of all those wonderful endorphins it usually carefully administers.

It is entirely possible for a human to artificially induce their own chemically natural delusions. People can make themselves hallucinate, some through extensive training, others by accident, due to flaws in their brains.

“I have seen it.”

Pics or it didn’t happen.

Here’s my wager: if there was an all-powerful, all-loving, all-good god, who wanted me to know he exists…

I would know he exists. He would make sure of this, because it’s the desire of an all-powerful being. All-powerful means there are zero limitations on his power. He could have a one-on-one chat with each of the billions of individuals in the world, without time being a problem, because he is all-powerful.

But that doesn’t happen. Instead, i see zero evidence that any such thing exists.

And if i am somehow wrong, then it is only because of the way this god created me, and so he can’t blame me for his own doing. And if he does, he’s not worth worship, and there’s nothing i can do about it anyway.

Pascal’s wager is based on a false premise. The idea that any god exists is just too fantastical to be taken seriously… despite the fact that so many really do.

“Why would you even want to worship a being that ‘created’ you without your consent?”

That’s neither here nor there. If i don’t exist, i can’t consent. There’s no way around that.

“I have no desire to worship anyone or anything.”

Nor do i.

“I never asked to be born.”

No one ever does.

“I would never ‘bow down’ to such a Creator if it existed.”

In the event such a being proved worthy of my loyalty, i’d probably have no problem with acting in accordance with its instruction.

“I’m not going to respect anything just because it has more power than me.”

You should always respect everything that is more powerful than you. Respect is not even close to the same thing as Worship. Respect also doesn’t mean you have to comply. It just means you know it could destroy you very easily, and so you consider that factor when making any decision.

My “wager,” is about showing that it’s ludicrous to believe that any worship-worthy god would have any problem with the way i think, because either there is no god, or god made me, and intentionally remains hidden. No “all-good” being would intentionally create a being just to then manipulate it into punishment. And if such a being does exist, despite zero evidence to reasonably assume that it does, then there’s nothing we can do about it anyway, and no way to reason with it. If it is unreasonable, there is no way of knowing whether anyone is, or even can, do the right thing in its eyes. The whole concept is ridiculous, and my way of thinking about it shows me that there should be no problem with not believing it, unless viable and legitimate evidence arrives.

I have nothing to fear in this regard, because it isn’t real. And even if “the good great god” is real, and intentionally hidden, then he would still be good enough to understand that i’m not wrong in this situation, and that the situation is of his own making, not mine. Why should i believe it is reasonable to expect damnation for what is divinely ordained? Why should i believe anything is divinely ordained?

My wager is that even if there is a god, it’s okay if i think there isn’t. If there’s a hidden god who made me this way, he knows what i think, and why. If he didn’t want to make me this way, he would have made me something else. So if there is a god, i am “meant to be” an atheist, and so why should that be a problem, if it’s what that god wanted to make? And if he is indeed imperfect, then surely i’m not responsible for his mistakes. And if he blames me anyway, then he’s not worth worshiping, no matter how long he might insist i burn in hell. And if that is the divine plan, then there’s nothing i can do about it anyway. If god wants to make people he doesn’t like, just to have an excuse to send them to hell forever… why would anyone worship that? Why would anyone believe that worship would stop them from being sent to hell for any other outrageous reason?

I don’t think it really matters what anyone believes, as long as you try to make sure your actions don’t cause needless suffering for someone else. That said, i certainly do prefer the company of those who don’t require me to have endless debates about something that doesn’t even exist. There are plenty of other more interesting and more relevant topics and experiences to be found in life. Why waste so much time and energy on “god?”

” …it rather seems that you yourself do put a lot of time and energy into the topic of ‘god.’”

Do i need to explain the obvious reason for that? Or are you just purposely not mentioning that part, but instead emphasizing what would appear to be hypocrisy, if not for the purpose behind the energy i do spend on saying things about it?

My energy isn’t actually spent “on a false god.” It is spent on people, trying to make them think, so they can realize they should be spending time on real things, and not having their actions motivated by false beliefs.

I live in a world surrounded by people whose actions are primarily motivated by belief in something false. Many of their thought patterns have detrimental results, due to those false beliefs. I have personally experienced much unnecessary strife and anguish, whether directly or indirectly, due to the majority of people acting on their false beliefs. It would be better if everyone was aware of this. Not saying anything about it makes me part of the problem that oppresses and hinders me. I can’t willingly contribute to keeping myself down and out, regardless of what anyone’s crazy book says.