The Here-after

[Medena]

A belief in an afterlife presupposes there is an organized religion.  That religion teaches its followers the shared beliefs which have evolved about the nature of the place or state of being, how one gets there, etc, etc.  Just because practically every religion in human history has had a belief in the afterlife as one of its key tenets does not mean it is something which humans instinctually develop on their own. They don't.  Humanists and aetheists believe only in the here and now.  You can point to people in our modern world who belong to no organized faith who have their own ideas on the hereafter, but they are ones which will they have taken from a religion.

My point in all this rambling?  The god-kings are the nearest thing we have to a religion in Zalanthas. They do not teach of an afterlife.

[Jakahri]

A belief in an afterlife presupposes there is an organized religion.

That is incorrect. Perhaps in modern society your assertion could be accepted. Zalanthas is, as we all know, quite different than modern society. One cannot relate the conceptions of believing in an after-life and organized religion to Zalanthas; that simply makes no sense, for you are referring to two totally different, dynamic societies.

I see no reason why someone cannot believe in an after-life on ArmageddonMUD. In my opinion, the concept of an after-life is merely an extension of our inherent nature to survive; instinct, rather.

Just because practically every religion in human history has had a belief in the afterlife as one of its key tenets does not mean it is something which humans instinctually develop on their own. They don't.

That is a rather bold statement. Could you please show me the empirical results that support your claim?

I'm inclined to disagree with your claim, naturally.

Neanderthals, just before the emergence of the Cro-Magnon, placed the bones of their deceased inside cavernous pits. Anthropologists suggest that this is evidence supporting the idea that even ancient forms of humankind believed in some form of afterlife. NOTE: Neanderthals, as far as scientists have discerned thus far, had no unified religion, yet they obviously felt compelled to address the concept of a possible life after death.

The ancient Egyptians mummified their loved ones and pharoahs, placing their organs in clay jars, along with their own personal belongings to aid them in their journey to the "next life". The Egyptians, as far as I know, had no unified religion. They did, however, have a system of beliefs that revolved around "gods". The ancient Egyptian culture is, to me, the closest example of what Zalanthas might be like. Therefore, I stand by my former statement that developing a system of beliefs revolving around an afterlife is quite alright.

One final note:

There are tribes in ArmageddonMUD that have certain beliefs pertaining to the concept of life after death.

[Anonymous]

If you're good you go to heaven, but if you're bad you go to a place where the dead believe they're still livin' and they pray for death but death won't come.

UPN

Semper Pax,

Dirr