I feel compelled to ask for judgement!

I would like to consider myself as a rational skeptic.

I think I was exposed to secular humanism in the 1980s, I heard a radio spot and received a brochure from the American Humanist Association.

I just finished listening to Julia Sweeney’s "Letting go of God", we probably should declare her a skeptical saint!

My dilemma: is there room for in this forum for somebody that agrees that whatever happens in this world we have to do for ourselves (Humanism), but deep down hopes that there is something else after death? (Me)

Thanks in advance for any help.

Although I am somewhat new to this forum, I like to think there is room for everyone, even the most devout of believers.

I suppose you might get some flak for calling yourself a rational skeptic, who hopes for life after death. But only the most militant atheists would attack that.

In my opinion, Hope for something is okay. Unquestioning belief in something without a shread of evidence is a bit kooky.

Re: Wimpy Atheist or Agnostic?

[quote author=“OhioDoc”]My dilemma: is there room for in this forum for somebody that agrees that whatever happens in this world we have to do for ourselves (Humanism), but deep down hopes that there is something else after death? (Me)

Of course, OhioDoc. In this forum there is room for all sorts of beliefs.

As Jaik has intimated, however, there is a difference between ‘hope’ and ‘reasonable belief’. One may hope to survive a cancer which one has been told is terminal. One may hope to win a lottery that one knows is infinitesimally probable.

We all do hope, in some sense, to survive death. Of course, there are many ways one could survive death, and some of them are quite nasty ...

:wink:

But at any rate, what does reason tell us? What happens when the brain dies? What happens when people have serious strokes? They lose personality. They lose abilities, memories; they lose who they are. All evidence we have is that the brain is the seat of consciousness and that we will not survive the physical death of the brain.

Clearly, research into the brain and consciousness is ongoing. While I would never counsel giving up “hope”, I would also counsel that you not decide to substitute hope for reason. Present political realities in the US will lead you to understand the mistakes that can be made when one makes such a rash decision.

I watch way too much science fiction not to be open-minded about the possiblity of some kind of afterlife (I hope it’ll be something like Star Trek ).  It’s just that I’m don’t have a whole lot of faith in any one particular interpretation (i.e. the Christian version).