Hey! This is Beymer, and I am the author of the newsletter “Figuring Things Out”. In this sixth article on religion, I am writing about the concept of the afterlife. With regards to the afterlife, I think many if not most religions make “Much Ado About Nothing” (no disrespect intended Mr. Shakespeare!). It’s our familiar snake-oil flimflam salesmen SOFS (aka “Priests”, “Preachers”, “Holy men”, or “Shaman”) trying to convince us that 1) there is an afterlife and 2) that our destination or home in the afterlife can be either wonderful or dreadful depending on our conformance to their expected behavior during our life. This a pretty sophisticated idea probably not comprehensible by your average cave man but probably well understood by our ancient ancestors once they had a well-developed language (according to Wikipedia 50,000 years ago, maybe even earlier?) and probably not surprisingly about the same time religions developed (according to Wikipedia 45,000 years ago). The idea of the afterlife is that life is very short to the point of being of insignificant duration compared to your dwelling in the afterlife. Furthermore, your behavior in this short life can reward you an eternity in a good place or condemn you to an eternity in a bad place; so, “you better be good for goodness's sake” or say hello to the bad place in the afterlife. Two thousand years ago or earlier, mankind was much more ignorant of the heavens than today. This is due to the advances in science, technology, engineering and mathematics that allowed us to put men on the moon and to construct giant telescopes on both land and in outer space. For someone to really and truly believe in these bad and good places in the heavens today requires quite a stretch of the imagination and a regression of the mind to a mentality of a couple of thousand years past. This is the major problem of religion: There is no built-in mechanism for updating or revising the beliefs and catechisms based on new knowledge. It took a long time for the Catholic Church to finally (1992) admit that Galileo was right about the sun being the center of the solar system. Many of the major religions were created by men many thousands of years ago. They are long overdue for a revision that incorporates modern-day knowledge.
So, what’s my problem with this afterlife thing? Here’s the first scenario where the concept does more harm than good. Consider a woman who is very unhappy. She feels life has given her a raw deal. Rather than seizing life by the horns and making her life better, she consoles herself believing that it is ok for her to suffer this relatively short life because the next life will be eternal bliss … so she sits sadly in her room waiting for her journey to the afterlife. Yes, life is short but it’s all we know we have for sure. Life is precious and we should do everything possible to make it work for us and our family and friends. Live every day like there is no tomorrow … be happy now! Waiting for an uncertain bliss that may never happen, when you could obtain it here and now is dumb. Here’s the second scenario where the concept does more harm than good. Consider a man who reads his holy book daily and faithfully follows the teachings of his SOFS. While others regularly let off a little steam and enjoy life to the fullness, he sits in his room reading and studying his holy book or consulting with his SOFS. One day he dies. His body returns to the dust as his casket securely contains his final form. He wasted his life because of his belief in the good place. He could have enjoyed his life doing fun things, but he didn’t …. now his remains sit idly in a casket forever.
But I must admit, believing in an afterlife can be helpful in some situations. Suppose you or maybe a close friend or relative is near the end of your or their life. Even though your common sense tells you such a belief is absurd, ignoring reason and letting hope and belief take control can ease your suffering or fear of death. Valhalla or Heaven or whatever, belief in the afterlife of a place where you will rejoin your deceased friends and family can be a powerful sedative, much more so than any existing drug.
So, what am I saying in this article? Is there an afterlife? Should we believe in such a place? Are there good and bad places in the afterlife. Is the afterlife similar to Dante’s description? Well, I say there’s no evidence of an afterlife. You’re born: You hopefully live life to the fullest: You die. Is there a good place and a bad place in the afterlife? I say no and no … there is no afterlife. However, I see no problem with believing in a good place and an afterlife, if it helps console you in the final days or if it consoles you about the death of someone close to you. This consolation can be much more powerful than any drug.