Read Online Create Your Own Religion by Daniele Bolelli - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Daniele Bolelli
Tags: Religión
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world's religions, since most religions are built on the twin pillars of God and Death.
But as human beings, we crave solutions to these problems too badly to let a simple lack of evidence stand in the way of some answers. Does life have meaning? Is a benevolent force watching over me? Will I go on existing after my body turns into the main course at a banquet for worms and bacteria? Those who are alive can't discuss the subject based on their experience because they haven't died, whereas the dead have first-hand experience but are usually not too talkative.
I am obviously no different, so my feelings on the topic are nothing but the speculations of a blind man musing about the nature of light. And yet, they are all I have, since I can't turn to more reliable sources, for there is no one alive who has more (or less) experience when it comes to God and the afterlife than I do. Pure logic tells me that the odds of someone having an “afterlife” after their physical body dies seem slim. How could consciousness continue when you no longer have a brain? Those who suffer severe damage to certain areas of their brain may go on living, but the spark of consciousnessis gone forever. How, then, could we expect consciousness to survive the complete annihilation of the brain?
Plenty of people like to find support for the reality of an afterlife in tales of near-death experiences. Some of these survivors recount a whole array of fantastic events: white lights at the end of dark tunnels; visions of angels or demons; guest appearances by Jesus, Krishna, or another deity the about-to-be-dead are fond of. Typically, the visions end when the individual is brought back to life. This is the closest that anyone alive has come to experiencing death, so these stories receive much attention from those looking for proof of an afterlife.
Personally, I badly want to believe these stories. They offer hope for something beyond death, and I'm not about to spit on something so desirable. My annoying logical side, however, forces me to cancel my membership in the believers' club and throw my enthusiasm under a cold shower. Near-death experiences, by definition, are not death itself. Science tells us brain activity can continue for several minutes even after somebody is declared dead. In other words, not all of the body dies at the same time. What this means is that the visions of the nearly dead may just be one last big show put on by our very imaginative brains before the lights go out for the last time.
It doesn't surprise me that vast numbers of people choose to abandon logic when it comes to the existence of an afterlife. Life would truly be grim if the only alternatives were between a cold, heartless logic condemning us to a gloom-and-doom vision of the universe and a cowardly delusion filling us with false hopes. But I'm not sold on the idea that these are our only options. Logic and reason are great tools, but they are also very limited because they are only as good as the information available. Imagine putting the most brilliantly logical human beings of a few millennia ago in front ofa television. Without any previous familiarity with electricity, they would be at a loss to explain it. All their logic and reason would do little to help them solve the puzzle. When we face the possibility of life after death, we are in a similar situation. We hardly know the first thing about death, so how is logic going to explain it all? Even though logic and reason don't seem to offer support for the idea of life after death, it doesn't necessarily mean much.
In my own life, I have had plenty of experiences that left me in the dust when trying to make sense of them. I have seen perfectly blue skies fill with storm clouds and heavy rain within a few minutes of someone praying for rain. I was told by a medicine man that my urine would turn black right before I would be freed from a spell that had been placed on me: I nearly doubled over laughing since this
But as human beings, we crave solutions to these problems too badly to let a simple lack of evidence stand in the way of some answers. Does life have meaning? Is a benevolent force watching over me? Will I go on existing after my body turns into the main course at a banquet for worms and bacteria? Those who are alive can't discuss the subject based on their experience because they haven't died, whereas the dead have first-hand experience but are usually not too talkative.
I am obviously no different, so my feelings on the topic are nothing but the speculations of a blind man musing about the nature of light. And yet, they are all I have, since I can't turn to more reliable sources, for there is no one alive who has more (or less) experience when it comes to God and the afterlife than I do. Pure logic tells me that the odds of someone having an “afterlife” after their physical body dies seem slim. How could consciousness continue when you no longer have a brain? Those who suffer severe damage to certain areas of their brain may go on living, but the spark of consciousnessis gone forever. How, then, could we expect consciousness to survive the complete annihilation of the brain?
Plenty of people like to find support for the reality of an afterlife in tales of near-death experiences. Some of these survivors recount a whole array of fantastic events: white lights at the end of dark tunnels; visions of angels or demons; guest appearances by Jesus, Krishna, or another deity the about-to-be-dead are fond of. Typically, the visions end when the individual is brought back to life. This is the closest that anyone alive has come to experiencing death, so these stories receive much attention from those looking for proof of an afterlife.
Personally, I badly want to believe these stories. They offer hope for something beyond death, and I'm not about to spit on something so desirable. My annoying logical side, however, forces me to cancel my membership in the believers' club and throw my enthusiasm under a cold shower. Near-death experiences, by definition, are not death itself. Science tells us brain activity can continue for several minutes even after somebody is declared dead. In other words, not all of the body dies at the same time. What this means is that the visions of the nearly dead may just be one last big show put on by our very imaginative brains before the lights go out for the last time.
It doesn't surprise me that vast numbers of people choose to abandon logic when it comes to the existence of an afterlife. Life would truly be grim if the only alternatives were between a cold, heartless logic condemning us to a gloom-and-doom vision of the universe and a cowardly delusion filling us with false hopes. But I'm not sold on the idea that these are our only options. Logic and reason are great tools, but they are also very limited because they are only as good as the information available. Imagine putting the most brilliantly logical human beings of a few millennia ago in front ofa television. Without any previous familiarity with electricity, they would be at a loss to explain it. All their logic and reason would do little to help them solve the puzzle. When we face the possibility of life after death, we are in a similar situation. We hardly know the first thing about death, so how is logic going to explain it all? Even though logic and reason don't seem to offer support for the idea of life after death, it doesn't necessarily mean much.
In my own life, I have had plenty of experiences that left me in the dust when trying to make sense of them. I have seen perfectly blue skies fill with storm clouds and heavy rain within a few minutes of someone praying for rain. I was told by a medicine man that my urine would turn black right before I would be freed from a spell that had been placed on me: I nearly doubled over laughing since this
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