The best idea I've heard for Religion

[Jester the Nightmare]

So I am a frequent reader of manga and anime and graphic novels and such. One series I love the most is Shaman king, anyone familiar with the series knows that there are several religions represented in the different characters ranging from native american believes in the great spirit to the African animal gods believes, but it was only after the death of a single character that I read about one of the greatest ideas I have ever heard but forth for religion. Religious commutes in the after life, that is, that if you went through life believing in heaven and hell you would go to one fo the two commutes as you believed, but if you believed that you went to lets say, The sacred Lotus, or Valhalla you would go there instead. The idea of your mind and believe dictating where you go when you die is one that I find to make the most sense if I still believed in any religion, so does it make sense to you? Would you prefer this over other ideas of afterlife?  

[LimeIzMyFaveColor]

Yeah since I don't believe in "Heaven" or "Hell" but somewhat believe in a Soul Society (like the one in Bleach minus the scary action) so perhaps I may go there after I die. ^ _ ^  

[[-Erik-]]

So, you're saying death could be more like... a state of mind?

 

[Jester the Nightmare]

Exactly, more like to collective of states of minds, if you get it, this honestly appealed to me more then Christianity cause it meant that when I died, in which I thought I would go visit Da Vinci in a plane of white, I might actually get to meet Da Vinci in a plane of white.  

[Le Pere Duchesne]

When we die... we decompose into our constituent proteins and are processed by the biosphere... Nothing else. Really.

I also find it funny that people are willing to say "I don't believe in religion, but [describes religious belief]"... ^_^  

[Lucifer FonRonsenberg]

How could death even be a state of mind when you can't be death? You can only be dead, and when you're dead your mind no longer exists.  

[dl1371]

Sir Cameron poison shanks

How could death even be a state of mind when you can't be death? You can only be dead, and when you're dead your mind no longer exists.

exactly what i think  

[Takki33]

Hmm, if this was true I'd love to spend my afterlife in a dream like area that is alterable but was actually real. This way I would be able to spend time with all my friends and family, essentially crafting my own reality.  

[Lyonette]

Yeah, I read about something like that in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Dumb reference I know, but pretty much they were in Greek afterlife, but what they believed altered how they saw it. For instance, a priest who had stolen from the church was seen entering the gates to the torture fields, but it seemed to him like he was entering hell.  

[dl1371]

well even if this was true(which i kind of doubt) i would still be gone forever
i think death is like being knocked out, but you never come to(well that's disputable, but then we go into talk about parallel universes and stuff)
anyway my dream "heaven" would be exactly that because, think about it, living forever would bore me out of my mind  

[alteregoivy]

Ever read Terry Pratchett? The Discworld novels are absolutely fabulous. There is the character Death, and death works much the same way you've described. Atheists who believe that nothing happens when they die... nothing happens.

On the other hand, there's an agnostic (or maybe just never thought about religion?) character who dies, and he has to wander through an empty desert until he figures out what he believes, and then he'll get there on the other side of the desert.

It's a neat idea. If I could have my own beliefs be whatever I wanted them to without considering evidence, I would want there to be no God, but that there was the soul, and it reincarnates until we learn what we need to know from this world, and then we move on to a better world. And there are certain people in our lives that reincarnate with us until we are ALL ready to move on. That's what I would like to believe.

...But I don't really.  

[Eccentric Detective]

That's funny - I've never heard of Shaman King before, but I used to think similarly. I remember reading one of my journals from a few years back, and it said "Whatever you believe you will see after you die, you will see it." However, I realize now that having a (working) brain is the reason for consciousness, so if you were dead, it would be quite impossible.  

[brainnsoup]

And what about those of us who believe that we just die?
We just die?
Or what about someone who believes in reincarnation?
Do they reincarnate into something tangible and very real?

I've thought about this idea before. It's sad.
Because even if you did get to go to your own heaven, you'd never see your loved ones who had a different view of the afterlife again.

Of course this is all hypothetical though.
I don't believe in an afterlife.

 

[dl1371]

another thing is that noone has the same idea of heaven
so youd be stuck all alone
and although you could create pseudo-people, you wouldnt have any real interaction  

[The Singular Enigma]

Louis-Auguste Robespierre

When we die... we decompose into our constituent proteins and are processed by the biosphere... Nothing else. Really.

I also find it funny that people are willing to say "I don't believe in religion, but [describes religious belief]"... ^_^

"If you ever get lost in a forest, don't worry... you're biodegradable."