Actually, I'm not really presupposing a theist's de-conversion. I just thought it was a catchy title for today's topic. In the comments section of my last post, my good friend Dawson Bethrick from Incinerating Presuppostionalism pointed out to me that one of the Christian blogs on my hit list, Atheism Presupposes Theism, seems to have fizzled out. No I take that back; it literally disappeared!
Now it's not uncommon in the blog world for a blog writer to lose steam and let their blog languish and die. The Libertarian Defender is a recent and unfortunate example of this phenomenon. The blog starts with an explosion of energy, activity, and quality writing, but then that energy dries up and the blog withers and dies. This is not the case with Atheism Presupposes Theism. In this case, the blog has literally been removed from the blogspot server! That means that the owner of that Christian blog had to delete the entire blog deliberately, which reduces the weight of the "ran out of time/steam" explanation. Click on the link yourself to find out.
Due to the death of Atheism Presupposes Theism, I have crossed it out on my Hit List. I think it makes it look more like an actual "Hit List," don't you? About one week after I started my Hit List, a blog on it fell. Is this some kind of sign or omen? Look out theists! Don't make me put your blog on my Hit List! But in all seriousness, we don't know why this blog disappeared. While I do think that deleting the blog rather than letting it collect dust gives some weight to the theory that the author recanted his position (consider the withering of The Libertarian Defender vs. the deletion of Atheism Presupposes Theism), it's still very possible that he simply didn't have the time or energy to continue blogging, and chose to delete the blog rather than let it linger. We don't have anything conclusive. Perhaps someone out there reading this knows what happened and would like to tell the story in the comments section?
In the unlikely event that the author of Atheism Presupposes Theism actually did pull a Michael Stipe and lost his religion, I think credit would have to be given to Dawson, also known as Bahnsen Burner. You should have read some of the things he said in the comments of that blog. In fact, you should read the things Dawson writes every time he tangles with Christians anywhere on the Internet. He is a proverbial Navy SEAL in the war of ideas, and it's always a pleasure to read his material.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Cenk Uygur: My Hero
Who is Cenk Uygur? I never heard of him until The Raving Atheist did a blog post about an article that Cenk wrote for the Huffington Post. The Huffington Post is also where you can find numerous articles by best selling atheist author Sam Harris.
But anyway, back to Cenk. Why is he my hero? Because he dropped a bomb on the godidiots:
There is more. Much more. I wish I could post the whole thing, but I'm probably pushing my limits posting as many snips as I already have. Not since reading Sam Harris' "The End of Faith" have I enjoyed reading such an assault against the mental illness known as religious superstition. So go read Cenk Uygur's article, please.
But anyway, back to Cenk. Why is he my hero? Because he dropped a bomb on the godidiots:
It is a chilling fact that most of the world's leaders believe in nonsensical fairytales about the nature of reality. They believe in Gods that do not exist, and religions that could not possibly be true. We are driven to war after war, violence on top of violence to appease madmen who believe in gory mythologies.
These men are called Christians, Muslims and Jews.
...
We live in a world full of insane people. Sanity is an island battered in an ocean of frothing delusion. The people who believe in science are the minority. The people who believe in bloody fairytales are the overwhelming majority.
...
[Referring to George W. Bush] But like most of the others, he believes Jesus died for his sins. That idea is so perverse and devoid of logic it should shock the conscience.
...
Jesus is said to have said on the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Because Jesus was insane and the God he thought would rescue him did not exist. And he died on that cross like a fool. He fancied himself the son of God and he could barely convince twelve men to follow him at a time when the world was full of superstition.
...
If a man today killed his only son to show how much he loved other people, he would be considered a madman, locked in jail and earn society's contempt. Yet we think this is some sort of noble act by our Father in Heaven.
There is more. Much more. I wish I could post the whole thing, but I'm probably pushing my limits posting as many snips as I already have. Not since reading Sam Harris' "The End of Faith" have I enjoyed reading such an assault against the mental illness known as religious superstition. So go read Cenk Uygur's article, please.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Christian Apologist Inadvertently Supports My Arguments
You may have noticed that I recently added a new links section to my blog. It can be found on the right-hand side, and it is called "Hit List." In this new "Hit List" section I am adding links to pro-afterlife blogs, mostly of the Christoid variety (sorry I just had to use that phrase again). Included in this links section is a blog called The Good Fight. Thanks goes to Dawson Bethrick from Incinerating Presuppostionalism for the heads up on this Christian blog.
The owner of "The Good Fight" blog is Tom Wanchick. He wants to combine Mixed Martial Arts with Christian Apologetics to become the Ultimate Christian Warrior. Sorry Tom, but Paul Manata already has that title. Unless Tom can come up with a catchier battle cry than Manata's "Reap the whirlwind," I don't see how he can get his big break.
But enough about that. Let's get to the real topic of this post. I am claiming that Tom Wanchick inadvertently supported the arguments I've made in my Kill The Afterlife blog. To sum up my blog's arguments up in a nutshell, simply read the description below the blog title:
But what is it exactly that Tom wrote? How did he inadvertently support my arguments? To answer that, take a look at this post. Allow me to quote a few snips:
I only quoted the parts where he talks shit about humans, but if you go to Tom's blog and read the entire post, you will see that I am most definitely not taking anything he said out of context. In the comments section of his post, I replied:
I started this blog making claims and accusations against afterlife belief and god. Then I used scientific studies to confirm my claims from a scientific perspective. Then I used news reports of Christian and pro-afterlifer behavior to support my claims from a psychological perspective. Then I used quality of life studies to support my claims from a social perspective. And now I am using Christians' own apologetic methods to support my claims from a religious perspective! My position has been consistent and has been backed up by evidence from scientific, psychological, sociological, and now even religious sources. The evidence, the logic, the proof, the reason, the truth, is on my side.
Kill. The. Afterlife.
The owner of "The Good Fight" blog is Tom Wanchick. He wants to combine Mixed Martial Arts with Christian Apologetics to become the Ultimate Christian Warrior. Sorry Tom, but Paul Manata already has that title. Unless Tom can come up with a catchier battle cry than Manata's "Reap the whirlwind," I don't see how he can get his big break.
But enough about that. Let's get to the real topic of this post. I am claiming that Tom Wanchick inadvertently supported the arguments I've made in my Kill The Afterlife blog. To sum up my blog's arguments up in a nutshell, simply read the description below the blog title:
"The concept of an afterlife is inhumane and immoral. Belief in the continuation of your "soul" or consciousness after death is wishful thinking. Belief in an afterlife devalues the one life that actually exists: this one."
But what is it exactly that Tom wrote? How did he inadvertently support my arguments? To answer that, take a look at this post. Allow me to quote a few snips:
The church...Scripture...disbelieved that any human person is really good...everyone is sinful and bad...deserves eternal punishment...
[N]o humans are good...
[P]eople are truly bad and deserving of Hell, as Christians hold...they are morally bad and blemished...so much so that they deserve eternal torment... Humans don't, after all, deserve good lives.
I only quoted the parts where he talks shit about humans, but if you go to Tom's blog and read the entire post, you will see that I am most definitely not taking anything he said out of context. In the comments section of his post, I replied:
Look at what you wrote! Your superstition has definitely messed you up good. Is this some kind of anti-Evangelism?
The best you have to offer from your religion is that people are bad and deserving of Hell, and we should all be thankful that we were redeemed by sacrificing and destroying the only human that WASNT deserving of Hell? Thank you for proving the things that I have been saying in my blog.
Christianity destroys self esteem, praises destruction, worships a bloodthirsty god, and can only provide a brutal carrot-stick moral code from an arbitrary dictate.
I started this blog making claims and accusations against afterlife belief and god. Then I used scientific studies to confirm my claims from a scientific perspective. Then I used news reports of Christian and pro-afterlifer behavior to support my claims from a psychological perspective. Then I used quality of life studies to support my claims from a social perspective. And now I am using Christians' own apologetic methods to support my claims from a religious perspective! My position has been consistent and has been backed up by evidence from scientific, psychological, sociological, and now even religious sources. The evidence, the logic, the proof, the reason, the truth, is on my side.
Kill. The. Afterlife.
Monday, October 17, 2005
A Hemorrhage of Faith
God Blogging Workshop Spreads Faith, reports CNN.com. I think their title is factually incorrect. God blogging hasn't been spreading faith according to the latest numbers on religiosity in the developed world. In America, for example, the nonreligious percentage of American citizens doubled in the last ten years.
That's right folks. Afterlife belief and God belief are disappearing from the West at an incredibly high rate. To be sure, the pro-afterlifers (mostly of the Christoid variety) still have the upper hand in terms of sheer numbers. They are the definite majority. But they won't be for long if these trends keep up. What happens if 10% of the American population loses its religion every ten years? It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.
I've noticed something about atheist and theist blogs. They don't tend to change too many people's minds. I like to think of Kill The Afterlife as being an evangelical anti-afterlife and anti-god site, but I haven't deconverted anyone with this blog to my knowledge (I have deconverted people in real life but that's a different story). Mostly these religious and anti-religious blogs give ammo for the soldiers, so to speak. These blogs serve as rallying points and battlegrounds where the opposing sides duke it out.
If you know anything about how to change people's minds (I'm not saying I know much about this, but I know a little: I got a close friend who is pursuing a masters in psychology and has given me some pointers on this topic), then you would know that the first thing you need is a trust between you and the person whose mind you want to change. This is hard to build if the person is aware that you are specifically trying to change their mind. That obviously doesn't make it any easier. It also makes it harder to change someone's mind through a text medium; face-to-face interaction is far and away the best medium in which to perform your de-conversions. Not surprisingly to me, face-to-face is how I have performed all of my de-conversions.
From the looks of it, we now have a Christian blogging obsession, with all these Christbots serving as cheerleaders for each other. I'm not saying that atheist blogs don't serve the same purpose, but at least they tend to keep their comments sections open and uncensored (wink wink - you know who I'm talking about).
So what are we left with? A quantifiable hemorrhage of faith in the developed world. People are losing their religion like Michael Stipe (Think R.E.M.). Will these Christian blogs turn the tide? In a word, no. Only face-to-face interaction, with a trusting bond between the parties involved, will bring more sheep into the fold. And according to Bobo's World, SNAP, and the Philadelphia District Attorney's office, those Close Encounters of the Clergy Kind aren't going too well.
That's right folks. Afterlife belief and God belief are disappearing from the West at an incredibly high rate. To be sure, the pro-afterlifers (mostly of the Christoid variety) still have the upper hand in terms of sheer numbers. They are the definite majority. But they won't be for long if these trends keep up. What happens if 10% of the American population loses its religion every ten years? It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.
I've noticed something about atheist and theist blogs. They don't tend to change too many people's minds. I like to think of Kill The Afterlife as being an evangelical anti-afterlife and anti-god site, but I haven't deconverted anyone with this blog to my knowledge (I have deconverted people in real life but that's a different story). Mostly these religious and anti-religious blogs give ammo for the soldiers, so to speak. These blogs serve as rallying points and battlegrounds where the opposing sides duke it out.
If you know anything about how to change people's minds (I'm not saying I know much about this, but I know a little: I got a close friend who is pursuing a masters in psychology and has given me some pointers on this topic), then you would know that the first thing you need is a trust between you and the person whose mind you want to change. This is hard to build if the person is aware that you are specifically trying to change their mind. That obviously doesn't make it any easier. It also makes it harder to change someone's mind through a text medium; face-to-face interaction is far and away the best medium in which to perform your de-conversions. Not surprisingly to me, face-to-face is how I have performed all of my de-conversions.
From the looks of it, we now have a Christian blogging obsession, with all these Christbots serving as cheerleaders for each other. I'm not saying that atheist blogs don't serve the same purpose, but at least they tend to keep their comments sections open and uncensored (wink wink - you know who I'm talking about).
So what are we left with? A quantifiable hemorrhage of faith in the developed world. People are losing their religion like Michael Stipe (Think R.E.M.). Will these Christian blogs turn the tide? In a word, no. Only face-to-face interaction, with a trusting bond between the parties involved, will bring more sheep into the fold. And according to Bobo's World, SNAP, and the Philadelphia District Attorney's office, those Close Encounters of the Clergy Kind aren't going too well.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
He Doesn't Want to go to Heaven
This is absolutely heartbreaking. And incidentally, why are so many religious officials caught doing homosexual things? I mean, the one profession that totally forbids gays seems to attract so many of them! But I digress...
Darren L. Moore, a Sunday School teacher, was sentenced to 20 years in prison recently for forcible oral sodomy of a 7 year old boy. Jesus Christ! What the fuck is wrong with these people? Looking back at my youth, I'm starting to think that I was lucky to have not been molested by anybody at my church.
Now here's the kicker. Here is where it ties in with the afterlife:
Emphasis mine.
I'm speechless. This is a smart kid, in my opinion. It also brings up all kinds of theological issues. Let's assume that Mr. Moore will get in to Heaven. I mean, why wouldn't he? He will surely repent and be forgiven by Jesus while in prison. And what if this kid stays Christian all his life, but doesn't want to go to Heaven? What if he is saved, and deserving of Heaven, but doesn't want it?
Think about the craziness of having a criminal and the victim both end up in Heaven. What kind of Heaven would that be? Forcible oral sodomy won't bar you from salvation. And if the victim is faithful to Jesus his whole life, does he have any choice of destination other than Heaven when he dies? Would he choose Hell? Would he choose "non-existence"? Would these options even be available? What if the victim requested that Moore be cast in to Hell, but Moore was already saved and forgiven and in Heaven? Is a Heaven even really Heaven if the victim has to be in the presence of the bastard who forced him to provide oral sodomy at 7 years of age?
Are there too many question marks in this post? Will you tell me so in my comments?
Credit goes to Bobo's World for informing me of this story. By the way, if you don't read Bobo's World every day, you should start.
Darren L. Moore, a Sunday School teacher, was sentenced to 20 years in prison recently for forcible oral sodomy of a 7 year old boy. Jesus Christ! What the fuck is wrong with these people? Looking back at my youth, I'm starting to think that I was lucky to have not been molested by anybody at my church.
Now here's the kicker. Here is where it ties in with the afterlife:
The mother of the victim told the court, in a pre-sentence report, that her son didn't want to go to heaven because that's where Moore told him he was going and he wouldn't feel safe with Moore there.
Emphasis mine.
I'm speechless. This is a smart kid, in my opinion. It also brings up all kinds of theological issues. Let's assume that Mr. Moore will get in to Heaven. I mean, why wouldn't he? He will surely repent and be forgiven by Jesus while in prison. And what if this kid stays Christian all his life, but doesn't want to go to Heaven? What if he is saved, and deserving of Heaven, but doesn't want it?
Think about the craziness of having a criminal and the victim both end up in Heaven. What kind of Heaven would that be? Forcible oral sodomy won't bar you from salvation. And if the victim is faithful to Jesus his whole life, does he have any choice of destination other than Heaven when he dies? Would he choose Hell? Would he choose "non-existence"? Would these options even be available? What if the victim requested that Moore be cast in to Hell, but Moore was already saved and forgiven and in Heaven? Is a Heaven even really Heaven if the victim has to be in the presence of the bastard who forced him to provide oral sodomy at 7 years of age?
Are there too many question marks in this post? Will you tell me so in my comments?
Credit goes to Bobo's World for informing me of this story. By the way, if you don't read Bobo's World every day, you should start.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
They Pray for Armageddon
I made a big mistake today, and almost lost my breakfast as a result. I was bored and decided to lurk on the Rapture Ready Bulletin Board for a few minutes. The first thread I saw was entitled I believe God used a white horse to answer my question. Just look at the original post in this thread:
As if that wasn't insane enough, take a look at the very first response to this thread from another member:
That's what these people do all day! They look for "signs" in any old normal everyday event, or even in natural but not-so-everyday events, and fantasize about the end of the world. They really believe that motionless horses are messages from God, and their fellow Rapture buddies share their delusions! They are very scary. Or very pathetic. Actually, I think both.
I also recently got word that Pat Robertson thinks that all these recent hurricanes and earthquakes are signs that we are in the end times, and that Jesus is coming very soon. All I can say is that I sincerely hope that Pat Robertson is holding his breath.
As for all these other death-worshipping Christoids, I wish there was some way to save them from their delusions. It's not like they have a very good chance of being deconverted, since their desire to believe is so incredibly strong, but it would be nice if they at least stop fantasizing about a global Armageddon and maybe appreciate this existence on Earth a little bit more, and work to make it better. Most Christians don't spend so much time obsessing about the rapture. Most Christians spend the majority of their energy being concerned about this life and this existence (as they should), and work to make it better. Most Christians are good productive people the majority of the time because of the fact that they don't obsess over their delusions of some grand Armageddon all day long.
I think its safe to say that these Rapture Ready cultists are hardcore, extremely devoted Christians. I think it’s also safe to say that most Christians aren't as intense, as devoted, or as insane as the Rapture Ready variety (though they still have a mental disease). And finally, I think its very accurate to say that the better Christian you are, the shittier person you are, and vice-versa.
Afterlife-belief is poisoning the minds of our fellow humans, as Karen at Rapture Ready was so kind enough to demonstrate for us. It is a fantasy that has infected the minds of our peers and threatens the existence of all of us life-loving freethinkers. We've got to kill it. Kill it dead. If we don't, then Karen and her fellow Christoids in the White House will bring about an Armageddon of their own (or did they already?).
I just woke up because my dogs were barking and I let them outside. I looked to see what was riling them up and there were two horses in my back yard, one brown and one white. Now, I know they are my neighbors so I didn't think anything strange about it except the white one just stood there and wasn't eating grass. He was perfectly still for a good 10 minutes, so I felt compelled to wrap a blanket around me and walk out there. (I have 2 acres and he was in the very back) I got half way there and stopped. The light from the telephone pole was shining on him, but I was in total darkness where he couldn't see me very well, if at all and he didn't act like he knew I was there. My dogs kept barking at him and the brown one was eating grass and stomping at them getting aggravated, but the white one just stood there perfectly still like a statue. I had asked God a few days ago if He could give me a sign if Jesus is very close to coming back for us. I also said that if it's a sin to ask for a sign, then please disregard this request. LOL! I asked God while I was out there standing looking at the horse if he is using this horse as a way to answer my question or am I just overblowing the fact that they simply got out of their pasture. As soon as I asked that, the white horse turned his head and looked at me and started walking toward me. He walked right up to me to let me pet him. Up to that point, he acted like he didn't even know I was there and I hadn't made any noise or said anything outloud to bring attention to myself, but as soon as I asked if this horse was my sign I was asking for, he walked up to me.
To clear up a few things, I know Jesus will come back on a white horse at the end of the tribulation and not the rapture. But what makes this special to me is that I had been talking to my husband about that same white horse a few days ago and how Jesus will come back in the end on a white horse and how horses are mentioned so much in the bible that God must really have a special affinity for them.
I came in and felt like I had experienced something wonderful and I told God that I'm going to keep it to myself because when I tell other people, they squash my feelings and tell me I'm just imagining things. But God told me to come on here and tell my story for those who want to know it and who will be blessed by it and to ignore those that will scoff at me because they will find out soon enough what's what.
Karen
As if that wasn't insane enough, take a look at the very first response to this thread from another member:
I pray that it was a sign to you because I'm ready for Jesus to come get us. Today would be fine with me.
That's what these people do all day! They look for "signs" in any old normal everyday event, or even in natural but not-so-everyday events, and fantasize about the end of the world. They really believe that motionless horses are messages from God, and their fellow Rapture buddies share their delusions! They are very scary. Or very pathetic. Actually, I think both.
I also recently got word that Pat Robertson thinks that all these recent hurricanes and earthquakes are signs that we are in the end times, and that Jesus is coming very soon. All I can say is that I sincerely hope that Pat Robertson is holding his breath.
As for all these other death-worshipping Christoids, I wish there was some way to save them from their delusions. It's not like they have a very good chance of being deconverted, since their desire to believe is so incredibly strong, but it would be nice if they at least stop fantasizing about a global Armageddon and maybe appreciate this existence on Earth a little bit more, and work to make it better. Most Christians don't spend so much time obsessing about the rapture. Most Christians spend the majority of their energy being concerned about this life and this existence (as they should), and work to make it better. Most Christians are good productive people the majority of the time because of the fact that they don't obsess over their delusions of some grand Armageddon all day long.
I think its safe to say that these Rapture Ready cultists are hardcore, extremely devoted Christians. I think it’s also safe to say that most Christians aren't as intense, as devoted, or as insane as the Rapture Ready variety (though they still have a mental disease). And finally, I think its very accurate to say that the better Christian you are, the shittier person you are, and vice-versa.
Afterlife-belief is poisoning the minds of our fellow humans, as Karen at Rapture Ready was so kind enough to demonstrate for us. It is a fantasy that has infected the minds of our peers and threatens the existence of all of us life-loving freethinkers. We've got to kill it. Kill it dead. If we don't, then Karen and her fellow Christoids in the White House will bring about an Armageddon of their own (or did they already?).
Friday, October 07, 2005
Would You Want to Know?
I don't believe in the afterlife (no surprises there). But if there is in fact an afterlife, would I want to know? Absolutely. I would much rather know the truth than to adhere to an incorrect belief simply out of pride or desire. But what about a theist who believes in an afterlife? Would they want to know if they were wrong?
In past posts I have argued that an eternal life would have no value. I have argued that having a finite amount of time in one's life makes that life much more valuable than it would be if it was an eternal life. Still, the thought of my consciousness expiring (most likely in less than 100 years; a relatively short time) doesn't exactly give me comfort. So why do I adhere so strongly to a non-afterlife worldview? Because I believe it is the truth. I would rather ingest a cold hard spoonful of reality over a spoonful of sugarcoated bullshit any day, because I value reality over my own desires of how I'd like things to be.
But what about the theist, the pro-afterlifer? I've previously argued that there are no theists in foxholes, because every time a pro-afterlifer's life is in danger, they work very hard to remove themselves from that danger in an obvious act of self-preservation. They act as if their consciousness is finite, despite their claims of believing the contrary. I think that in many instances, the theist adopts the pro-afterlife stance out of a desire to not have to face their own semi-subconscious knowledge that their life is indeed finite. The thought of their consciousness being only temporary is unsettling to them (as it is to me to a lesser degree). The key here is that, unlike me, the pro-afterlifer values his/her own desires over reality. They would rather ingest a spoonful of sugarcoated bullshit rather than a spoonful of cold hard reality. And as a consequence, they (or their religious authorities) spend hours and hours coming up with rationalizations to convince themselves that what they are ingesting isn't sugarcoated bullshit.
I personally believe that most pro-afterlifers wouldn't really want to know. I also believe that most of them would deny that they wouldn't want to know. And I believe that most pro-afterlifers get around this intellectual dishonesty by trying really hard to convince themselves that the afterlife really does exist, and this way they can lie to themselves by believing that they do want to know the truth, and that indeed, they already "know" it, for the truth to them conforms with their desires.
To test this belief of mine, I have started a thread in the General Apologetics section at Christian Forums dot com asking Christians if they would want to know the truth if there was no afterlife. I don't expect too many good (read: well thought-out) answers, after all this is Christian Forums. But that's okay because Christian Forums provides what I believe to be a very accurate demographic/cross-section of the English speaking Christian body. This is the Christian message board for the everyday Christian, and it will expose just how much, or how little, these people even understand these concepts.
So next time you are in communication with a pro-afterlifer, you should ask them this question. In addition (assuming that you the reader is an atheist), you should ask yourself this same question but in reverse: If there was an actual afterlife, would you want to know? I think most atheists can honestly answer "yes," but I don't think most pro-afterlifers can honestly answer the same, and this only serves to undermine the validity of their position.
In past posts I have argued that an eternal life would have no value. I have argued that having a finite amount of time in one's life makes that life much more valuable than it would be if it was an eternal life. Still, the thought of my consciousness expiring (most likely in less than 100 years; a relatively short time) doesn't exactly give me comfort. So why do I adhere so strongly to a non-afterlife worldview? Because I believe it is the truth. I would rather ingest a cold hard spoonful of reality over a spoonful of sugarcoated bullshit any day, because I value reality over my own desires of how I'd like things to be.
But what about the theist, the pro-afterlifer? I've previously argued that there are no theists in foxholes, because every time a pro-afterlifer's life is in danger, they work very hard to remove themselves from that danger in an obvious act of self-preservation. They act as if their consciousness is finite, despite their claims of believing the contrary. I think that in many instances, the theist adopts the pro-afterlife stance out of a desire to not have to face their own semi-subconscious knowledge that their life is indeed finite. The thought of their consciousness being only temporary is unsettling to them (as it is to me to a lesser degree). The key here is that, unlike me, the pro-afterlifer values his/her own desires over reality. They would rather ingest a spoonful of sugarcoated bullshit rather than a spoonful of cold hard reality. And as a consequence, they (or their religious authorities) spend hours and hours coming up with rationalizations to convince themselves that what they are ingesting isn't sugarcoated bullshit.
I personally believe that most pro-afterlifers wouldn't really want to know. I also believe that most of them would deny that they wouldn't want to know. And I believe that most pro-afterlifers get around this intellectual dishonesty by trying really hard to convince themselves that the afterlife really does exist, and this way they can lie to themselves by believing that they do want to know the truth, and that indeed, they already "know" it, for the truth to them conforms with their desires.
To test this belief of mine, I have started a thread in the General Apologetics section at Christian Forums dot com asking Christians if they would want to know the truth if there was no afterlife. I don't expect too many good (read: well thought-out) answers, after all this is Christian Forums. But that's okay because Christian Forums provides what I believe to be a very accurate demographic/cross-section of the English speaking Christian body. This is the Christian message board for the everyday Christian, and it will expose just how much, or how little, these people even understand these concepts.
So next time you are in communication with a pro-afterlifer, you should ask them this question. In addition (assuming that you the reader is an atheist), you should ask yourself this same question but in reverse: If there was an actual afterlife, would you want to know? I think most atheists can honestly answer "yes," but I don't think most pro-afterlifers can honestly answer the same, and this only serves to undermine the validity of their position.
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