Stephen Hawking says afterlife is a fairy story

[smart blonde]

Just as I know there is life after birth, I 'know' there is life after death.
I mean really, why wouldn't there be?

I have loads of respect for Stephen Hawking. He and I will just have to disagree on this one, I guess.

 

[belimom]

I think to say there is no life after death is assuming that we understand all there is about life. Pretty closeminded, IMHO. I believe there is so much more to the spiritual world that we just can't even comprehend. We are just specks in this universe - we cannot begin to proclaim anything we know as definitive. I do believe in life after death but I have no idea what it will be like.

I just finished reading 'Heaven Is For Real' and even if I don't adhere every word of that book, I do believe in some of the near-death experiences people have had.

 

[ziggy]

Well there is some sort of fairness or balance here to show me, anyway, that SH isn't all that "smart" even though he may be intelligent. Thank you God for spreading some of the good stuff around (except it's still not fair that Tom Brady has it all); SH may be blessed with a very high intellect and fame, but he doesn't ever get to feel the joy of the divine, the intense love of the universe and commune with the soul. Pity. I'm grateful that I do not feel as he does. The soul is why a clone will never be an exact duplicate, as we are more than just matter. Somehow I beleive there will be an afterlife "cure" for athiests; and I can't back it up or give you a link, but in time we shall all come to discover the next big adventure.

Edited to add: at one time we couldn't "see" bacteria either but they were there. Just because there is no scientific proof doesn't mean something does not exist.

 

[belimom]

Well there is some sort of fairness or balance here to show me, anyway, that SH isn't all that "smart" even though he may be intelligent. Thank you God for spreading some of the good stuff around (except it's still not fair that Tom Brady has it all); SH may be blessed with a very high intellect and fame, but he doesn't ever get to feel the joy of the divine, the intense love of the universe and commune with the soul. Pity. I'm grateful that I do not feel as he does. The soul is why a clone will never be an exact duplicate, as we are more than just matter. Somehow I beleive there will be an afterlife "cure" for athiests; and I can't back it up or give you a link, but in time we shall all come to discover the next big adventure.

Edited to add: at one time we couldn't "see" bacteria either but they were there. Just because there is no scientific proof doesn't mean something does not exist.

bbm

The soul is also why I can't buy into evolution alone as the reason we're all here.

 

[Nova]

I believe that when you die, it's the same as before you were born: absolutely nothing. That's actually preferable to me than Heaven where it's the same thing for eternity. When my life's over, I just want to be done with.

If there's one lesson we should take from Nature, it is that NOTHING in the universe is static. So the idea we were taught of a fixed and static, eternal existence in Heaven is illogical and counter-intuitive.

But that isn't the only possible after-life. I feel sure that if we do outlive our bodies, we do so in some form that allows for continued growth and change.

 

[Nova]

Do you think that an atheists choice not to believe in God is a "misunderstanding?"

Yes.

Of course, the real misunderstanding may be my own belief in God. We'll see.

 

[Nova]

I think to say there is no life after death is assuming that we understand all there is about life. Pretty closeminded, IMHO. I believe there is so much more to the spiritual world that we just can't even comprehend. We are just specks in this universe - we cannot begin to proclaim anything we know as definitive. I do believe in life after death but I have no idea what it will be like.

I just finished reading 'Heaven Is For Real' and even if I don't adhere every word of that book, I do believe in some of the near-death experiences people have had.

I believe Hawking and those with similar views would say it isn't "close-minded" to not believe in that for which there is no proof. And they don't believe there is proof of an afterlife.

While my views are more similar to yours (on this and other matters), to atheists, demanding that they believe in God out of "open-mindedness" is the same as demanding they believe in fairies and leprechauns.

 

[Nova]

bbm

The soul is also why I can't buy into evolution alone as the reason we're all here.

What if the soul is inherently creative? What if, in fact, spirit (or "consciousness") is the driving force behind adaptation and evolution?

Then the very concepts that have troubled theologians since Darwin may just be God at work.

 

[Linda7NJ]

Reincarnation makes far more sense to me than "heaven"...the ultimate in recycling..:innocent: I really like the idea that we keep coming back until we get it right and each life is meant to teach us something to enable us to move onto the next level. It also would explain why and how such a "loving" God would allow innocent children to suffer so.

But...I don't really believe in that either.

 

[Boytwnmom]

but sadly do not believe. I spent most of my early life as a fervent Catholic until I realized that every culture and people has its idols and stories and gods and that mine made no more sense than anyone else's. I can't pretend to "undertsand" and be superior to those who believe differently and say how sorry people will be when they don't get to go to the "heaven" I believe in. So many questions, why would a God need to be worshipped? Who created God? It's all completely irrational and if something exists beyond our understanding we can't understand it anyway so I believe most of what people think they know will be quite wrong in any case. All religions are based on tales from men in human langauge based on what they perceived and understood. Although i haven't read Hawking's comment in context it makes sense to me.

Reincarnation makes far more sense to me than "heaven"...the ultimate in recycling..:innocent: I really like the idea that we keep coming back until we get it right and each life is meant to teach us something to enable us to move onto the next level. It also would explain why and how such a "loving" God would allow innocent children to suffer so.

But...I don't really believe in that either.

 

[Dark Knight]

It's been my experience, and the experience of countless others throughout history, that God or Jesus don't really seem to make their presence known on a personal level until we make that leap of faith and start to believe, first. Once we believe, and start acting upon that belief, then Their presence becomes far more tangeable and very real to us. We can sense it, feel it, know it. But we must make that leap of faith first to actually feel their divine presence, in most cases, anyways.

 

[Nova]

But why would anyone make that leap unless he or she had some reason to do so?

In my own case, I was well indoctrinated into evangelism as a child and though I outgrew the specific dogma of Christianity, my actual faith in God never wavered. I don't know why. I simply moved on to other theologies, ones that seemed more compatible with my impression of God as a loving being.

Some people here have made the leap after a near-death or other extrasensory experience. That makes sense.

But for those who are not convinced by early training or an extraordinary experience, why should they make a leap to believing something for which they have no evidence?

(This is a serious question, not an argument.)

***

And BTW, you never answered my question as to how you and I are different than the schizophrenic with his visions? The only reasonable answer, I think, is that I can recognize the difference between what I know from objective observation and what I take on faith.

 

[Reannan]

I completely respect Steven Hawking and I am proud to live in a country where he has the right to his beliefs. I disagree with Steven, and I would LOVE to have an evening where we could share a nice glass of Merlot and discuss our views. I KNOW there is a God and I KNOW there is life after death. Can I “Prove” it to a non-believer? Absolutely not – that is the beauty of this Great Mystery. My short version of the story is this: I believe we all walk our path in life alone, with the exception of a God that walks beside us, behind us, or ahead of us, depending on where we need Him to be. There are many, many people walking the path with us, and we are blessed if we find companionship with other people in our lives, i.e. our family, friends, lovers, etc. Whether we are aware of His presence or not, we are judged on how we treat our fellow travelers on the path of life. As we journey through the sunny meadows and dark valley’s of life, we are also accompanied by other unseen souls/spirits that do not have our best interest at heart. Some people are aware of all of this activity, some are aware of God walking with them, but forget that other souls are struggling, and some people are aware of the evil souls/spirits and actually make a conscious decision to focus on them. We are free to tune into whatever we want to on this path. Fortunately, none of us are really responsible for any of the other souls and who they chose to focus on, but hopefully, our ability to walk through the valley’s without any fear, and our ability to bask in the sunshine, and our sheer JOY of being a traveler on the path will inspire and encourage those who are less intuitive and less focused in their own journey. That’s it!!! Thanks for listening – I love the fact we can discuss so many things at WS’s, and we are always respectful of others. You guys are the best, and you ALL inspire me every single day.

 

[Jack]

Just happen to be reading 'The Grand Design' now. I may or may not disagree with him, don't know yet until I find out what he really thinks rather than basing an opinion on a newspaper blurb.. I don't think science and religion have to be exclusive of one another.

 

[vjlaw]

But why would anyone make that leap unless he or she had some reason to do so?

In my own case, I was well indoctrinated into evangelism as a child and though I outgrew the specific dogma of Christianity, my actual faith in God never wavered. I don't know why. I simply moved on to other theologies, ones that seemed more compatible with my impression of God as a loving being.

Some people here have made the leap after a near-death or other extrasensory experience. That makes sense.

But for those who are not convinced by early training or an extraordinary experience, why should they make a leap to believing something for which they have no evidence?

(This is a serious question, not an argument.)

***

And BTW, you never answered my question as to how you and I are different than the schizophrenic with his visions? The only reasonable answer, I think, is that I can recognize the difference between what I know from objective observation and what I take on faith.

Where is the evidence that science is fact, human love is real, compassion is compassion. We can't see human love or compassion. Why would we believe someone loves us? We can't see anyone feelings about anything. IMO, Stephen Hawking worships the intelligence of man. Hawking believes that what he 'discovers' is the truth. I think man fails at explaining nature and the universe just as much as he does explaining God. I just know that I don't trust manmade ideas whether they be science or theology. I try to study the things of God for myself. I do believe there are no gaps in science and God just man's mental gaps in explaining and discovering them.

 

[Dark Knight]

But why would anyone make that leap unless he or she had some reason to do so?

In my own case, I was well indoctrinated into evangelism as a child and though I outgrew the specific dogma of Christianity, my actual faith in God never wavered. I don't know why. I simply moved on to other theologies, ones that seemed more compatible with my impression of God as a loving being.

Some people here have made the leap after a near-death or other extrasensory experience. That makes sense.

But for those who are not convinced by early training or an extraordinary experience, why should they make a leap to believing something for which they have no evidence?

(This is a serious question, not an argument.)

***

And BTW, you never answered my question as to how you and I are different than the schizophrenic with his visions? The only reasonable answer, I think, is that I can recognize the difference between what I know from objective observation and what I take on faith.

My apologies, you've posted so many times I must have missed your schizophrenic question, lol. Sorry about that. And yes, we can differentiate between real and not real on a day to day basis, with no other symptoms of schizophrenia, etc. And the visions or mystical experiences that are typically recognized as real are also from people who have no other symptoms of a medical issue, and, most importantly, they're (and our) experiences are consistent with church teaching for 2,000 years. Those who are mentally ill and rant tend to say things that are well outside of scripture or basic theology, hence them being called "raving." It's just random thoughts that are popping into their heads and then being expressed, usually combined with paranoia such as "the world is about to end."

As to why would someone make that leap of faith? Well, the consequences are great enough that I think it is worth the effort to not only make that leap by reading scripture, praying, and expressing our love and belief in the Lord, but also to compare various churches. What's a couple years of your life compared to eternity? Simply start by saying to God and Jesus that this IS a leap of faith, that you have doubts, but that you want Them to be in your life and to to please help you be closer to Them. If you don't feel any different about things after some time, what did you really lose? But if you DO feel differently, what have you gained? A lot! After all, we explore much lesser things all the time, compared to this.

The biggest mistake that people make is using their ONE experience with a church to color their belief in the ENTIRE faith. Maybe they had a very fundamentalist upbringing, or maybe something well outside of the mainstream, such as Christian Scientists, so they think that is the Christian faith in a nutshell. But that is not true, which is why I said above that it should include checking out numerous churches, so that one bad apple doesn't spoil the entire faith.

 

[Penelope]

I respect Stephen Hawking but also disagree with him on this.

My late husband was a Native American "Medicine Man" who was trained from birth to perform ceremonies and to do healing work. He had a number of experiences in his life where he was near death and travelled to what he called "the Spirit World" to visit long dead relatives who passed on important information. He also did healing work in the Sweat Lodge where he was assisted by the "Grandfathers and Grandmothers" who were departed relatives. He saw the world in a totally different perspective than Stephen Hawking and truly believed that our spirits traveled to "another dimension" when we died. Of course, everything he told me was translated from his native language and some of the words could not be adequately translated into English so he did his best to explain it to me. In my time with my husband, I saw him perform many things that one could call "miraculous"-- but to him it was just the Creator answering his prayers for the benefit and healing of others.

I knew my husband to be a spiritual and good man -- to him the truth was of utmost importance. I believe his experiences to be the truth, and I know that when I die I will meet him again in the Spirit World along with all of my relatives who have died before me. It is hard sometimes for people who have come from a certain culture or belief system to understand such things. When I was younger I did not believe in God, but now I know the Creator exists.

 

[Quiche]

To each his own. mo

 

[Dr.Fessel]

I have read all of the layman's books Hawking's has written. I find it amazing his main focus of study and findings have been with black holes and he is virtually like a black hole because of his disease. It is coming to the point where matter or information can fall into him and it will not come out just like a black hole.

To insult such a large part of the worlds population does not surprise me. I don't think his brain works the same way as others and he is not a very sociable person at all.

 

[Charlie09]

Where is the evidence that science is fact, human love is real, compassion is compassion. We can't see human love or compassion. Why would we believe someone loves us? We can't see anyone feelings about anything. IMO, Stephen Hawking worships the intelligence of man. Hawking believes that what he 'discovers' is the truth. I think man fails at explaining nature and the universe just as much as he does explaining God. I just know that I don't trust manmade ideas whether they be science or theology. I try to study the things of God for myself. I do believe there are no gaps in science and God just man's mental gaps in explaining and discovering them.

I'd go a step further and say Hawkings worships himself.