They now have a scientific explanation for this.

I feel you are (maybe unconsciously) presenting me with an ad absurdum here.  I am not talking about trivial decisions; I mean the choice of investing nominal amounts of time following directives, tithing, donating service, donating funds, encouraging others to support the dogma - all without a shred of evidence, other than "feelings" about  the situation.  I want more than that to validate my life.  I choose to be atheist, but, having said that, I cannot think how I could ever choose differently, given the information and evidence I have - my mind and heart are open, ready for that evidence but, I'm not going to wait around for it.  I am not saying there is no proof, I'm saying I've found none - that doesn't meant that I have quit looking.  I want to find aliens, and psionic powers, too - just haven't found any indication that they're anything but woo.

I like this post. I would add that I don't care whether or not you (or I) believe. It's just not relevant. I attend a lot of church and some days I'm all "what a crock" and some days "that's a good point" but believing it's the Holy Hand Grenade or not doesn't come into it. It's just a group session with cookies.
 
 

I had a what I have come to believe was a near death contact with the "other side" during my transplant in good ole M-50 where you actually got to visit me, when I was battling for my life fighting a fever of 102 to 104 for a few days.  It'll be three years next month.  I don't think I was hallucinating.  I had several experiences were I had a choice to stay and fight or move on to the next 'plane' or 'level'.  I remember arguing with some shadowy beings that I was not ready to go and leave me alone.  This went on for several days as I have since come to know that it was that long.

Like you, I'm not convinced that there is a supreme being, but I am no longer worried about passing on, because those beings did offer me a 'choice'.   I like to believe I was not hallucinating, because I still remember a lot.  At any rate, I've concluded that there is more after this physical experience based on that experience.

Good stuff everyone. I've enjoyed this discussion. Good night all!

Good stuff everyone. I've enjoyed this discussion. Good night all!

Sure you could. Is every single thing you own the very best of its kind? You've never once eaten junk food or bought a cheap beer? I consider atheism as much a choice as theism. I choose not to believe in the absence of proof. But "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence". It suits me better to make the meaning of my life. I know it's a better choice for me, but others' mileage may vary.

I do not have a personal story on this topic.

I do not know whether or not I believe. I truly believe that, for me, it is not a question that needs to be answered. So, I don't try to answer it. I'm usually amazed that folk throughout history have spent so much time discussing the question.  My thought always comes back to, if we could say right now, definitively, that God does or does not exist, what would change?  For me, nothing.
 
I have thought about it. My belief is that I try to live my life adhering to values that I believe would hold me in good stead with God — if God does exist.  So, the fact that I do not believe — if that were the case — should not matter in God's eyes.  I try to live by the principles. That, I think,, matters. 

My early experience with church/religion only served to teach me that I did not believe in organized religions.  What confused me was that we, as kids, were always told that we should be striving to develop a personal relationship with God.  My thought process was, well, if that is the goal, why are we trying to do that in this group setting?  Anyway, that  wasn't for me.         

Edit:  Good discussion, by the way. Thanks to all.

That's interesting.  So to you, it goes beyond the concept that there is no "God" (the "the-" in "theism") to disclaim the very existence of any spirit or consciousness that transcends mortal life as we experience it? 

I think you can believe that there is a spirit that both precedes and transcends this mortal coil, without believing there is a "being" who "controls" life.  With that in mind, the afterlife is simply a different plane of existence, so someone who is brain dead here wouldn't necessarily experience the afterlife any differently than someone who isn't brain dead.  From a neurological standpoint, brain death is simply a lack of functioning of the electrical signals that controls experience in this version of who we are.  Once you shake off this life, your spirit continues to be what it was before you showed up in this package.

Anyway, that's how I think of it. Not 100% sure about how I feel about a supreme being, but I sure do think there's something on the other side of the curtain.

Some of the most recent comments inspire me () to make a point.  I'm speaking for myself, in particular but, I don't think that most atheists feel we have a choice about whether to believe or not - our decision to accept a godless universe is a result of study, consideration, and critical analysis of available information and evidence.

If I were presented with a product by a salesperson, and I was presented with myriad reasons why I should buy it, and said product appeared to me to be inferior, faulty, dangerous, whatever - the choice not to buy it would be a no-brainer considering the available information and evidence, even though my opinion differed with that of the salesperson - I could not, in good conscience purchase that product and be happy with myself concerning my decision.

Interesting. I'm with you up until that last part.

I don't believe in any gods or supernatural beings, I've seen nothing to convince me of a life beyond.

But I have what I consider deeply spiritual experiences. The feeling of being "in the zone" when I write. The centeredness I feel after meditating. Appreciating something beautiful like a song or a landscape or a woman. Watching the ocean roll on and on.

I think we each have a spirit. And we build it choice by choice, day by day. It doesn't survive us, but it enriches us.

It is my belief that all human capabilities are evolutionary traits, including consciousness. We just haven't found a way to measure it (yet).

Let me ask this: Do we, in the afterlife, have personalities? Are we identifiable as individual persons? What kind of configuration would we have in the afterlife? Is there any "us" in us? Is there any me in me? If I'm not me anymore, then what possible value is there to believe in an afterlife? I posit that our need for a spiritual end such as an afterlife is merely our need to feel as if we matter, and that we will continue on somehow, rather then the reality which is we end and that's that.

Of course, I could be wrong, but there's no evidence to suggest that this is so (yet).

I think we each have a spirit. And we build it choice by choice, day by day. It doesn't survive us, but it enriches us.

It is my belief that all human capabilities are evolutionary traits, including consciousness. We just haven't found a way to measure it (yet).

Let me ask this: Do we, in the afterlife, have personalities? Are we identifiable as individual persons? What kind of configuration would we have in the afterlife? Is there any "us" in us? Is there any me in me? If I'm not me anymore, then what possible value is there to believe in an afterlife? I posit that our need for a spiritual end such as an afterlife is merely our need to feel as if we matter, and that we will continue on somehow, rather then the reality which is we end and that's that.

Of course, I could be wrong, but there's no evidence to suggest that this is so (yet).

As an atheist, I have no belief system. It is my understanding that when our biological processes stop, we stop. There is no soul, or afterlife. I think it was Sam Harris who I first heard discuss this in terms of neurology. When people suffer a brain injury, they sometimes lose a critical part of who they were.  They no longer think (as a process) the way they did before. If someone loses their memory during life, is that memory stored somewhere offsite so it can be restored into a soul? How would an afterlife look to someone that was braindead?

BTW, I'm perfectly good with that. It makes sense to me.

oh...and for me, I wouldn't consider someone who is spiritual in any way to be an atheist.

That's interesting.  So to you, it goes beyond the concept that there is no "God" (the "the-" in "theism") to disclaim the very existence of any spirit or consciousness that transcends mortal life as we experience it? 

I think you can believe that there is a spirit that both precedes and transcends this mortal coil, without believing there is a "being" who "controls" life.  With that in mind, the afterlife is simply a different plane of existence, so someone who is brain dead here wouldn't necessarily experience the afterlife any differently than someone who isn't brain dead.  From a neurological standpoint, brain death is simply a lack of functioning of the electrical signals that controls experience in this version of who we are.  Once you shake off this life, your spirit continues to be what it was before you showed up in this package.

Anyway, that's how I think of it. Not 100% sure about how I feel about a supreme being, but I sure do think there's something on the other side of the curtain.

Gosh; I sure hope so.  They deserve it. 

Actually, I'm not unconvinced that we may not come back as other sentient beings in different go-rounds.  It's a good thought, IMO.

Do you think that animals have souls?