It's almost a waste of time talking about something that will never be proven, but yet I am compelled to be drawn into this topic yet again.
An afterlife - why do we need to believe in that? Is it because we cannot accept that we cease once we die? I think it is; most cannot comprehend the mind (soul?) stopping once it's all ended, so we conveniently make up some nice, warm and fuzzy theories to make death more, shall we say, palatable.
Seriously, look at Christianity. If you're good and die with forgiven sins you go to heaven. If you break any of the commandments without forgiveness you go to hell. If you take your own life you stay in limbo. While we're at it, should we still also believe in the tooth fairy?
It's okay, you're not a bad person if you do not believe in a god. But those people look who down on those who do not believe in a god 'are bad' in my books. Because if they were true to their god, then they will see that they are equal to their neighbours and not judge them, whatever their religious outlook is.
Personally, I believe this obsession with the afterlife is fear driven. Can't accept death, then we make up some stories to make us more calm about the matter. Just like when a grandparent dies, people can't tell kids the truth and have to make up some garbage story of nanna's gone to a better place. How about saying nanna's having a wonderfully tranquil and deep sleep?
Instincts? They are from evolution. Our instincts differ massively from when man was first created. What we have today is a highly tuned being that is fully armed with the instincts of survival should we need it. Those who did not have strong survival instincts in the past perished, and because they did not know how to survive they were not able to reproduce offsprings with the same 'inferior' instincts. Hence what we have today is the best of the best. Unfortunately, we have undone a lot of the good work in the last 30 years by allowing generations of families to exist without having to work. And when they reproduce, their children will have minimal survival skills as well. This is why our taxes will increase rapidly, which will be to feed those who do not know how to fend for themselves. If we don't look after them then they'll end up in our backyards, our garages, in our kitchens, in our cars - they'll be everywhere unless we keep paying them hush money. The tax drain will keep getting bigger and bigger until there is no more money to give them. That is when we will see human behaviour at its very worst. Welcome to "I am legend".
When I was in my teens I used to pray. But why was I praying? Most of it was for selfish reasons, and very rarely for others. If there is a god, why would he want to 'look over' someone who has everything he needs, while we have children dying because they cannot find clean drinking water?
But, I have deviated away from the topic (sorry) and will stop here.
