The Debate Club discussion

Sorry this took me so long to add, @Snowy! Thanks for the idea :D

I do not personally believe in the afterlife, I believe that our energy goes back into the world, but I am curious to what other peoples views are.

I do believe in an afterlife to some degree. Don't know how to explain it though...

The idea of heaven is a little weird to me. But also the fact that weird coincidences happen to me that seem divine. So I'm still figuring this out.. but I think some souls can get reincarnated if it's needed. For example, my dog that I got when I was 5 died, and I was younger then so I didn't know the weight of it. We just got a new cat a couple of months ago and he acts just like my dog (he goes after dog toys and will do a special trick sometimes that i taught the dog, even though he is a cat). I think she got reincarnated because I needed it and didn't understand as much about the dog dying. It also adds to the theory that this cat will never leave my side and loves being on my shoulder 😂

That's actually really sweet, Ella! Thank you for sharing <3

I don't really believe in an afterlife, but more of, like, reincarnation-ish. When you think about it, we are like narrators, seeing and processing the world around us. So when new babies are born, they need "narrators" too. So I feel like when you die, someday you will get to "narrate" again, even though it's not really you.

I believe in the afterlife obviously because I'm a muslim. We believe it starts the second you die. First, it will be in the grave, then judgment day happens, and then paradise or hell. this is basically what i believe

Heaven is very hard to explain and it is supposed to be outside of human understanding. The Bible teaches us that all who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, repent for their sins, and be baptized for the remission of sins, will go to heaven. We leave our earthly bodies as our spirits ascend to heaven. It’s described as having a pearl gate, streets of jade and houses of gold (I think I got that in the right order). And whether you believe in the afterlife is real or not does not change its existence. I for one know I am going to heaven when I die and will live an eternity with my savior Jesus Christ

I agree believe in Jesus, baptism and repentance. My denomination believes that life is a story of choices. A good person can become bad over time and cynical. A bad person can be redeemed and become good over time. In the same way marriage is a promise to your partner to honor them. Baptism is a promise to God that you are working towards a better Christian.

I think that upon death your soul no longer is able to change. You Levine the pure essence of what you were in your life to that point. You die angry at the world and cursing God you go to hell. You die in peace with the world with God and Jesus in your heart you go to heaven. When we die our soul undergoes a transformation to accept hevan or hell as it’s destination no body to demand food or sex or pleasure.

So babies who die. Babies have done what choice?

Babies who die with no choice are let into heaven

Sin is when you actively choose evil.

I personally believe that humans are just divine beings such as angels, guardians, etc having a human experience, I also believe in reincarnation, I think we get put in this world to learn things as spiritual beings.

I also follow some parts of Buddhism and Hinduism because of the concept of Karma and such, and your current life situation reflected by your past decisions as a human being being weighed down into your experience as a human now, all will be learnt in the afterlife.

Austin wrote: "Babies who die with no choice are let into heaven"

If i am not wrong, babies would still be sinful according to christianity due to original sin, right? So how are they going to heaven?

Maryam wrote: "Austin wrote: "Babies who die with no choice are let into heaven"

If i am not wrong, babies would still be sinful according to christianity due to original sin, right? So how are they going to hea..."

to my knowedge that might be catholic. I know catholics believe in original sin.

No my sect believes sin is a choice and a Baby has no choices to make.

Austin wrote: "Maryam wrote: "Austin wrote: "Babies who die with no choice are let into heaven"

If i am not wrong, babies would still be sinful according to christianity due to original sin, right? So how are th..."

Oh okay. If sin is a choice why does God punish the whole mankind for what Adam and Eve did in the bible? like the pain of childbearing etc

Austin wrote: "Babies who die with no choice are let into heaven"

that's interesting, so my very roman catholic friend told me that being human is a sin in itself, and you live your life trying to make up for that sin and pay for adam and eve's own sins by doing good deeds to go to heaven, so i asked about babies and he said that they'd all go to hell

Austin wrote: "Maryam wrote: "Austin wrote: "Babies who die with no choice are let into heaven"

If i am not wrong, babies would still be sinful according to christianity due to original sin, right? So how are th..."

oh this makes sense help my bad

yeah so I'm hindu, what i was taught is that reincarnation is centered around the caste system (don't ask me about animals. i have no idea. maybe they're lower than untouchables i got no clue)

basically, when you are born, you are given a fresh slate, and through out your life, your good and bad karma adds up. at the end, if you have more good karma than bad, you will reincarnate into a better life in a higher cast. if you have more bad karma than good you will live a worse life in a lower caste. this is why historically those of higher castes are given more respect.

so throughout your many reincarnations, you're basically going up and down the step ladder of the caste system. once you reach brahmin, the highest caste and closest to god, if you die with good karma, you will no longer be reincarnated, and instead you will find moksha, or eternal salvation and rest in the heavens

Okay so the caste system is not what I have been taught/read in like, any hindu religios texts (if you read the original sanskrit, ofc the caste system is there but this is how in sociey it used to work - *tangent ig lol* caste was a way to organise society into people's skills and essentially if you were better at teaching you would be a brahmin, if fighting you'd be a warrior etc and everyone girls + boys would get the same education to ensure that everyone has the same ability to realise potential. It had no bearing on what your parents were.
Unfortuanely over time esp. Exarcebated by multiplr invasions, this system became a "well im a warrior, so im going to make my children be warriors too" etc and it became passed through children and eventually became more rigid. The qualities you have are given to you by God/your own karma, but no role is higher than the other as all is needed for a coherent society and a "lower caste" person has just as much of a chance as a "higher caste" person, it just depends on how well you perform your duty chosen by you + your moral behaviour, then you can reach God. If you, in this one life, have not managed to reach God, you go to "heaven/hell" etc and get the rewards/punishments ONLY as much as needed before God gives you another chance + another life to go back to the world and try again. The ultimate goal is to reach God (not the same as going to the heavenly abodes which are like heavenly places with demigods/angels but God is in the ultimate heaven and reunitin with Him is the ultimate goal).

ray ੈ✩‧₊˚ (semi-hiatus till summer) wrote: "chat I think I’ve laughed at too many dark jokes and may be going to hell 😔💔"

yay we can be besties there!!!!!

i think theres a afterlife maybe. i ponder on ths thought a lot and i think there is no heaven/hell but i think your soul can be reincarnated into a human/animal ik it sounds super weird TwT but like how you act and feel about things will stay but your memories will be wiped away and you can come back as a animal or person. and how you act stays the same but your appearance and memories change.

✦Artemis✦ wrote: "i think theres a afterlife maybe. i ponder on ths thought a lot and i think there is no heaven/hell but i think your soul can be reincarnated into a human/animal ik it sounds super weird TwT but li..."

That's how I feel too!!

Barnette wrote: "✦Artemis✦ wrote: "i think theres a afterlife maybe. i ponder on ths thought a lot and i think there is no heaven/hell but i think your soul can be reincarnated into a human/animal ik it sounds supe..."

oh cool!!!!

MidnightButterfly wrote: "Okay so the caste system is not what I have been taught/read in like, any hindu religios texts (if you read the original sanskrit, ofc the caste system is there but this is how in sociey it used to..."

Also, i do want to point out, that we follow different branches of Hinduism, since you consider Brahma to be supreme, and the texts i read and grew up with consider the Shakti/Mahadevi to be the ultimate power, that could be part of the differing beliefs
then again, i'm not really all that educated on this subject specifcally, and most of this was taught to me by my mother and grandmother, so it could be my own inaccuracies

okay, um.
i don't really know how to explain the afterlife, but i believe in reincarnation. you, after you die, retain your core personality and emotions. and then something divine, or something else.
for example, my friend remembers all of their past lives. they remembered that sometimes they weren't human, that sometimes they were birthed into other universes other than our own.
so i guess there's no true afterlife, only reincarnation.
i really don't know, however, since i'm not experienced in this kinda stuff-- >:(

ashes and diamonds wrote: "MidnightButterfly wrote: "Okay so the caste system is not what I have been taught/read in like, any hindu religios texts (if you read the original sanskrit, ofc the caste system is there but this i..."

I don't cinsider Brahma to be supreme lol. Nobody does. Brahma is the creator form of God, who is one, that is written even in the shakti texts (which is my dad's side of family, so i know). Brahman is the name of God, though nobody really uses that term anymore unlike for example, "Allah" which is a term commonly known.

Most hindus do not really know the specifics because they only focus on the culture + not the actual religion sooo

MidnightButterfly wrote: "Okay so the caste system is not what I have been taught/read in like, any hindu religios texts (if you read the original sanskrit, ofc the caste system is there but this is how in sociey it used to..."

that's also what i was taught (and believe). the caste system started off with good meaning, but over time it became a lot darker and messed up. the caste system is definitely horrible; thankfully, people have started to let go of it more as the generations go by.

Here's what I believe about the afterlife and my understanding of it. obviously I can't know everything about it till I get there lol. But here it is:

So after you die, you are either sent to spirit paradise (if you have been righteous and served God and believed and been baptized) or spirit prison (if you either didn't get the chance to know God or personally rejected him). From there, we have until the judgement day. Between death and the final judgement, the people in spirit paradise will teach the people in spirit prison and hopefully bring them into spirit paradise. In my church, we do baptisms for the dead, for those who didn't get the chance to be baptized (we have authority from God to do this) so that they aren't just automatically sent to hell, since baptism is required before entering heaven.
After the final judgement, we believe there are 3 kingdoms of heaven (called the kingdoms of glory). the celestial kingdom is for the believing and baptized, there people dwell with God and Jesus. The Terrestrial Kingdom is for the people who were good people, but didn't have faith etc and there Jesus can visit them, but they cannot dwell with God or Jesus.
Finally the Telestial kingdom is for those who did not accept Jesus and God into their lives.

And then of course there's hell, for those who knew God's power but denied the truth and defied God's power.

This is the link to my church's website and the page about the afterlife: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/s...

sorry if that didn't make sense, but that's my church's belief. <3

Emma (HIATUS~vacation) wrote: "Here's what I believe about the afterlife and my understanding of it. obviously I can't know everything about it till I get there lol. But here it is:

So after you die, you are either sent to spir..."

That's actually really interesting, thanks for sharing!!

Barnette wrote: "Emma (HIATUS~vacation) wrote: "Here's what I believe about the afterlife and my understanding of it. obviously I can't know everything about it till I get there lol. But here it is:

So after you d..."

<3 of course! I'm glad you find it interesting

that's actually really interesting. i hadn't known that there were multiple kingdoms of heaven, and that was very well-written

The LDS have a very specific belief of the afterlife that diverges from other churches

Sai :) wrote: "that's actually really interesting. i hadn't known that there were multiple kingdoms of heaven, and that was very well-written"

thanks! I was hoping it was well-written lol

MidnightButterfly wrote: "The LDS have a very specific belief of the afterlife that diverges from other churches"

that's very very true

so like other Christians don't believe in the different kingdoms, and I don't think they believe in spirit prison and spirit paradise? and they also don't do baptisms for the dead.

Emma (HIATUS~vacation) wrote: "so like other Christians don't believe in the different kingdoms, and I don't think they believe in spirit prison and spirit paradise? and they also don't do baptisms for the dead."

Like what's the basis for these beliefs? Is it in the bible?

maryam┊ مريم wrote: "Emma (HIATUS~vacation) wrote: "so like other Christians don't believe in the different kingdoms, and I don't think they believe in spirit prison and spirit paradise? and they also don't do baptisms..."

we have other scriptures than just the Bible. We also have a modern-day prophet who gets revelation from God

there's also something in 1 Corinthians 15 the verses say:
"40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:"

This article can probably help if you have more questions: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist....

I usually don’t like the idea of heaven and hell and such. I feel when you die it’s just like fallen asleep like your conscious but like your not. It’s just utter darkness forever. I do like the idea of the afterlife though. The thought of being alive in real world world is just the start. To find an afterlife of just peace and connection. Plus seeing HUGE historical figures. I do also want to bring up the 7 minutes theory for a minute. I loveee the idea of once you die you see some of your best memories for 7 minutes before fully dying.

Lily ୨ৎ wrote: "I usually don’t like the idea of heaven and hell and such. I feel when you die it’s just like fallen asleep like your conscious but like your not. It’s just utter darkness forever. I do like the id..."

I saw something a while ago, idk where, but it basically explained the 7 minutes theory. So, when you get hurt or something happens, your brain tries to gather knowledge of how to fix that later, so if it does happen again, you'll remember how to recover from it or just prevent it from happening. So when you're about to die, or are dying, you're brain tries to remember a way to stop it, but it has never experienced death before, so your brain is racking through all your memories, trying to remember something that will keep you from dying. I hope that makes sense.

Although I'm Muslim, I like to believe that we just float around space, not planet space, just inky darkness. Or maybe reincarnation, idrk. Either way, I wish there wasn't an afterlife because I sinned a great deal👍 I gave my two cents

Mal [Offline] wrote: "Although I'm Muslim, I like to believe that we just float around space, not planet space, just inky darkness. Or maybe reincarnation, idrk. Either way, I wish there wasn't an afterlife because I si..."

but you do believe in the afterlife, right?

Mal [Offline] wrote: "Although I'm Muslim, I like to believe that we just float around space, not planet space, just inky darkness. Or maybe reincarnation, idrk. Either way, I wish there wasn't an afterlife because I si..."

Since you are a muslim, i'll say this. we all sin, but we can always repent. everyone's going to sin. we are meant to try our very best. Allah is the most merciful and the most forgiving.

Heaven and Hell

Hell - Non - Christians

Heaven - Saved By Grace Christians



YOU CANT LOSE UR SALVATION ONCE SAVED BY JESUS

Lily ୨ৎ wrote: "I usually don’t like the idea of heaven and hell and such. I feel when you die it’s just like fallen asleep like your conscious but like your not. It’s just utter darkness forever. I do like the id..."

i agree! i've always thought of it as going to sleep because really, when you go to sleep, you are mostly unconscious (unless you're dreaming). i believe that when you die, you, as someone who's conscious, are gone forever, but since new people will be born, we'll need new "narrators" for those people, and while that cannot be you, since you are dead, there will be different narrators in the world and you can become a different you. idk if that makes sense i was just yapping but that's how i see it.

the main reason i disagree with the concept of an afterlife is that i don't believe organisms, along with our ability to be conscious, is significant enough for there to be a whole plan set up for us for eternity. we are just extremely complicated systems that happened to form on a planet called earth that just happened to have the exact conditions, and nothing more.

⋆｡˚ ✩ E l l i a n a⋆｡˚ ✩ wrote: "Heaven and Hell

Hell - Non - Christians

Heaven - Saved By Grace Christians



YOU CANT LOSE UR SALVATION ONCE SAVED BY JESUS"

So if someone is a good person and does everything right, yet doesn't do it because of God they go to Hell?

it does not matter if ur a Good person u dont get saved by works but by grace PM me for more info on that

⋆｡˚ ✩ E l l i a n a⋆｡˚ ✩ wrote: "it does not matter if ur a Good person u dont get saved by works but by grace PM me for more info on that"

Eliana, i think your PMs are turned off