Afterlife?

I think that we created the idea of an afterlife for a few reasons. One is that we need comfort about the unknown. Death is scary to all of us, and believing in an afterlife helps us cope with the fact that "everyone dies". We feel that we have some kind of control over our situation if we believe we'll get a "do-over" in the afterlife. The idea that our loved ones are happy after death is another reason to believe in an afterlife/heaven. Another is to guide us on a virtuous path in life. The idea is that if we live our lives with the goal of living well enough to go to heaven, we will be good people.

Many people believe that a higher power watches over us and decides whether we go to heaven or hell. I think that our personal values determine how we are supposed to live, and if we live up to our potential, when we reflect on our lives, we will know what is meant to happen after our death. I think that hell is a way for us to feel that justice will be served to those who wrong others, hence "go to hell" being exclaimed in anger.

I've always believed that people go to heaven, because that is what we are told from the beginning. I think it's the easiest way to explain the complex concept of death to children. "He's in heaven now" always comforted little me when I accidentally squished an earthworm or an old dog had to be put down. I feel that we wouldn't be able to deal with the sadness of death without living by the idea that out loved ones are in a happy place and we will see them again. I don't really believe in hell because I don't feel that people are destined to live another terrible life because they messed up their current one. I think that people who live lives that would destine them for hell just do not receive the privilege of an afterlife. We figure as we live whether or not we are living up to our personal standards. We decide for ourselves through our morals what happens to us after we die. If you live a good life and deserve to live on in another, it will be somewhere happy, in my opinion. I believe that eternal love is the reason for the afterlife as love carries us on forever.