Does the existence of a creator imply the existence of an afterlife?

I believe that we have more sense organs that the Aristotlean five, but no, I do not believe that a sense organ "creates" anything. It is a receptor of information. It does not even process that information, merely receives it and relays it to the nerve and thus to the brain. If it created us, it would not be a sense organ. It would be something else.

And I don't believe in destiny either. I have no reason to believe that it exists at all, since to one within a timeframe, predestination and free will could never be distinguished from one another. Unless my believing in it serves some purpose, I see no reason to imagine that it exists just because it could.

 

i believe in the freedom of will also, i was using a metaphor. i think youre over analyzing what im saying. next time ill put my metaphors in quotation. then what do you believe in? when we die its eternal nothingness, no cognition?

 

I know what you mean by the first point here. We don't have another model universe to compare to this one.
Some say it is simply fortuitous that this universe has turned out as it has. It all arose from blind forces and our consciousness is a mere epi-phenomenon. I find that hard to believe. Perhaps in us the universe is becoming conscious of itself.

 

I'll freely admit: I don't understand your metaphor.

It's not that it wouldn't be nice to find some other state of being on the other side of death. But I'm not expecting it. I plan on making sure I can die indifferent as to whether I get another chance.

I feel that, culturally, the concept of an afterlife has at least been used, if not invented, as a way to persuade people not to live their lives as if every day was their last, and instead to live in service as a means to get into Heaven. That has some value when the true cause cannot be explained to the worker, but I feel I've earned an explanation.

 

my metaphor is made to relate to what some may call the afterlife "the chain of fate" if youve never heard that phrase, you have now. out of curiousity, how do you explain the existence of life?

 

Hoatzin - I am well aware of the ways in which belief in an afterlife has been used to control people's behaviour. Just look at any Islamic suicide bomber.

However, I'm not really into this 'die and go to heaven' script.
If there is higher intelligence, higher consciousness - a 'god' - I don't want to wait until I'm dead to find out. I want to know here and now in this life.

Why? Because I want to maximize the potential of my existence whether or not it goes on for ever.

Hence I practice yoga as a means of seeking to realize that which is greater than myself.

BTW - Which metaphor didn't you understand - perhaps I can explain.

 

smart man^

 

I didn't understand espfeelit's metaphor, not yours.

I agree over not wanting to wait until I'm dead to experience a greater good. I certainly don't believe that any afterlife would be dependent on our good behaviour, let alone on our slavish devotion to one god or another, at the expense of our own depth of experience.

And I tend to take the attitude that, if I'm wrong, I'll be happy enough to admit that I didn't see it coming. I get frustrated with that bizarre, probably affected "disbelief" you get from religious types - e.g. "how can you not believe that the Bible is the Word of God? IT'S JUST TOO CONFUSING TO ME BECAUSE IT SAYS IN THE BIBLE THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD, WHY ISN'T THAT TOTALLY PERSUADING YOU?" - which just seems like it's meant to make you think "Well, okay, none of this makes sense to me, but I don't want to look gullible, so I better believe in it". The afterlife, the gods, the existence of pretty much anything that none of us can perceive but which is somehow exactly how someone has described it... I'm not going to kick myself if it turns out any of them exist. I'll take my Sisyphian punishment for being at all skeptical in good humour

 

if you dont understand my metaphor, its not worth explaining