# Faith, religion, and the afterlife: A form of denial **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 2, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713 "2014-01-02T16:57:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 43
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/841 "2014-02-26T21:34:59Z")
> [@simster](#): > > If you had faith, you would see that the invisible one is indeed pink - but this quality is reserved for only the most faithful. Anyone who believes in the Trinity should be able to believe in 5 IPUs before breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/842 "2014-02-27T00:18:51Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Don’t be ridiculous. If the unicorn is invisible, it cannot _also_ be pink. A _translucent_ pink unicorn is much more believable. You have to have faith. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/843 "2014-02-27T00:39:43Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Don’t be ridiculous. If the unicorn is invisible, it cannot _also_ be pink. A _translucent_ pink unicorn is much more believable. We know that She is invisible because we cannot see Her. We know that She is pink because we have faith. MHHNBS. ---
**Author:** ![rustyrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@rustyrunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rustyrunner)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/844 "2014-03-03T16:59:56Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > So, tell us what god you believe in and give us his or her characteristics. What I’ve seen is that gods throughout history look a lot like the cultures that created them, and not at all like the gods of other cultures. Why would this be? Is god like a chameleon, so insecure that he can’t take on his own form in different places? Are there lots of gods? If you can’t answer these questions, perhaps you’ll accept the simplest explanation - that there are no gods, and they all got made up. I don’t need to believe in any kind of God, just realize I will never have ultimate knowledge. I don’t see the chameleon as insecure but intriguing whether by design or accident. Why should I accept the simplest explanation that there are no gods, but I guess that follows on from your view that it is easier to believe everything came from nothing, than the far more complex alternative. You may be right, but I rather like A. Einstein’s view when he said he did not believe in a personal god, but declared himself an agnostic. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/845 "2014-03-03T18:04:59Z")
> [@rustyrunner](#): > > I don’t need to believe in any kind of God, just realize I will never have ultimate knowledge. I don’t see the chameleon as insecure but intriguing whether by design or accident. > Why should I accept the simplest explanation that there are no gods, but I guess that follows on from your view that it is easier to believe everything came from nothing, than the far more complex alternative. > You may be right, but I rather like A. Einstein’s view when he said he did not believe in a personal god, but declared himself an agnostic. We’re not talking about ultimate knowledge here, just the best working hypothesis. If you don’t accept the default hypothesis that there are no god, come up with a better one. I can imaging a hundred different gods before breakfast. Which one should I choose? Clearly I would select one over the others based on the evidence. But there isn’t any. I guess we could repurpose the punchline of that old sexist joke about choosing a secretary. Which god should we choose? The one with the largest breasts. Don’t laugh - based on the primitive fertility statues we’ve discovered, our remote ancestors did exactly that. ---
**Author:** ![rustyrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@rustyrunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rustyrunner)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/846 "2014-03-09T17:10:13Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > We’re not talking about ultimate knowledge here, just the best working hypothesis. > If you don’t accept the default hypothesis that there are no god, come up with a better one. I can imaging a hundred different gods before breakfast. Which one should I choose? Clearly I would select one over the others based on the evidence. But there isn’t any. > > I guess we could repurpose the punchline of that old sexist joke about choosing a secretary. > > Which god should we choose? > The one with the largest breasts. > > Don’t laugh - based on the primitive fertility statues we’ve discovered, our remote ancestors did exactly that. We don’t need to laugh or choose , that is beauty of being human. It is spontaneous but terribly vulnerable as you point out. can’t imagine philsophy without content. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/847 "2014-03-09T19:55:26Z")
Heh. I can easily imagine philosophy without content. Those really complex medieval schemes of theology came close, such as when they defined some dozen or so different kinds of “grace” or argued whether “beatific enjoyment” was the same as “pleasure.” You might as well just make up the terms from scratch, and debate if frammistat implies foistboinder. ---
**Author:** ![Esco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@Esco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esco)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/848 "2014-03-11T01:13:54Z")
You guys wanted evidence of out-of-body experiences (OBE’s). Here you go, a study confirms it: > **[Woman Has 'Out of Body' Experiences Whenever She Wants](https://abcnews.go.com/Health/woman-body-experiences/story?id=22825927)** > > Student has "out of body" experiences at will, confuses researchers. > **[Voluntary Out-of-Body Experience: An fMRI Study](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00070/full)** > > The present single-case study examined functional brain imaging patterns in a participant that reported being able, at will, to produce somatosensory sensations that are experienced as her body moving outside the boundaries of her physical body all... ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/849 "2014-03-11T21:50:42Z")
> [@Esco](#): > > You guys wanted evidence of out-of-body experiences (OBE’s). Here you go, a study confirms it: > > [Woman Has 'Out of Body' Experiences Whenever She Wants - ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/woman-body-experiences/story?id=22825927) > > [Frontiers | Voluntary Out-of-Body Experience: An fMRI Study](http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00070/full) If you wish to discuss this stuff, open a new thread to do so. DO NOT hijack this thread with this stuff. I will note that I have little hope for such a thread. The links you provided simply dealt with brain scans of people who claimed a sensation without providing any evidence that that sensation represented any activity outside the body. That said, it will still not be debated in this thread. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Esco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@Esco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esco)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/850 "2014-03-12T02:12:39Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > If you wish to discuss this stuff, open a new thread to do so. > > DO NOT hijack this thread with this stuff. > > I will note that I have little hope for such a thread. The links you provided simply dealt with brain scans of people who claimed a sensation without providing any evidence that that sensation represented any activity outside the body. > > That said, it will still not be debated in this thread. > > [/Moderating] Then you’re a stupid, biased, closed-minded moderator. Did you see the title of thread?? It talks about the afterlife, incidently thats what NDE’s are, you dont die, you go out-of-body and just pass on to the next dimension. Also, in this post you say that you _"dont care if I post in this thread_": [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17111849&postcount=821](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17111849&postcount=821) So which one is it?? You dont care if I post here, or you do care. Make up your mind please ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/851 "2014-03-12T04:11:44Z")
> [@Esco](#): > > Then you’re a stupid, biased, closed-minded moderator. Did you see the title of thread?? It talks about the afterlife, incidently thats what NDE’s are, you dont die, you go out-of-body and just pass on to the next dimension. > > Also, in this post you say that you _"dont care if I post in this thread_": [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17111849&postcount=821](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17111849&postcount=821) > > So which one is it?? You dont care if I post here, or you do care. > Make up your mind please I do not care if you post in this thread. I do care if what you post is a hijack of the thread or arrant nonsense. Your post that I just Mod Noted was not about NDEs, it was about Out of Body Experiences. You may choose to conflate the two, but they are separate phenomena as your own citations demonstrated with references to people choosing to experience them, not dying. While there may be some connection between OBEs and NDEs (if they exist), citing cases of “voluntary” OBEs is clearly not relevant and pretending that they are “proof” of NDEs is silly. Now, if you would like to continue to participate, pay attention and behave yourself. (And since we have a rule against insulting other posters in this forum, you are already on thin ice by posting insults.) [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Esco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@Esco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esco)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/852 "2014-03-12T13:46:53Z")
Woopie doo, I’m on thin ice. LOL :rolleyes: You’re just another stupid atheist/agnostic. You cant handle any conversation that takes out of your boxed-in thinking. It makes you uncomfortable. You probably also have a massive hate-on for anyone who believes in a deity, religion or anything else spiritual. You’re a dum-dum. Also, I bet you’re probably unattractive too. Maybe you’re mad at God because He made you ugly?? . ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/853 "2014-03-12T14:19:47Z")
Hell, I’m the other mod and I’m giving you a warning for that one. One simply may not insult other posters without consequence on the SDMB. Your posting privileges may be revoked at any time based on your behavior. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/854 "2014-03-12T16:22:44Z")
> [@Esco](#): > > You’re just another stupid atheist/agnostic. . . . > You probably also have a massive hate-on for anyone who believes in a deity, religion or anything else spiritual. This has to be the funniest leap to a wrong conclusion that I have seen on this message board in years. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/855 "2014-03-12T16:33:05Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > This has to be the funniest leap to a wrong conclusion that I have seen on this message board in years. Right now he’s working hard to figure out whether you’re in fact really hot or not an atheist, or both. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713/856 "2014-03-12T22:13:26Z")
I’m just hoping it doesn’t work both ways. I’m fairly unattractive - what does that say about my philosophical viewpoints? Shit, i’d better see what Kim Kardashian thinks about all this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faith-religion-and-the-afterlife-a-form-of-denial/677713.md?page=42)