Are our souls immortal?

[MiltonLeBerle]

That thing that makes us us- our own personal conciousness.
After our physical being dies, do we have a "spirit" that remains?
Do we go to a heaven or a hell?
Is there re-incarnation to another human life? an animal life? a life in another galaxy on another planet?

My own personal belief is that this is it. This is the one ride we get, and when it's over- so are we. No heaven, no hell, no reincarnation, or advancement to a higher stage of conciousness, no coming back to haunt our enemies and families.

Nothing.


Anyhone else?

[rock]

1. Remember what it was like before you were born

It's the same after you die. At least it doesn't hurt.

[wyldwolf]

2. No.

the Bible says no, too.

[RC]

3. If one is a rational thinker/observer..

how can they rationally believe all that mumbo jumbo.. ridiculous.. and, yet...... people WANT to believe

[arwalden]

20. That's Just It... It's *NOT* Rational Thinking... It's FEAR!!

Fear of the unknown.
Fear of death.
Fear of one's mortality.

The myth of "spirit" or "afterlife" helpt to ease the fear.
The myth of "afterlife reward" or "afterlife punishment" help to control the masses.

I call it mental terrorism.

-- Allen

[Runesong]

4. Wiccan beleifs concerning the afterlife.

Many Wicca beleive that the soul passes on to the "Summerland", and grows young again, then you are reborn.

I personally beleive that our soul is a small part of the divine, that gets reunited with with the whole. Just as your body breaks down, goes back to the mother earth, and loses it's previous form and identity, your soul rejoins a universal consciousness. I do not beleive that the soul lives on as a carbon-copy of your living self.

[scarletlib]

15. That's pretty much my idea too

We never really die because our bodies are composed of the atoms and matter of the universe. When we die we go back to the earth and our atoms go in many directions. we are still here just in another form of the earth and universe. as for consciousness of the soul after death, i don't know. we'll just have to wait and see.

[skip fox]

5. You got a better shot at an afterlife if you

CAPTION!!!

(I can't promise you'll go to heaven if you CAPTION, but your chances are better. So scroll on down and roll up your sleeves. You won't be sorry.)

[SoCalDem]

6. My impression of a "soul"

I think that the interaction that you have with your family, friends and those that you know IS your soul.. Everyone carries that little bit of "you" in their brain as long as THEY live...

If you are talked about and told about , your "soul" stays with any who know you or are told about you....


After a generation or so, or when all your friends are gone, your memory is too, but that's not a bad thing.. Imagine how cluttered it would be if we did not move on and get out of the way of those to follow :)

[moosedog]

7. Oh no !

You mean that the people that I have known will decide? Depending on how they remember me? My grown sons are always talking, when they are together, about how I put goop in their hair, made them wear gray flannels, an on and on. I'm in trouble....Mrs. Moose

[SoCalDem]

8. But... they will also remember when you sat with them while they puked

and didn't tell their friends that they cried..

and they will remember when you taught them to ride a bike, or when you baked their special favorite cake... or when you "didn't tell Dad" about something horrible that they did..

When you are not physically there anymore, the good ones bubble up to the surface and the bad ones sink to the bottom :)


My grown sons have a laugh at my expense too..

Like the time I fell into a ditch headfirst trying to help them catch lizards.. (They LOVED that one :eyes:..)

and when I used to make the car backfire (I had the magic touch) to scare the little kids walking to school.. My boys would howl with laughter at that trick...


or the time I got so mad at Michael that I threw a shoe at him...missed HIM and hit Steven right in the back of the head.. (It was a lightweight shoe and I throw like a girl:).)

or the time I made them all dress alike for a Santa picture:)

[moosedog]

13. oh,...my boys talk about nice things too.

All the front porch loaded with goodies for Christmas parties etc. They talk about the good times...but also about.... Running and jumping over the stone wall, flyswatter in hand, like General Custer, and scaring him to death, as he didn't come when called. LOL They knew that mom cared. Mrs. Moose

[Blue_Chill]

9. I think there is a soul

but I have no idea where it goes or what happens after death.

Not every culture that has ever existed has agreed on religion, but there not a single one that hasn't written something about ghosts. In fact there isn't a city on the planet in which you can't get a bunch of personal accounts with a spirit.

Sorry buit science can kiss my ass on this one. They can't control it or explain so it never happened.

[TennesseeWalker]

10. I sort of agree.

I've had a couple of odd experiences that make me think we can't possibly know everything. In fact, I think we know very little.

Look at it this way: Before microscopes, everyone thought "evil spirits" caused various ailments...plague was "God's Curse". Then, voila! The Germ Theory of Disease!

Just because we don't have an instrument with which to see particular things doesn't mean they're not there. We'll all find out soon enough, at any rate!

[wyldwolf]

11. The belief came from early man trying to explain what was...

..happening while dreaming. Early religions thought the "soul" (or their word for it) left the body at sleep and returned upon waking.

Science has explained dreams.

[SoCalDem]

12. and memories.. Even my grandmother said that HER mother

was "haunting her brain".. It's the memory of you that is your soul :)

[Blue_Chill]

19. I'm not talking about a belief

I'm talking about everyday people that you can talk to today that will tell you something was running around their house sometime in their life that they could not explain. People that have had such experiences are FAR more common than you would beleive, and they exist in every culture that has ever walked the earth.

We aren't talking UFO sitings here. Ask around and you would be surprised just how many people fit into this group.

For the record I have never met anyone that has seen a UFO.

[Skip Intro]

14. Ok. I'll do it - what about NDEs, ghosts and otherworldly phenomena?

No, I haven't had any encounters with ghosts or spirits that I'm aware of (tho I have seen at least two absolutley unexplainable ufos, but that is another story...).

Near death experiences are well documented, and tho science has theories as to why people are able to leave their bodies at scenes of accidents or emergency room efforts, they are but theories.

I have read and seen some very hard to dismiss accounts of ghosts, poltergeists, and spirits making their presence known to many in this physical existence.

And what about biblical prophecy and answered prayres? God by definition is a supernatural being.

It is easy do laugh at this kind of stuff, but the truth is no one knows, and there is, if you look for it, a wealth of truly unexplainable accounts of "contact" with those who have crossed over, or those who have caught a glimpse of the "afterlife".

[MiltonLeBerle]

16. hooey, hooey, and more hooey.

Near death experiences have a lot to do with the brain 'freaking out' and trying to survive- I was trying to find an article that I had read about recent research and findings on the topic, but no luck yet.

As for ghosts, poltergeists and things that go bump in the night- considering the number of people who have lived and more importantly, died throughout history, it would seem that there would be so many ghosts out there that every one of us would have had to had at least an encounter or two in our lifetimes- I'm closing in on half a century, and not I, nor anyone I know has ever had any type of first-hand ghost contact.

Biblical prophecy? such as...? If you are saying that things were prophesized in the Old Testament that came to pass in the New Testament- that isn't going to pass muster. The bible isn't history, it's literature, and prophecies made and realized within the pages of a book are not the same thing as events that actually occur.
Answered prayers? are you really serious? and in the event that you are, I was always taught that god answers all prayers- with a "Yes", a "No", or a "Maybe" (or "Not Yet", depending on who's doing the teaching that day). And truth be told- I can pray to the fish in my aquarium and get the same results- or to the algae that grows on the glass, or a rock, or Larry King, etc...you get the idea. I hope.

[KCDem]

17. We're alive until all that remember us die.

Crap, I feel bad for writing that... brought up very Presbyterian, always considered self a Christian. But, currently, I'm much more into this life than the next. I believe that my goal is to make an impression on my kids, eventually my grandkids, and live in their memories.

[MiltonLeBerle]

18. our "soul" is what makes us aware of our self, the world-

and our place in it. It's an internal thing that exists in each of us, depending on the way the molecules in each of our brains has glopped together.
Other peoples memories of us are just that- their memories, their awareness...It does nothing to extend our own self-awareness, what with being dead and all.
Otherwise, I hate to think of the number of people that are currently living in my cabesa- it's no wonder I can never get anything done.