The Death of the Pope has had me thinking recently..

I was just wondering what everyones views are on very philosphical issues such as the soul,religion,dreams etc...

I know that this is irelevant to the forum but your all intelligent people and it would be an honour to hear your views.


For example:
Do you believe in the after life?..
Does the soul carry on after the death of the physical body?..
Do you believe in Christianity?..
etc etc...

I'm a post structuralist, all I "beleive" in is language, nothing exists outside the text and all that.

I certainly dont beleive in christianity, or in the notion of a "soul".

Until the last year or so, I was a total atheist. But recently I've read some things that have sort of questioned that; namely 'Immortality' and 'The Unbearable Lightness Of Being' by Milan Kundera, 'The Master And Margarita' by Bulgakov and various things by various philosophers.

Although I'm still not really convinced by any religion as such, I now find it hard to believe that once you're dead, then that's it.

Hmm.. I've not really said much about there have I? I'm just not sure about it all. I don't think anyone can have complete conviction in what happens after death and all that

I recommend reading those books I mentioned though.

i'm atheist.

after-life - nope - when we're dead, we're dead. there is no soul. no brain activity = no life.

I wish there was life after death... would make it considerably less scary...

Do u not believe that minds have an almost unphysical connection?
Like for example when you just no somethings wrong and theres no way you could know?...Thats what gives me the idea of the soul...

Damn! I wrote out a good reply to this but then my pc crashed and I lost it...

But basically, the idea of "just knowing something" is a cultural construction, and that even the opposition between things going wrong and things going right is just a linguistic construction anyway, showing it cant be rooted anywhere other than the mind.

Sorry that wasnt coherant, the last one was better before it died... honest lol...

Way hey! I am now an advanced member *geddin!*

Ok i got lost.Im not arguing the linguistic connection. (which if im being honest i dont really understand! )..

But surely you have had that feeling...You cant quite describe it.Its not a cultural construction.

For example-
Someone is walking around shopping and they get a bad feeling in their stomach.They dont know why but they have the impression something is wrong.
They phone a loved one as a result and then hear the news that someone they care about has just been admitted to hospital etc..

That kinda thing has happened to alot of people!..its happened to me!..there was no possible way i could have known yet i just did!.can you see where im coming from??..
Surely its not a cultural construction?..or a coincidence?..

Of course, people have these "feelings" the whole time, but just because they feel timeless and important, it doesnt mean it is not a cultural consturction.

But don't we only remember the times when it actually pays off, which are just coincidental. People have had timeless feelings that the earth is flat, or that society can be cleansed by burning witches...

Well i suppose you could put everything down to cultural construction(CC) if you thought about it enough.When is something then for real?..and when does it become CC?
Hmmm...So if theirs no soul what do you believe?..that their is nothing?..
and we are here for no reason?..
Could you explain how your linguistic based theory works again please dude?..didnt quite get it the first time.ta mate.Im simple minded!.

I'm an athiest, though my mum prefers 'non-practicing christian' (lol) because i was actually christined. But I don't believe in any of it.

Though I do, sort of, believe in an afterlife. Or reincarnation. Which religion is that from? I wish I knew.
I don't worry about death from the point of view that after death 'that's it, nothing more'. What bothers me is, if you could look back on your life when you died, you're going to ask "what was the point?" and I'm more worried about not having one. I don't think anyone knows the meaning of life, but I can't believe we're all passing out an existence with no purpose other than making the world as good as possible (?) until the sun swallows our planet up. I'm hoping we'll discover another 'live planet' somewhere in my lifetime, which would make things interesting.

Libs i fully believe agree with you!!

Im in the same situation..I was christened but ya no.I had no choice!..i was a kid!..
I do believe that their surely is a reason were here.
And the thought of there being no reason does scare me...

I would practice if i had to choose a religion Buddhism..I like the idea of the enlightment of the body and mind.So peaceful and relaxing...

It's not as if my parents are christians or anything, but since I was christined as a baby she says I could get away with being a 'non practicing' one. Not that I want to.
I'm a Jedi!

Yeah im in the same boat..If anything my parents are extremely unreligious.they just wanted to increase my chances of getting into a good school apparently!..(the school they had in mind is Roman Catholic and shockingly they seem to consider that on the decision to let you in)..

It worked though!..

I love that Jedi thing..did that come about because loadsa people put their religion as Jedi on some national consensus thing or sumat??