Life vs. Afterlife

Do our beliefs need to make sense?

I am an atheist. I actually decided I didn’t believe in God back in fourth grade, sooner than most, I’m guessing. I was not raised in a religious household and the whole notion of God just never made sense to me. As I got older, I learned that many people buy into the anti-concept of an all-powerful God, at least in part because they desperately want to believe in an afterlife.

While I’m as death-avoidant as the next person, the idea of an afterlife never made sense to me. I’m supposed to believe I have a “soul” that is somehow eternal and separate from my physical existence? How would that work, when everything about me — from my memories to my personality traits — is constantly in flux? If I’d died at five, would my “soul” always be that of a child? What if I live to be very old? Would my soul be the cautious, cranky old man I’m likely to become? Or would it be the man I was at 30? Or at 40? Or 50? Each of those versions of me are in some respects different people, although I certainly experience myself as a continuous person and personality. But if someone met me at 20 and then again at 80, would I seem like the same person, with the same “soul?” And what if I’m unfortunate enough to develop Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia? Am I the same person if I no longer remember my loved ones, or the foods I like or dislike, or the things I’ve done in my life? I never understood which version of myself I was supposed to spend the rest of eternity being.

I know that many religious people believe in some kind of supernatural essence that enters us at the moment of conception. But what could that possibly consist of that would have any meaning? If an embryo miscarries in the first week or two after conception — an extremely common phenomenon — does that essence or soul go to heaven? And what would its afterlife consist of having never had the opportunity to develop sense organs, much less encode memories? Or do those unborn souls get the chance to try again in a new fetus? If so, what is the cut-off for being recycled versus getting to hang out for eternity in heaven? Viability? Birth? Adulthood?

I never understood why these questions don’t seem to bother religious people, when they started occurring to me at such a young age. As I get older, I understand more clearly than ever the desire for an afterlife. People want to believe, not because the concepts of heaven or hell make any sense, but because they hope that the belief will alleviate their fear. But from what I’ve observed, this is rarely the case. Perhaps because their concepts are so nonsensical, belief in them is only a thin veneer. As soon as they get sick or old, all the prayers and years of Sundays sitting in church don’t actually add up to the peace they’d hoped for. They are still full of fear and don’t want to die.

I know that some people who aren’t themselves religious still have a benevolent attitude towards it. In fact, the latest trend seems to be “cultural Christians,” who don’t necessarily believe in any of the dogma, but imagine it as a benevolent force for society. What harm does it do for people to believe in an afterlife? Let them find comfort where they can.

While I’m all for comfort, religion is far from benign. It demands faith — which means belief in the absence of evidence. By its nature, faith is in opposition to reason (which demands logic and evidence). As Ayn Rand identified, reason is a human being’s primary means of survival. Now, most people are able to compartmentalize, using reason in some aspects of their lives and allowing faith to rule in others. If reason predominates, then those people are often able to live fairly happy, productive lives — but still nowhere near as happy and productive as they would be using reason all the time.

I turned 62 recently, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time on earth, it is that life is short. There are so many values to pursue, so many wonderful people to meet, so many fun things to do. It seems a shame that people waste so much of their precious time on a primitive holdover from a pre-Enlightenment era (i.e., religion). Instead of saying your prayers, read a book. Instead of going to church, spend time with your family and friends. Instead of blanking out parts of your mind to alleviate your fear of death, focus your mind and live your life to the fullest. Don’t let the promise of an afterlife rob you of the very real life you have right here and now.