Afterlife?

its not necessarily the "Loyal opposition " to a belief system, Its basically not neeing such a belief system at all.

So lets say that none of them have strong evidence (although Id question the lack thereof of the non religious POV), wheres that leave the whole formal liturgy and story lines of religions.

Atheism is a competing belief system.

All Im sayin i that none of this BS has evidence to support it. Its a cult of personalities that really does use the concept of "Who's saying it" to prove the belief. I find that even less than circular reasoning, dont you?

It’s always a dead giveaway when it gets too close to the matter and you react by dismissing it 'all' as 'BS'. THAT is circular in your argument

It's one thing to feel sadness and apprehension about the circumstances which will surround you as you are faced with your own demise. Similarly, feelings of grief concerning the deaths of others is certainly understandable. But bemoaning the reality of your mortality and eventual extinction as if it were something unfair or tragic is simply childish. Choosing to believe the fable is fine, but it's a rather pathetic coping mechanism because it's obviously an invented story, unsupported by evidence, which even many religious believers aren't 100% sure of — why not just accept birth, life, death, followed by the empty hollow hum of eternity?

People who fear it should come to terms with it so they don't fear it.

Most people fear death so much that they believe in a fable that they won't really die, but will instead go to a magical place of eternal happiness.

Some of us apparently value our existence much more than others do theirs.

Quoting Yoda without understanding context is a surefire way to fail in my book.

The Jedi religion is based on mashing up Taoism with the Christian philosophy. The series is popular because it appeals to its own internal theology (when we die, we become Force spirits).

You cannot quote Yoda and accept a godless universe with no afterlife. Atheism is the teachings of the dark side. The very people who convince us not to believe in life beyond death, because then we won't become ghosts to haunt them, and who don't believe it themselves because they can convince themselves that they can solve their problems by killing ppl they don't like.

But if Star Wars is any guide, Yoda didn't truly die. Neither did Han Solo.
Neither Ben Kenobi. Neither did Leia. Their ghosts live on. Especially since somehow they immortalized Carrie Fisher after her death (creepy).
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My point being, aside from someone abusing Yoda's "there is no try" is that there are a number of problems with a lack of afterlife (I don't think it's essential for people to believe in God. If God is God, he exists whether or not we believe in him, because he doesn't need us).
1. "I can get rid of people I don't like!" The last thing we need in society is psychopathy, and when people are convinced other people won't at least curse them in death, what's to stop mass murder. Oh sure, someone can kill you, but then you're dead and will never feel sorry for what you did.
2. "There is no justice." I was talking about the natural human need for payback after person with mentality #1 brutally murders your parents or children. Someone accused me of talking like it was the dark ages. Obviously they've never been a mother. Even losing one of your children, you hope the law will take care of it. But increasingly, the criminal justice system has a life sentence or three, yet lets them out early for good behavior. Your child is dead! Where was the justice if they barely served 10 years?!? And so, if there isn't a special place in hell for those kinds of people, there's no "coming to terms with death" as other ppl above me put.
3. "I'll never see him again." This is a offshoot of #2. Just as we humans need to see bad people punished (maybe forgiven eventually but first to learn their lesson), we need to see all those who came before us again. That grieving mother has peace knowing that her child is there, and she's gonna see him one sweet day. It's not important whether you think it's true. It's important that she thinks it's true.
4. "There's no point." Combining # 1, #2, and #3, there is a prevailing sense without a place for the dead to go, that nothing matters. If this is the case, then society breaks down. Why should I pay taxes or debts? I'm gonna die anyway so I mihht as well live it up. Why should I bother being kind to people? Etc? Pretty soon, everyone treats everyone else like crap, feeling that nothing matters. We have hell on Earth. Congratulations, you have finally punished that man who killed your child. By making the world so miserable that he would rather die. Or course, you would too. But anyway.

People who fear it should come to terms with it so they don't fear it. It's just a part of the life cycle.

Fear of the inevitable is ridiculous.

Suppose you found out that you had a fatal illness?

You're suggesting that it's ridiculous to be afraid?

The fact that something is inevitable doesn't make it not scary.

Mame wrote:

People who fear it should come to terms with it so they don't fear it. It's just a part of the life cycle.

Fear of the inevitable is ridiculous.

Suppose you found out that you had a fatal illness? You're suggesting that it's ridiculous to be afraid? That's completely unrealistic. The fact that something is inevitable doesn't make it not scary.

It's more like some of us can't imagine a world that continues without them;

that's not valuing one's existence more than others, it's believing that one is, somehow, indispensable.

I can honestly say that, yes, I value my existence particularly since I accept an inevitable point of termination.

It's actually soothing; I'd rather face my death with a sense of satisfaction, and a feeling of completion than with fear of the unknown.

No, but it gives you a perspective which may enable you to come to terms with your fate and lessen your anxiety.

If you value your existence it would seem that you would be upset about the possibility of that existence ending.

It is our fate to die.

The idea that it is our fate to cease to exist when we die is merely atheist religious belief.

oralloy Quote:
It is our fate to die.

hightor reply:
Why do you want to deny this? A fate shared with all other living things on our planet. A fate shared with stars and galaxies. So what?

It’s as if hi is unable to even imagine anything that ought not to die, no matter whether it does or not.

Maybe he thinks it will get better.

A pity he thinks it’s this society we created that deserves to go on.